Knowing How To Buy Used Books Online That Are In Good Shape

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

While book shopping is fun, it is also expensive - and this can be difficult for anyone who enjoys reading, and you probably enjoy shopping for books too! Because of how pricey new books can be, many people turn to online retailers, where they can find a large selection of used books at great prices. There is only one problem with purchasing books online, however, that is the fact that you never can tell what sort of shape these books will be in! Follow these tips, however, and you can shop for used books on Amazon with confidence, knowing that you won't have to worry about the shape the books are in.

The first thing to pay attention to, when it comes to used books on Amazon, is the seller's rating. This will give you a good indication as to the sort of condition you can expect their books to be in; after all, you probably won't get good books from someone with a bad rating!

You also need to pay attention to the description of the item, lest something end up slipping by you unnoticed. For instance, you might receive a book with lots of writing inside it - and when you go back and look at the description, you will find that it mentioned this!

Purchasing hardcover copies is the best way to get used books that are likely to still be in good shape. Hardcover books are usually better used books, as they are more durable and therefore remain in good shape for a much longer span of time. But you still need to pay attention to the descriptions; many used hardcover books are ex-library books, and these can be more tattered. You can usually get great deals on good-looking hardcover books, especially if you do your best to avoid ex-library books and if you do not mind a hardcover book that no longer has a dust jacket.

In the end, you can never be 100% positive that a used book you buy online will be in the condition you are hoping for. But you can maximize the chances that the used books you buy on Amazon will look great if you take these simple steps.

Thinking Up Ideas As A Writer

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A lot of people have a concept of what "being a writer" would be like, and they envision someone who is able to sit in a comfortable room all day and do no work at all - but if you have ever made an effort yourself to start writing, you have surely realized that there is a bit more to writing than this, and one of the toughest things of all (through all the mental olympics a writer's mind must endure) is constantly coming up with ideas!

In order to come up with ideas as a writer, the first thing you should make sure you are doing is sitting down on a daily basis to write, even when you do not feel like it; you surely have another job or other responsibilities in addition to writing if you are just starting out as a writer, but this discipline of making writing of tantamount importance and of sitting down daily will go a long way in helping your ideas flow freely.

Another great way to develop ideas as a writer is to spend time around people; many writers end up finding themselves closed off from the world, existing more in their imagination than they exist in real life, but when you take the time to be around people - watching them and allowing them to inspire you - you will grow to understand them more and more, and you will be able to write about them more and more freely.

And lastly, one thing that is especially tough when it comes to coming up with ideas as a writer, but that is certainly among the most important, is that you learn to allow ideas to come to you; too many people try to force ideas, without realizing that sometimes the best ideas will come to you when you simply let go and allow them to saturate your mind.

There is no "formula" for coming up with ideas as a writer (just as there is no formula for the act of writing itself!), but when you follow these tips, you will put yourself in a much better position to constantly come up with ideas as a writer.

What Is The Best Sports Camera?

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While the GoPro is the world's best selling wearable HD camera for sports, this does not necessarily answer the question of whether they are also the best. Of course, before this question can even be answered, we first have to make sure we know exactly what the GoPro aims to be.

The GoPro  is an HD video camera, but it is also much more than that; it is an HD video camera designed to be used while doing things such as hiking, skiing, surfing, skydiving, and everything in between.

The GoPro cameras come with special mounts that are intended to be used for different activities; for instance, there is a helmet mount for bicycle sports, and there is a special mount for skiing, in case you want to strap the GoPro onto one of your poles. The GoPro even has a special camera and mount designed for motor sports, if - for instance - you wanted to strap a GoPro to the front of a race car.

Before the GoPro can be compared to other comparable products, there are two questions that must first be answered about the GoPro. The first question is whether the GoPro actually works without getting damaged; the second question is whether the video taken by the GoPro is any good.

Considering its small size, the GoPro is an amazingly sturdy device; skiers have found that they can take big spills without hurting the camera, and surfers even find that the waterproof case truly is waterproof! As for the second question, the purported "HD quality" of the videos that the GoPro takes is more than just sales speak; the tiny little camera truly does take incredible HD footage.

