Keeping Your Cat From Pooping Outside The Litter Box

The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships

If you happen to have a cat who refuses to poop in the litter box, you certainly have a clear understanding of exactly how annoying this can be; after all, you would think it would be obvious to them where they are supposed to poop - and you would certainly like to stop having to clean up after them!

If you have found yourself facing this situation, the first thing you need to recognize the fact that your cat does, in fact, know where they are supposed to poop, and there is a good chance they are simply pooping in the wrong places in order to be rebellious.

The first thing you need to make sure of is that you are using a litter that is high-quality, and is not causing your cat to search for other places to poop; furthermore, you will want to make sure you are keeping your litter box regularly cleaned, as picky cats will try to use a clean area for a bathroom if their litter box is too dirty for their liking.

The next thing to focus on is that you make going to the bathroom a positive experience, just as you would if you were potty training a child; each time you see your cat go to the bathroom in their litter box - even if you have to set them in there yourself in order to make them do so - praise them and reward them with a treat!

And finally, you will want to make sure it is unpleasant for them to go to the bathroom outside the litter box, and the best way to accomplish this is to use a spray bottle on them when you find poop around the house - showing them the poop and spraying them in the face again and again.

It can be a struggle to get a rebellious cat to start doing the right thing, but if you start following these tips, you will soon achieve success!

Three Things To Make Sure You Keep In Mind When Proposing

The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships

If you are a guy who will soon be proposing to your girlfriend, you might simply be thinking of taking your girlfriend to dinner and then proposing to her afterward when the two of you are alone, but if you want to come up with a proposal that will truly sweep her off her feet, you will want to try to do a bit better than that! Plenty of guys who feel comfortable in the knowledge that their girlfriend will say "Yes" when they pop the question tend to forget that it is still important to give their girlfriend a special day; after all, she will tell the story of the proposal hundreds of times over the years, and not only will it make her feel special if she has a good story to tell, but it will also make you look good!

Your primary goal in setting up the proposal with the knowledge that the proposal story will get a lot of mileage for years to come should be to give her a good story - which means that there should be more leading up to the actual proposal than just a dinner or a regular date.

When you are planning out the day in such a way that she will have a good story to tell, realize that you will want her to be surprised when you actually pop the question, but you will also want to mix in a certain element of anticipation; after all, anticipation is half the fun! The perfect way to make this happen is to mix in just enough special stuff that she is getting excited and wondering what is going on, but not so much that she has a clear idea of the fact that you are going to be proposing to her.

And for a lot of guys, one of their big mistakes - even once they are trying to plan something special - is that they shy away from certain ideas because of the cost, but make sure you remember how long this story will last, and realize that it is worth it to spend a little extra money to make this story as marvelous as possible!

Enjoying Your Pool

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A pool is a fantastic thing to have in your yard, as it will give you something you can use for both exercise and relaxation, but one thing that many people who have a pool end up finding is that - as time passes, and the novelty of having a pool wears off - they do not use their pool nearly as often as they would like to; if you have a pool in your yard and have found this to be the case for you, here are a few things you can keep in mind in order to enjoy your pool.

One thing about having a pool that is especially nice is the fact that it will give you a great and refreshing way to exercise - but of course, you will have to make an effort to use it in this manner in order for it to serve you in this way; get in the habit of swimming a few laps in the morning or in the evening, and you will find that your pool is providing you with a lot more enjoyment than what you were getting out of it before.

Having friends over to swim is another great way to make sure you are getting the most out of your pool - especially friends who do not have a pool of their own; regardless of whether your friends have children they can bring with them or are coming solo, you will be able to have a lot of extra fun with your pool when they come over!

And one thing to think about is the fact that people actually go on vacations in order to lounge around for days on end beside the water - either to the lake, to the ocean, or even to a resort where they can do this beside a pool - but many people who have a pool in their own backyard never take advantage of the opportunity to do this at home; if you have a pool, set aside a "pool day" every once in a while, on which you do nothing but relax and read and lounge around, and you will come away feeling like you are getting much more use out of your pool.

It is wonderful to have a pool, but it is a whole lot less wonderful if you are never using it; do what you can to get the most out of your pool, and you will feel a whole lot happier about the fact that you have it in the first place!

Exploring Jobs That Allow You To Work From Anywhere

The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships

One thing that a lot of people imagine would be nice is having a job that would enable them to work from anywhere – but of course, most people simply see this as a pipe dream, and they never do anything to chase it; the truth, however, is that there are actually a number of ways these days through which you can “work from anywhere,” and even though all of these involve actual work, it is certainly better to be able to work poolside at your favorite getaway than to work behind a desk in an office!

If you have any sort of skills or talents as far things go with writing, editing, or design, these are great ways for you to make money from just about anywhere in the world; look around for freelance writing, editing, or graphic design work, and it may not be long at all before you are making enough to turn this into a full-time job!

Another great way to make a living away from the office environment is by helping those who are still toiling away in the office environment to optimize their websites for search engines; of course, search engine optimization requires specialized knowledge, but it does not require any specialized talents – and once you are able to learn about and understand SEO, you can start collecting paychecks for optimizing the websites of various businesses.

And if you do end up taking the time to learn as much as possible about search engine optimization, you can take the beauty of working from anywhere one step further, and can work for yourself as well; by using your SEO knowledge, you can start dabbling in affiliate marketing, and can use search engine optimization to push your websites to the top of search engine rankings.

Making enough money on your own to be able to work from anywhere is not necessarily something that will happen right away, but when you start testing the waters in these different areas, you will soon find that you are making money – and eventually you will, in fact, be making enough money to call it a “job”!

Comparing Miles Per Gallon

The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships

As gas prices continue to climb, and as you become more and more tempted to start complaining about it, it might just be time for you to think about getting a vehicle with better gas efficiency. While the general assumption is that you need to buy a small car in order to get better gas mileage, this is not necessarily the case. Furthermore, you might even find that switching in your guzzler for a newer car with better gas efficiency can save you money in the long run.

Of course, if you are able to buy a small car, this is the best way to go for great gas mileage. You might think that you have to buy a Smart Car or a Prius in order to get good gas mileage, but actually, such standard cars as the recent Honda Accord models get well over 30 highway miles per gallon!

Some people have children who need more room than a small car provides, or they just plain do not feel safe driving so low to the ground; but don't worry, because several crossover SUVs provide great gas efficiency as well. Such vehicles as the Jeep Patriot and the Toyota RAV4 get over 25 highway miles per gallon, and they provide you with plenty of room and a seat high off the ground!

And if you need a pickup truck, you can get good gas mileage without having to sacrifice power with such options as the Toyota Tacoma. The Toyota Tacoma is a heavy-duty truck that is comfortable and roomy while still getting over 20 highway miles per gallon.

Now that gas prices are inching closer and closer to that four dollar per gallon mark, it is more important than ever to be aware of how much gas your car is using. It might seem like it will cost you more money to switch to a new car than to just stick with the old guzzler, but crunch the numbers, and you might be surprised! It might be time for you to invest in a newer vehicle; at the very least, it is definitely worth looking into as gas prices continue to climb.

A Comparison Of Climbing Crash Pads

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Whether you have been rock climbing for a long time or are just starting out, you have surely come to realize the importance of having a good crash pad. With a good crash pad beneath you, you can climb without worrying about whether or not you are safe. Without a crash pad, your risk is heightened, and you are also less likely to enjoy your experience. After all, you are going to be climbing nervously if you do not have a good crash pad beneath you, and nervous climbing is never relaxing and fun climbing. When you begin your search for the right crash pad, you will need to know what you are looking for. For those who are buying their first crash pad, all the way to those who are upgrading from an old one, this guide can aid you on your way.

On the low end of the price scale is the Metolius Sketch Crash Pad, which costs in the low $100s. This crash pad has enough width to give you a good landing area, and it is three inches thick, which helps absorb the impact. This pad is a terrific option for bouldering on shorter walls; however, you will want to think twice before going any higher than 20 feet. This crash pad will not absorb a fall from that height as effectively as you might hope for!

The Black Diamond Impact Crash Pad is a good option the next rung up on the price scale, generally running in the mid- to high-$100s. This pad is four inches thick, and it is also hinged, which provides for easier transport. This pad gives you a large landing area and some serious cushion for those big falls.

If you want to go all-out with your crash pad purchase, consider the Mondo II, also by Black Diamond. This pad is the best in class for those huge falls you might take; but if you plan to be taking these big falls, you should also plan to dip deep into your wallet! If you buy the Mondo II, expect to spend at least $350. When you take a tumble onto it, however, you are sure to know where that money went.

Because there is so much stuff you need for rock climbing, a lot of beginning climbers decide to skip the purchase of a crash pad. More often than not, however, these people end up regretting this decision! Don't make this mistake yourself; figure out which crash pad is right for you, pick it up, and enjoy climbing!

Tips For Working Successfully On A Long Term Project

The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships

One of the most difficult things can be working on a long-term project that requires a whole lot out of you - regardless of whether you are a high school student, a college student, or a full-time employee at a desk job - and one reason why this is so difficult is the fact that it is often tough to see your progress on a long project; when you are working on a project over an extended period of time, it can feel like the project is never going to end, but one way to counteract this feeling is to keep track of your progress as you make your way through a project.

In aiming to track your progress throughout a project, the first step you need to take is to set up a step-by-step process of how you plan to approach this project; in this way, you will have a framework from which you can work, and this will guide you to figure out how much work you need to do at each point in time.

While marching through the project, you can also start filling in notes regarding your work on each section of the project; these notes will help you to see how far along in the project you have come, and they will also give you a detailed breakdown of how much work you have done compared to how much work you have remaining.

And as each section of your project is completed, you will be able to "mark it off your list," and this will enable you see how many sections you started out with and how many you still have left to finish before the project itself is finished.

With any long-term project, discipline will be as important as any other aspect of the project (after all, you can come up with all the "plans" and "charts" you want, but this will mean nothing if you are not maintaining discipline to work on the project as time goes by), but as long as you are maintaining proper focus on a long-term project from an early point - keeping track of your progress as you make your way through it - you will be able to complete the project successfully, and with a lot less stress than you would otherwise have!

Tips For Inching Toward Your Long-Term Goals

The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships

There are plenty of goals that each person wishes to achieve in life; for most people, this includes both immediate goals (that is, goals that will be in focus over the next week or month or so), short-term goals (goals that stretch out over the next few years), and long-term goals (goals that extend out over the course of your life. But while many people tend to see their immediate goals come to fruition on a regular basis, and while even short-term goals are not all that difficult for most people to achieve, very few people see fulfillment of their long-term goals, and one of the primary reasons for this is the fact that they do not know exactly what they should be doing in order to move these long-term goals from "dreams" to "reality."