As the GoPro truly does take incredibly high-quality video with a sturdy, durable design, the question can now be answered: Is it the best sports camera available? The answer to the question, quite frankly, is that it is not even close; the main competition for the GoPro is the clunkier CountourHD and the clunkier and more expensive Drift HD170, each of which fall short of the GoPro design. And what's more, neither of the GoPro's main competitors offer as many accessories or take video with clarity to match the GoPro; truly, the GoPro is in a class of its own!

Getting Along With New People

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

Getting along with new people will be very natural for you if you are a "people person," and you will not have to keep anything specific in mind in order to ensure that the goal of getting along with people becomes a reality, but if you are not especially a people person, or if you are not around new people all that frequently, it will be helpful for you to know a few things you should keep in mind in order to get along with new people.

Simply being friendly is probably the biggest thing of all when it comes to trying to get along with new people; people who are “not a people person” have a tendency to start out disliking a person before eventually changing their mind, but a much better approach is to decide that you like people first – only changing your mind to “dislike them” if they have done something specific to cause you to feel this way.

After you have decided to be friendly and “like everybody at first,” the next thing for you to make sure you are doing is asking questions. When you ask other people questions, you will be showing an interest in them, and this will not only make your time with them more enjoyable for you, but it will also make it more enjoyable for the other person; and of course, once you have asked questions of the other person, you will also need to make sure that you are taking the next step of listening to the person's answers as well!

Even though these things might seem on the surface as if they are terribly simple, making sure you are doing them will go a long way in helping you to get along with new people – and when you get along with new people that you meet, each new situation you find yourself in will be that much more enjoyable.

A Great Read for Companies Looking to Make the Leap

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Many people who are running their own businesses want to maximize its potential. This is easier said than done. These businesses are often very successful on a level of smaller competition than they could face. So how does one of these moderately successful businesses make themselves one of the best around? Following the advice of those who have done it already is the best way for these companies to do so. One of the best places to get this advice is through a book written by a business success expert.

Jim Collins wrote about his findings on business success in Good to Great Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't. He then went on a quest to determine what steps needed to be taken. The first thing he realized is that there are no fast tracks to the top. Instead he realized that the companies he chose to focus on all had one thing in common. The corporate model they all followed was exemplified by the employees they built around.

Good to Great Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Dont.

The companies Collins focused on all had their focuses in the same place regarding their corporate model. They all stressed that responsible decision making was more important than anything else. None of them made the leap because of reasons many think are the most important. The best business strategy, best products, or best technology were not needed by these companies. Focusing on corporate values that they held dear to their heart and then building around them was the best strategy.

So if you are looking to take your business from good to great you would be doing yourself a great service by reading Jim Collins book. The book was written after years of research and they allowed him to include many specific examples. These examples detail stories of greatness and also of those that are not so great. This allows the reader to get both positive examples and negative examples in order to compare what they are currently doing in their company.

Keeping Your Pool Cool In The Summer

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With how hot this summer has been so far, one thing that is always nice is to be able to jump into a cool pool to escape the heat for a bit - but also, with how hot this summer has been so far, one big problem a lot of people are dealing with is the fact that their pool is no longer all that cool or refreshing anymore! If you have a pool that spends a large portion of the day in the sun, you will probably find that you are stuck with a pool that is so hot by late July that it is no longer fun or refreshing to swim in, and for this reason, it is great to have an idea of ways to keep your pool cool during the summer.

Even before you hit the heat of summer, you will want to start keeping your pool cool, as one thing that will go a long way in helping you is that you do not heat the pool when the weather is still cooler; even though this will force you to have to wait a bit longer before you can swim, it will also provide you with a cool pool for a couple more weeks during the heat of the summer.

You should also consider planting bushes and trees around the perimeter of the pool so that they can provide shade over the water; of course, this will not be a short-term solution, as the best you will be able to do at first is block the shade for the latter part of the day, but in time, you can get this shade to grow until it keeps your pool from getting so scorched by the sun.