A lot of people rarely think about their long-term goals, and this is one of the main reasons why long-term goals often fail to get accomplished; rather than writing down your goals once and then letting them drift away from your mind, you should write down your long-term goals in a place where you will see them on a regular basis, as this will keep them at the forefront of your mind.

When you allow yourself to see your long-term goals written down on a regular basis, it can be easy to get to a point where you begin to think about all the impossibilities inherent in accomplishing these goals; when this happens, you will want to make a shift in your thinking - away from thinking about the obstacles that stand in the way of accomplishing a particular goal, and toward thinking about what can be done to remove these obstacles.

And there is very little chance that you will arrive at the finish line all at once when you are chasing a long-term goal, but instead, you will need to get in the habit of working toward your long-term goals every day, a little bit at a time. When you take care of the things you can take care of each day, the rest of the things in your future - including those long-term goals - will eventually take care of themselves!

Traditional Tent Alternatives

The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships

If you enjoy spending time camping and tromping around the outdoors you may find that your traditional tents don’t quite fit your needs. Four person tents are bulky and a pain to deal with when you just want to get out into the woods for a small amount of time, and if you are packing them in for longer distances because you really would like some peace and quite they get heavy and are somewhat more pain then they are worth in some cases. There are a couple of interesting alternatives to tents that I think are worth considering if you are trying to pack light for an enjoyable weekend or backpacking excursion.

If you like to sleep by yourself or don't mind sleeping in close proximity to another then a perfect solution for you might be the Hennessy Hammock Asym Tent . This hammock is very easy to set up and can hold one or two people as long as the combined weight is less then 350 lbs. The design of the hammock is such that you have lots of room to stretch out and even store things inside of the hammock with you. This also comes with a rain fly to keep you dry when it is raining out. This is great for those who love long backpacking trips since it is light easy easy to setup. Also since this hammock attaches to the trees, you most likely wont have any lasting damage from teh night stay.

The Kamp Rite double tent cot is another great option. Basically designed as a cot with a tent over it. That is pretty much what this cot is. It gives you your own tent plus the advantage of being off the ground. It isn't the best for backpacking because of the weight, but works great for car camping. This tent sets up easily and takes down and stores great.

Tips For Making The Rooms In Your House "Bigger"

The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships

When you have a house (or even if you have an apartment - in fact, especially if you have an apartment!), there will be times when you wish that the rooms in your house were bigger than they actually are; when faced with this desire, many people will simply say "oh well," realizing that there is nothing they can do to make their rooms bigger (outside of expensive renovations, of course!), but if you have ever had this desire, you should realize that there are a number of things you can do to make the rooms in your home "feel" a whole lot bigger!

It is likely that a room will feel fairly small most of the time if it is fairly dark, and one of the best ways to brighten a room - and to consequently make it feel bigger - is to paint the walls and the ceiling a lighter color; rooms also tend to feel bigger when the ceiling and the wall are not the same color, so in picking colors for your ceiling and wall, make sure both colors are bright - but especially make sure that the color on the ceiling is bright!

Another thing that will make a big difference in how big or small the room feels is the way in which a room is arranged - and even though it might seem as though the opposite would be the case, a room will feel bigger when it has things in it than it would feel if it were empty; make sure the room looks and feels "lived in," and make sure there are items that occupy different parts of the room, rather than simply the perimeter, and you will find that this actually opens up the room a whole lot more.

And while setting up a room so that it has things in it and feels "lived in" will cause it to feel bigger, a room will feel a whole lot smaller when it is cluttered, as this messiness will tend to give an almost claustrophobic aura to a room; make sure you keep the rooms in your home clean, and this will help the rooms to feel bigger.

Just because you are unable to spend the time or money to make a room physically bigger does not mean that you cannot make a room feel bigger; keep these tips in mind, and watch as the rooms in your home expand!

Dealing With A Temper Tantrum From Your Child

The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships

There are plenty of people who approach parenthood assuming that they know exactly what they will need to do as parents - and thinking that when they do these things, they will be sure to end up with children who behave exactly the way they want them to behave - but once you have children of your own, you begin to quickly realize that there is a lot more to parenting than most people think before having children, and one of the biggest areas that people think they "know what they will do" before they have kids, only to find that they are absolutely wrong, is in what to do with temper tantrums.

First of all, it is important for you to realize is that much of the behavior your children display at a younger age will be conditioned into them, and when you "reward" them for their temper tantrums by giving them what they want, you will be reinforcing the idea in their head that "temper tantrums are useful if I want to get my way."

Of course, when you are at home, it can be easier to wait for a temper tantrum to pass without rewarding it than it can be when you are out in public; if your child is having a temper tantrum in public, talk to them and tell them they can choose to keep it up and receive a punishment when you get home, or they can stop and not receive a punishment - and then, of course, you will need to make sure you stay true to your word!

And when you are within the confines of your home, away from crowds, you will want to train them to express themselves in words instead of in temper tantrums - and then, you will actually need to listen when they do express themselves, as this will reinforce this good behavior instead of engendering the bad behavior!

Keep these tips in mind next time you are dealing with a temper tantrum from your child, and watch as things begin to go a whole lot more smoothly!

Places To See In Cape Cod

The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships

If you are traveling to Cape Cod this summer, you may be wondering if there are any specific places you should make sure you visit. Of course, part of the appeal of a Cape Cod trip is the time you can spend on the quiet New England beaches. But when you visit Cape Cod, the Cape itself is not the only thing there is to see; here are a few other places to keep in mind as well.

Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket - the beautiful islands that lay just a few miles off the Cape - hold huge amounts of appeal for travelers. Each of these islands - despite the two being generally synonymous with one another - offers its own distinct feel and its own distinct reasons to visit. If you want to witness a lively, small town with plenty of charm, but also with plenty of familiar trappings, Martha's Vineyard is a great escape for the day. Nantucket, on the other hand, has maintained a classic feeling at all costs - not even allowing such chains as Starbucks and McDonalds to invade their charming pocket of the world.

For baseball fans and non-baseball fans alike, the Cape Cod Baseball League is another great experience. All the games in the Cape Cod Baseball League are absolutely free - an extremely unique setup, as the league is comprised of the top college prospects in the nation. You can enjoy top-level action from the sport's super stars, and even if you are not a fan of baseball, you will surely enjoy being able to sit on a blanket and picnic right alongside the field.

The city of Boston is also, of course, only a short drive from Cape Cod. The city of Boston is rich in history and tourism opportunities, and you will surely be happy that you made the trip to spend a day or two exploring. Keep in mind, however, that the drive from Boston to the Cape is treacherous on weekends; so make sure you take this trek on a weekday.

Even though Cape Cod is one of America's most charming vacation areas, make sure you get off the beach for at least a couple days, and see everything else this area has to offer.

Good Ways To Increase Your Vocabulary

The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships

No matter what sort of work you do, your vocabulary is one of the biggest ways by which people will judge you. While a large vocabulary inspires confidence, a poor grasp of words can lead someone to feel that you are less competent than you probably are. Of course, there is certainly a proper place and manner for employing your increased vocabulary, but even before you can take the time to learn this "right place and manner," you must learn the new words. Although it can sometimes be difficult to find the time to learn, or even to know where to begin, here are a few tips to help you on your way.

Word of the day: With a 'word of the day' program on your computer or phone, you will be given a new word to learn each day; this will probably be a practical word you do not know already, and it will be given to all users of the particular program on that day. It is very easy to learn these words if you simply set a goal of using each day's word a certain number of times that day. Each time you put the word to use, it becomes more embedded in your brain for the long term.

Flash cards: Many people learn exceptionally well when they use flash cards to study; when you use flash cards, do not try to 'memorize,' but instead just go through them. When you read through your pile of flash cards, take the time to try to give the definition before you look at it. The more you do this, the more you will find that the definitions are coming back without any effort at all!

Audio learning: Another great way to learn words without putting in work to 'memorize' or 'learn' them is audio programs, which you can use while driving or even while working out. With such programs, you do not even need to make a conscious effort to learn so much as you need to simply remember to use them. You will hear the words more and more as you use the program more and more, and these words will start rattling around inside your head.

If you take the time to start learning some new words, you will not only be able to communicate more effectively, but you will also find that more doors are open to you!

Try Cooking Great Meals in the Microwave!

The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships

When you get out on your own or are going through college you find that the fastest way to cook is often the microwave. Many of us never really master the art form of cooking in the microwave. Most of us never move beyond cooking popcorn, chicken pot pies, and left overs in our microwaves. You can actually create healthy and tasty meals by using a microwave with a little bit of knowledge.

Meals can be cooked very efficiently and quickly using a microwave. Though you can’t cook a steak to perfection in a microwave there is a wide range of things you can cook. If you want to learn to cook in a microwave, then you need to get a cook book like Not Your Mothers Microwave Cookbook that specifically focuses on how to cook in a microwave. These cookbooks provide clear instructions on how to cookin a microwave along with a wide range of tips about up keep and what to look for when purchasing a microwave. It is very important to use the correct cooking times along with the correct power levels and that is another reason why you must purchase a cookbook geared toward microwaves.

Although you don't have to stock a full kitchen full of gadgets for the microwave, there are a few that can help you along the way. In my opinion glass cookware is a must when it comes to cooking in a microwave.  Glass doesn't leach chemicals out of it over time either and doesn't get scratched and damaged like plastic can.  This is another bonus. Parchment paper is also handy to have on hand when you cook in a microwave. You can use parchment paper to create pouches to steam fish and veggies for very good food.

Fortunately you don't need a large number of gadgets for the microwave a few are handy such as the bacon racks.  These allow the grease to drip away from the bacon. Special omelet makers can be very handy in making a healthy and quick breakfast in the microwave.

Things To Think Of When Moving

The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships

It can be a whole lot of work to move from one house to another, and one of the worst things of all about moving is that most people do not do it frequently enough to know how to “move well”; for this reason, it is a great idea, if you will be moving soon, to gather as many tips as you can so that your moving experience will go much more smoothly. Although there are certainly piles of tips for you to be aware of, here are three of the most important tips – and all three of these are extremely easy to implement, and will make your move a lot more successful!

If you are moving out of a house that you have lived in for a while, you have probably accumulated a lot of “stuff” that you really do not need; moving provides you with the perfect excuse to get rid of much of this stuff, so go through your house as you prepare to move, and be ready to be ruthless – getting rid of everything you do not really need.

Another big mistake people make when moving is that they simply throw everything into boxes, and when they arrive at their new house, they have no clue where anything is; take the time to label your boxes by number, and in a notebook write what is in the box that corresponds with each number, as this will make things much easier on you when you are unpacking in your new house.