And with the heat being what it has been this summer, you are probably finding that the water in your pool is evaporating quickly, forcing you to fill it up all the time; when you fill up your pool, wait until right before you swim, as this cooler water coming into the pool will make a big difference in your level of enjoyment!

Keeping Your Garage Organized

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Lots of people turn their garage into a storage space, which causes them to quickly run out of room – and this leaves them with a garage that has no room for their cars, or even for anything else that they would like to keep in there. If you are already using your garage for storage, it might be quite an undertaking to clear out all that storage and to start over, but if you are moving into a new house, it will be quite easy to make sure you are keeping space open in your garage – enabling yourself to actually use it!

Deciding how many cars you want parked in your garage is the first thing you will want to do in order to make sure you have enough space; if you only have one car, or if you are only wanting to park one car in your garage, you will have a bit more space to work with – but if you are wanting to park two cars in your garage, keep this in mind as you decide how to use the rest of your garage space.

The next most important thing when you are setting up your garage is that you make space for the things that truly belong in your garage; these things include power tools (as well as space for more power tools to be added), your lawn mower, and any toys or games that your children frequently used in the front yard.

And you will know how much space you have left to work with for storage after you have made sure you have room for the number of cars you want to store in your garage, and for the things that actually belong in your garage. Use this space wisely, stacking things in such a manner that you optimize the space you have, and always realize that there is a chance you are keeping more stuff than you really need – and that you can free up space not only in your garage, but also in the rest of your house, by getting rid of anything that is “extra”!

Tips For Becoming Better At Putting

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If you want to improve your golf game, one of the biggest aspects will be becoming good at putting (after all, you are unlikely to hit as low a score as you are hoping to hit if you cannot get the ball from the green to the hole!), but despite its obvious importance, putting is also one of the things that people tend to spend the least amount of time focused on. Smashing a drive that goes three hundred yards is certainly more glamorous than being able to consistently sink a thirty foot putt, but sinking these putts without any problem will be one of the biggest pieces of piecing together your golf game.

When you watch golf on television, you will see the golfers examining the green before they make a putt, and while many who go out on the golf course for fun try to do the same thing, they still end up aiming for the hole itself when they actually putt the ball; after you have examined the green and determined the break, forget about the hole completely, and simply aim for the spot you have determined you need to aim for!

A lot of golfers also make the mistake of focusing on the ball, instead of focusing on their swing; practice swinging your putter on a perfect pendulum both with and without a ball, and you will always be able to hit the ball in the direction you want it to go.

An indoor putting green such as the Grassroots Par Three is a great way to practice.

And finally, being relaxed will be extremely important; a tense golfer is a poor golfer, and since one of the main reasons you are getting out on the golf course on the weekend is in order to relax, it should be no problem at all for you to accomplish this simple, important step!

Once you follow these tips, you will be able to start seeing improvement in your short game, and this will make those “relaxing” mornings on the golf course a lot more relaxing, and a lot more fun!

Listen to Audio Books Instead of Reading

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Most of us are so busy today that we don’t have time to sit down and enjoy a good book. Commutes are increasing in time and the few hours we would normally have at night are taken up by driving. Still good books shouldn't be taken away from these types of people. A great way to fill up the time during these commutes is to listen to some audio books. The Dark Tower series by Stephen King is a great series that is available on audio books that you could get into.

Stephen King started writing the first of the Dark Tower series, The Gunslinger, early in his career. When he released it his fans absolutely adored the story of Roland. It took an enormous amount of time to write the seven different entries into the Dark Tower series. Different books in the Dark Tower series sometimes would be written five years apart from each other.

Now the entire series is available and finished by King. There won't be time spend waiting for the next installment of the series to be written. Audio book format has also been given to each of them. Roland is the main character in this series and it details his quest to travel all the way to the Dark Tower. All power and understanding in the universe emits from the Dark Tower. Evil has taken control of the tower and Roland wants to get their to destroy it.

Roland takes his companions with him on the journey through these worlds. The team is comprised of members that have special skills and unique short comings. The reader is brought close to each character through their difficult situations. A raw human element is visible in every book. The grow stronger than ever as they journey together across many worlds.