And if you are going to be moving, make sure that you are planning ahead, as this will ensure that your move goes much more smoothly. When you plan ahead, you will be able to make sure you have a moving truck (or trailer) reserved, and you will be able to make sure you have several friends available who can help you on moving day – which will be a whole lot better than waiting until the last minute and trying to scramble to put everything together at once!

Tips For Doing A Backflip Into Your Pool

The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships

If you have your own pool with a diving board, doing different tricks and jumps off the diving board can be one way to have a lot of fun, but while a lot of the dives and jumps that look really extreme are actually quite simple to execute, one of the more difficult ones to accomplish is the backflip - but in spite of the fact that the backflip is a bit more difficult, it can also be easily accomplished, as long as you know the right steps to take in order to learn.

Getting comfortable jumping outward from the diving board is the first thing you will need to do in order to do a backflip into your pool; one of the most dangerous things about doing a backflip into the pool is the opportunity it creates for you to hit your head on the diving board if you do not jump out far enough, so practice standing with your back to the pool and the front half of your feet on the edge of the diving board, then jumping out into the pool as far as you can go.

Of course, distance is not the only thing you will need in order to do a backflip into the pool; you will also need height, so once you have gotten used to jumping far out into the pool, you should start practicing jumping high into the air while also jumping out into the pool.

Once you have gotten to a point where it is comfortable for you to spring high and far into the pool, it will be time to try the backflip; push off in the same way you have been doing, but flip your legs over your head as if you are doing a backward dive, then keep the legs going as far as you can before you hit the water!

Although it might take you some time to get your backflip just right, practicing with the distance and height of your jump first will ensure that you are in no danger of hitting your head on the diving board, and from that point, it will just be some trial and error until you get the backflip just right!

How To Attract New Readers To Your Blog

The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships

Drawing new readers will certainly be one of your goals if you are running a new blog (after all, a blog does not accomplish much if no one is visiting!), but if you are just getting started with a new blog, it can sometimes be difficult to know exactly how to go about getting readers to come your way. While you will certainly have to endure some lumps and some "trial and error" in learning how to build your own blog following, there are also some tips you can follow in order to help you attract new readers to your blog - and here are a few of the most important of these tips.

Search engines: Search engines is the biggest way by which readers will end up on your site; in order to build the readership on your website, you will need to have a firm understanding of Search Engine Optimization - knowing how to write your articles in such a way that they show up in web searches.

Sharing: It will also be important that you write articles that the people who visit your site will want to share; this means that your articles should be of a topical nature, and should be immediately practical, as this will encourage readers to help spread the word about your blog using their Twitter, facebook, et cetera.

And of course, using social networking sites such as Twitter and facebook will be important if you want to grow your blog following; as you grow your following on Twitter, facebook, and other similar sites, you will also grow the following on your blog, as readers will naturally move from one to the other in an effort to find out as much about you as they can.

Plenty of different elements will go into determining the success of any individual's blog, but when you pay attention to these steps, you will be well on your way to drawing new readers your way, and to keeping them around once they arrive!

Tips For Taking Care Of Your Clownfish

The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships

One of the first fish that comes to mind for most people who are starting a saltwater fish tank is the clownfish. As far as saltwater fish go, clownfish are inexpensive, and they can be extremely fun and engaging; furthermore, clownfish are relatively easy to take care of. But if you want your clownfish to thrive, it must be taken care of properly, so make sure you take the time to understand what goes into taking care of a clownfish properly.

Clownfish will make their home in one area, but they will also want to travel; because of this, space is one of the most important things for your clownfish. If you have a tank that is smaller than 30 gallons, it is not a good idea to try to add a clownfish. The bigger your tank is, the happier your clownfish will be, as a big tank will enable them to roam and explore as much as they want.

Even though the clownfish is a great "first fish" for your tank, it will need one particular thing before it can truly feel comfortable; it will need an anemone. Anemones' tentacles can sting most fish, but they do not affect the clownfish, and this is why clownfish make their home among the anemone's tentacles. If you want to make your clownfish truly comfortable and happy, you will want to add an anemone, even though they could survive without one.

Lastly, in order to keep the water conditions just right for your clownfish, you will need to know what the right water conditions are. The temperature in your fish tank should be kept between 76 and 82 degrees for your clownfish, and the salinity of the water should be kept between 1.020 and 1.026.

Your clownfish will get along quite well with the other fish in your tank, especially if you have an anemone for them; clownfish are territorial, but no fish will try to steal their home if they have an anemone. As long as you take care of your clownfish properly, you will have a fun and entertaining fish that will add color and life to your fish tank for a long time to come!

Celebrating Birthdays With Family Birthday Dinners

The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships

If you have a fairly large family, it can sometimes be difficult to figure out exactly what you should do in order to make each person feel special on their birthday, especially because birthdays can occur so frequently that they have a tendency to lose their sense of being "special" in the eyes of everyone in the family whose birthday it is not! Coming up with a tradition that is simple and easy to do for everyone in your family is one of the best ways to make sure everyone feels special on their birthday, even if you have a lot of people in your family - and one of the best (and easiest!) traditions you can do is to celebrate each person's birthday with a family birthday dinner.

When your children are younger, it will be easy for you to make sure everyone in the family is in attendance at these family birthday dinners, but as the children in your family grow up, this can become a difficult obstacle to conquer - so when you are planning the date for the dinner, make sure you plan it far enough in advance that everyone can make sure they are there, as this is especially what will make these birthday dinners feel special.

Whoever's birthday you are celebrating should be given the opportunity to choose what you will have for the birthday dinner as well as for the dessert, and they should be able to choose the after-dinner activity, whether it is an outing, a movie, games, or anything else they come up with!

Everyone can also give a birthday card to the person whose birthday it is, and if your family does birthday presents, you can also gift these on this day; furthermore, you should do everything you can to make this day special for the person whose birthday it is, from making sure they do not have to help with the cleaning up after dinner, to getting their drinks and food for them throughout the day. In this way, you will have something consistent that everyone in your family can look forward to on their birthday, and not only will this make things easier on everyone, but it will also make things a lot more memorable!

Tips For Buying A Gift For Your Child's Teacher

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With the school year suddenly upon us once again, one thing that many parents want to do is buy a gift for their children's teachers – especially if their children are in elementary school – but as simple and straightforward a desire as this might seem to be, it can sometimes be difficult to figure out exactly what to get a teacher. While you can usually put a smile on a teacher's face simply from the gesture itself, it will make a teacher even happier if you are able to purchase a small gift for them that they will actually be able to use and enjoy.

"Something to disply on the desk" is one of the first things a lot of parents think of when buying a gift for a teacher, but an even better route to go is to give the teacher something they can both display on their desk and take home with them: a nice, travel coffee mug. Another idea along the same lines is to buy a Starbucks gift card for the teacher; most teachers need a good amount of coffee to get through the trials of the school year, so help accommodate them in this area, and you will find that they are truly grateful for your thoughtfulness.

If you already know the teacher for whom you are buying the gift – either through an early parent-teacher conference, or from outside of school, or perhaps because your child already had this teacher the year before – another good idea is to get them a gift certificate to a clothing store that you think they will appreciate!

And even though a teacher devotes most of their life during the school year to school itself, every teacher still wants to find ways to unwind every once in a while; one of the best ways for people to unwind is with a dinner at a nice restaurant – and what better way to enjoy a dinner at a nice restaurant than not having to pay for it! Consider picking up a gift certificate to a nice, local restaurant, and you will see just how appreciative this makes your child's teacher!

How To Plan A Perfect Beach Vacation

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A beach vacation is the ultimate way to relax and "be away from it all" while soaking up the sun and the ocean, which makes it one of best types of vacations you can take, but many people tend to have a difficult time planning a perfect beach vacation, as it seems like there are so many variables, and as it seems like there are so many different options. Of course, deciding what is "perfect" for you and your family is the first step in planning a perfect beach vacation - whether you and your family prefer a busy week with lots of people around or a quiet, relaxing beach vacation - but if a "quiet, relaxing beach vacation" seems perfect to you, here are a few things to make sure it actually ends up being perfect!

You can usually rent a nice beach house right on the water for a reasonable price if you are looking in the right places - but make sure you keep in mind the fact that you will want to ensure everyone in your family has a place to sleep, and it is better to spend a few extra dollars for a bigger house than to leave everyone cramped for a week.

The fact that they need to visit a restaurant every night, paying for so many people to eat, is one thing that causes a lot of people to get overwhelmed when they are planning any vacation, but when you rent a beach house, you can also plan meals for most of the nights, and can save a lot of money (and even have a lot more fun!) this way.

And finally, there can be more to a beach vacation than just catching rays on the beach, and it is important for you to realize this; you should also plan things to do at night, both outside and inside the house.

By being creative and starting to look at different options, you will soon find that it is easy to plan a perfect beach vacation - you simply have to use these tips as a foundation, and then start building from there!

Creating More Space In Your Bedroom

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People have a tendency to spend time in their bedroom wishing they had a bit more space – and while it is not exactly possible to expand the size of your bedroom itself, there are actually a few specific things you can do to create more space in your bedroom, or to create the illusion of more space (and as far as most of these tips go, you can use them other rooms in your house as well!).

A lot of people have a tendency to set up their bed so that it sticks out into the middle of the room, with only the head of the bed touching the wall; while this is a good way to separate the room into “sides” for a married couple, it is not a good way to make your room feel bigger; push your bed against one wall or the other, and watch your room grow!

Providing contours in the room is another way to make it feel bigger; in fact, if you have create a catty-corner with a small desk or table (or with a small chair), this will actually make the room feel bigger, in spite of the fact that you have cut out a whole corner.

A cluttered room will also feel much more suffocating; make sure that you are keeping your bedroom clean as you go along – rather than having a day of the week on which you typically clean it – and it will pay you back by feeling much bigger.

And of course, when you give your room a thorough cleaning, this will also make quite a difference; take the time to go through your room, giving it a thorough cleaning and getting rid of anything you do not actually need taking up space in there!

If you have ever felt that you wished your room was bigger, know that this is not a difficult effect to achieve; simply follow these tips, and you will be on your way to feeling like you have a lot more space than you had before – despite not truly having any more space at all!

Exploring Rock Climbing Equipment You Will Need To Get Started

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Rock climbing is one of the best ways to enjoy some time outside, as it can be a fun and challenging experience that also will help to strengthen and tone your entire body; when it comes to getting into rock climbing, however, one problem is that there are some perceived barriers to entry, as people do not want to go to a rock climbing park for the first time, without the proper equipment! If you have thought about trying your hand at rock climbing, the great news is that there are really only a few specific items you will need to make sure you have in order to get started - and if you have not thought about getting into rock climbing, it is certainly something worth considering, as it can be great for your body and can also be a great deal of fun!