The Dark Tower Series is a story that you will become addicted to as soon as you begin listening to it. You will enjoy every moment of the journey you will be on over the time you listen to the books. So don’t waste your drive home listening to the same three songs on loop on the radio. Give your mind a work out with the audio book series of Stephen King.

The Gunslinger The Dark Tower I

How To Find Good Restaurants In A Tourist Town

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If you are on vacation in a tourist town – either somewhere in the mountains, somewhere on the beach, or even somewhere out of the country – you will find that it is a great deal of fun to get a taste of the local flavor by exploring the restaurants in the area. Unless you are going out to eat every night, however (or even a couple times a day all throughout your vacation), you will not exactly be able to explore every restaurant – which means that making sure you know how to pick the right restaurants in a tourist town will be extremely important so that you can get the most out of your meals.

There are two things that many tourists start to look for when they are searching for a restaurant in a tourist town: the first thing is the location of the restaurant, and the second thing is how busy the restaurant is. But due to the fact that the restaurants with the best locations often attract a lot of tourists – as these tourists assume that this restaurant must be the best – these restaurants are usually full, which causes more tourists to go there (thus perpetuating the cycle!), but this does not necessarily mean that these are the best restaurants, so make sure you are not just looking at location and busyness if you are searching for a restaurant in a tourist town.

Finding out what each restaurant's specialty is will be one of the keys to finding a good restaurant in a tourist town; although some of these restaurants might not have great food across the board, most of them will do a very good job with their specialty, so understanding what each restaurant's specialty is will give you a better idea of what they probably do well.

And of course, when you are in a tourist town, the best source for finding out the best restaurants is those who actually live in the town; talk to the locals who live around you, and search online on sites such as Yelp and Trip Advisor, and you will be able to get a really good idea of which restaurants are the best ones to try out!

Thinking Toward Your Children's Futures

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

There will be lots of things you will need to keep in mind when you are a parent, as you will still have your normal responsibilities of work and relationships, all on top of the responsibilities of raising your children; but even beyond these present obligations and responsibilities, there are things down the road that you will want to build toward. While this truth pertains to both your personal life and your life as it pertains to others, perhaps the area where this is most true is in the future you are helping your children build; there will come a time when you will no longer have a big say in what your children do or where your children go in life, but when you take the right steps now, you will be able to do a lot to dictate what your children's futures are like!

For many parents, the area where they are most aware of this is with college, but what most people do not realize is that it is just as important that they help their child prepare for college as it is that they help their child be able to pay for college. In addition to saving money for your child's college, you should start preparing them for their standardized tests and their college applications early on, as this will go a long way in helping them get into the eventual school of their dreams.

As far as things go with money, one of the best things you can do for your children is teach them how to be good with money on their own; in addition to helping your children learn how to take care of their money, you can also help your children get started – setting up investments for them when they are young so that this money will be waiting for them when they are old enough to take control of it!

And of course, every parent wants children who are well-rounded and built to thrive in life; as a parent, you need to realize that this is not something that “just happens,” but that it is something you will have to build toward by focusing on the little things now that will help your child grow into who you want them to be in the future!

Tips For Personal Finance: Study Before Investing

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Although there are plenty of people who make good money in the stock market, there are also plenty of people who lose good money! After all, you can only buy a stock if someone else is selling it. And when someone has decided to sell the stock, they are either making the right choice or the wrong choice. When investing, this is the single most important thing to keep in the front of your mind, the fact that you are able to buy because someone else has chosen to sell. If you want to make money in the stock market, you need to understand how important it is to research.

One problem that many people make, when they invest on their own, is that they jump in with two feet right away. They end up learning from their own mistakes as they put all their money out there at risk. It is, of course, good to learn from your mistakes when you make them, but when it comes to investing, you might not end up with any money left if your sole strategy is to learn from your mistakes! Pleny of online investing sites allow you to practice investing by using fake money in real stocks, which allows you to see how your money would do if it were real. In using such tools, you can begin to understand the mistakes you make and the things you do right.