In order to get started rock climbing, the first thing you will need is some climbing shoes; make sure you get someone in the store to help you when you try on climbing shoes, as climbing shoes should fit more snugly than regular shoes - and if you are planning to purchase your shoes online instead, take the time to go to a store first, and ask for help in getting sized and in understanding what you will need to buy!

The next thing you will want to make sure you have is a chalk pouch and some chalk; some people do not end up using chalk when they climb, as their hands do not perspire enough for this to be a necessity - but for the majority of climbers, chalk is absolutely necessary, and you would rather find that you do not need it than find that it would have been nice to have it!

And finally, you will want to make sure you have a crash pad before you start climbing; if you are not certain you will be climbing for good, you may want to first go with someone else and use their crash pad, but in the long run, you will want to have a crash pad of your own so that you can go climbing whenever the mood strikes!

How To Properly Hike For The Day

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When you are in an office all week long, one thing that can be particularly nice on your day off is to get out into nature, and while there are a lot of ways for you to do this - immersing yourself in the outdoors for a day and allowing yourself to recharge - one of the best ways to do this is to go on a day hike. One of the problems with going on a day hike, however, is that it can be difficult at times to find hikes that will be as fulfilling for you as you would like; if you are wanting to get outdoors on your day off while the weather outside is still nice, here are a few ideas for you to keep in mind in order to ensure that your day hike is all you want it to be.

Making sure that you are going to a place with a "big payoff" is the first thing you will want to do, as there is nothing too enjoyable about hiking through average scenery for a couple hours only to return to your car. Try to find a place that is well-known for the beauty of its scenery, or that has something rewarding such as a waterfall or a hot spring somewhere along the way, and you will be able to feel like all the effort of hiking is well worth it.

Bringing enough snacks and water for the day will be another big key; you may not think you will need much food and water if you will just be out hiking for a few hours, but your body will likely beg to differ, as it will want to be replenished from all the work it is putting out, so realize that it is better to bring too much food and water than to not bring enough.

And it will be important when you are going hiking for the day that you bring the right clothes; after all, there is nothing worse than deciding to go hiking in order to relax on your day off, only to realize that you are wearing pants that rub you the wrong way, a shirt that holds the sweat and sticks to your body, and shoes that give you blisters with every single step!

Packing Light For A Plane Trip

The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships

When you book some great airfare for a plane trip, you will probably be both proud of yourself and very happy. That is, until you reach the airport and realize that your one bag is going to cost you an extra $50 if you take it with you round trip! If you want to avoid this, you need to be able to bring everything you need for a trip in a single carry-on - and the key to this, of course, is packing light. Even though this might seem impossible to you at first, it will be well worth the money to try to learn how to pack light!

The first thing you ought to do is look up the carry-on specifications of the airline you will be flying, and make sure your bag will work as a carry-on item. And actually, you will probably be surprised when you realize that carry-ons are generally allowed to be much larger than you might have expected.

Next, you need to start your packing process by making a list of all the necessities; and make sure this is truly only the necessities! For instance, you will need a toothbrush, clothes to sleep in, a new outfit for each day, and other things like this. Note: "Those four pairs of shoes I really want to bring" does not land on the list of true, honest necessities!

After you have compiled your list of necessities, you can make your next list - which will be the things you want to bring. This would be such items as those extra pairs of shoes; and again, make sure these "wants" are not on the "necessities" list!

You will also make a third list - the "extras" - but you should know that these items are unlikely to make the cut!

After you have made all three lists, you will be able to pack the "necessities," and then you can start picking through the "wants" and (if you have room) "extras." And whenever you have a hard time letting go of a "want," just ask yourself this question: "Is this item worth $50 to bring!"

Freeing Up Your Free Time

The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships

Many people have a tendency to use their free time in a throwaway manner, doing nothing redemptive or memorable with it; of course, in the process of using free time in this manner, many people also reach a point where they convince themselves that they enjoy their free time a lot more when they can "just relax and do nothing," but once these people start working to "free up their free time," they will realize that there is a whole lot more for them to get out of their free time than simply sitting around doing nothing at all.

In order to free up your free time, the first thing you will want to do is identify the things in your life that could be categorized as "nothing things," such as watching television and browsing the internet aimlessly; of course, some people truly get a kick out of watching television or surfing the 'net, but many others simply do these things to pass the time - not especially caring what they are watching or spending time with online, but instead simply engaging in these activities with no real purpose (and with no real pleasure derived!).

Once you have put your finger on these "nothing things" (which can be a bit harder than it sounds, as you will have to be honest with yourself about what these things truly are!), the next thing you will want to do is find things you enjoy that could take the place of these "nothing things," such as a hobby or some sort of regular adventure.

And in order to free up your free time, you will also need to make a conscious effort to divide your time between yourself and others; during the time you have with others, do your best to always be fully engaged, giving these people your full attention, and during your time alone, chase after the things you have chosen to replace the "nothing things," which will help you to truly maximize the free time you have.

The author Jack Kerouac once said that "life is holy and every moment is precious"; when you make this effort to truly free up your free time, you will start to understand to a greater degree exactly what he meant!

Keeping Stains From Sticking To Clothes

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If you are going to be doing something from which you expect your clothes to take a bit of wear and tear – either because you will be spending time outside, or because you will be eating messy food – it is not a big deal if your clothes end up getting permanently stained, but if you are not expecting your clothes to get dirty, it can be frustrating when they get permanently stained. And even though there are plenty of products that claim to get rid of “even tough to lift” stains, the simple truth is that you need to take immediate action (and you need to know what you are doing!) if you want to get stains out of your clothes before they become “permanent.”

As soon as you get a stain on clothes, you need to take action; the best thing for you to do – rather than trying to “scrub out” the stain, which is a mistake a lot of people make – is to fill a bowl with warm water, and to soak the clothes in this water for about twenty-four hours, as this will loosen up the stain and keep it from clinging to the garment.

After you have finished soaking the garment, you should apply some Spray n Wash Laundry Stain Remover With Resolve; a little bit on the area of the stain will make the stain far less likely to remain in place when you put it in the wash.

And of course, you should also wash the clothes using a laundry detergent that is tough on stains – and it is even better if the detergent in question has been proven to work, and is light on your wallet, as is the case with Soilove Laundry Stain Remover.

In the end, you will not be able to get rid of every stain that ends up on your clothes, but when you take these simple steps, you will be able to fight stains much more efficiently, and will be able to save a lot of your clothes.

Tips For Keeping Unwanted Animals Out Of Your Boat House

The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships

You will probably be spending a fair amount of time in both your boat and your boat house if you have a lake house that you live in, which means that it will not be difficult for you to keep pesky animals from making a home in your boat house, but if you live away from your house on the lake and only visit it on weekends (or less frequently than that!), it can be difficult to keep animals out.

The first thing you need to do is make animals think that you are not only home, but that you are in your boat house (after all, this is the reason why animals stay out when you are, in fact, home), and there are actually a few simple steps you can take to make this happen.

Firstly, you should leave at least one light on inside your boat house; when animals come to your boat house looking for a place where they can make a new home, they will be wanting a dark and cool place - and you can keep your boat house from being such a place with a light on inside.

Another great way to keep away animals is to "create noise" inside your boat house - which you can easily do by simply leaving a radio going inside your boat house while you are away; you do not have to turn the volume up high - it simply needs to be loud enough that animals will be able to hear it, as this will cause them to think that someone is inside.

Anytime you return to your lake house, you should make sure you double-check your boat house to make sure that nothing has taken up residence during your time away. But by taking these simple steps, you should be able to avoid any pesky problems, and should have no trouble keeping your boat house to yourself!

Is An eBook Reader A Good Choice For Me?

The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships

One of the most popular products on the market these days is the Kindle (as well as Barnes & Noble's Nook), but if you are thinking about buying one yourself, one thing you should think about is the fact that just because it is popular does not necessarily mean it is for everyone; if you are trying to decide whether or not an ebook reader is a good choice for you, here are a few things to look at.

If you seem to always be traveling (regardless of whether it is for work or for leisure), and you usually are accompanied by a book when you take these trips, an ebook reader is definitely worth considering; with an ebook reader, it will be easier for you to read on the plane, and it will be easier for you to switch between books.

Of course, on the same note as "switching between books," an ebook reader will probably be a good purchase if you are the kind of person who often finds yourself digging into several books at a time - regularly marking your place in one and picking up another; an ebook reader will make it a whole lot easier for you to do this, even allowing you to switch books when you are away from home, all with a single device.

But if you are a traditionalist, and you truly derive pleasure from the feel of a book in your hands or the feel of pages beneath your fingers, you will probably be wasting your money buying an ebook reader; furthermore, you will probably be wasting your money if you are the kind of person who likes to highlight lots of things and make notes in the books you read, as the functions on ebook readers that allow you to do this simply cannot compare to the real thing!

One thing that you should be aware of, when it comes to an ebook reader, is that it is not at all like looking at a computer screen, as the electronic ink makes it truly feel on your eyes as though you are looking at a book; other than this similarity between the two, however, there are serious differences - and these will go a long way in determining whether or not an ebook reader is right for you!

Fish Feeding Made Easy With An Automatic Feeder

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If you have a fish tank, you have probably found yourself wishing, at one point or another, that there was a way to feed them automatically. Furthermore, you have probably had to ask a friend to stop by once or twice a day on times when you are out of town, so that your fish will be fed. If you have ever wondered if there is a way for your fish to be automatically fed without anyone needing to be there, wonder no longer!

Years ago, there were "automatic feeders" that could be dropped into your tank - these, of course, were large bits of food that were intended to feed your fish over time. These were designed so that they gave off a little bit of food at a time, lasting for anywhere from seven to fourteen days. If you ever used one of these yourself, however, chances are you probably decided you would never use one again! These tablets often caused fish to die of either overeating or starvation, as the fish frequently would eat the whole tablet in the first day or two and then have nothing left.

Times have changed since then, however, and there are a few great options in particular for automatic feeders that actually work!

The Anim F14 Fish Mate Feeder is a relatively inexpensive feeder, costing around $25 and being rather easy to set up to hold several days worth of food. A couple complaints about this product, however, have been the fact that there needs to be an opening in your lid for it to work, and the food sometimes gets stuck and does not dispense!

As for an excellent product that is only one small step up the price ladder, check out the EHEIM Everyday Fish Feeder. This product rarely presents its users with problems, and it is easy to program and easy to use! At only about $35 dollars, this is a steal of a product that can make your life a whole lot easier.

Make sure you test your new automatic feeder for a few days before you go out of town to make sure it is working properly; if it is working properly, of course, you are certain to be glad with your purchase!