Also, you have to realize that you cannot be afraid to ask questions. Contrary to the way some people feel, asking questions is a sign of strength, not a sign of weakness. The knowledge and wisdom of others is the best way for you to learn things yourself. By asking questions, you can begin to understand all the ways that you can do things differently yourself.

You also have to make sure you realize that the stock market does take time. When you go with a "get rick quick" stock, it is just as likely that you will become poor quickly! If you truly want to watch your money grow, you need to do research and find solid stocks that can carry you for a long time.

It is not difficult to make money in the stock market, if you take the time to learn. But you do have to make sure you take the time to learn, unless you want your financial future to depend on nothing but luck!

Tips For Helping A Puppy Acclimate To Its New Home

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You will probably be so enraptured by how cute and lovable a new puppy is when you add it to your home that you will become numb to the fact that it is also important for you to help the puppy acclimate itself properly to its new home; while making the puppy feel comfortable and safe is part of helping your puppy acclimate itself, another part of helping a puppy acclimate itself will have to do with making sure this puppy will grow up into an obedient and enjoyable dog!

When you are bringing a puppy into your home, the first thing you should do is make them feel as comfortable, as safe, and as secure as you can; be aware of the fact that a puppy has a need for a safe, loving, and nurturing environment, so shower this puppy with love and affection while doing everything you can to ensure that the puppy is comfy and safe.

Of course, the easiest part of all is loving on the puppy and keeping it comfortable and safe, but  one step that is a bit harder - but that is just as important - is that you also start training the puppy and setting boundaries; you will want to do this while still continuing to express love and communicate safety to the puppy, but keep a firm hand as well, realizing that a puppy will naturally try to push the boundaries, and you will have a mess on your hands down the road if you allow your puppy to do this now!

And you will want to get your puppy exercise from an early age in order to help them acclimate; most people think of physical exercise when they think of "exercise," but while physical exercise is part of the prescription for helping your puppy acclimate, you will also want to make sure your puppy gets mental and social exercise as well, as this will help them grow into a well-adjusted adult.

When you bring a new puppy home and try to help them acclimate to your home, there will be a steep learning curve, but the learning curve will be a whole lot easier for you and your family to endure as you keep these tips in mind.

How To Have A Perfect Pool Day

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If you grew up with a pool in your backyard, you probably remember it being a whole lot more fun than your pool is now, and while part of this is because seeing the world through a child's eyes makes everything seem more fun, another part of this is because you are probably not doing everything you can to get the most out of your pool! If you think back to the time when you spent days at the pool as a child, you will realize that there used to be entire "pool days," where you would sit by the pool from the time the sun came up until after the sun went down, enjoying an entire fun, relaxing day - and if you have ever felt like it would be nice to unwind a bit and capture some fun, a pool day might be just the thing you need!

Making sure that you do not have a "plan" for the day, but rather, that you have your entire schedule clear, is the first step to having a successful pool day; you should be ready to go with the flow - no matter where that flow leads you! When your designated "pool day" arrives, get up relatively early, and get out beside the pool even before the sun has reached its highest point in the sky.

If you want to have a perfect pool day, it will not really have nothing to do with "swimming all day" (or even with "being in the sun all day"), but will instead have more to do with the fact that you will get the most enjoyment out of the day if you spend the day outside around the pool, perhaps taking a break to go get ice cream, or taking a break for a movie in the afternoon before heading back out to the pool, but all-in-all, doing what you can to relax outside and not worry about anything else. As you are probably used to a much more fast-paced life, you may even find this difficult at first - but once you settle in, you will be able to enjoy your pool day to its fullest, capturing the fun you used to have as a child!

Raising Butterflies

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If you have grade school aged children, raising butterflies can be a great experience. Monarchs make for one of the most ideal to raise at home. This can be a great hands on experience for them. You can teach and show them the different life stages of the butterfly.

The first thing you really should do is purchase a book about monarchs this will help your children begin to understand their life cycle. Monarchs use common milkweed as a food source, along with laying their eggs on them. Planting milkweed in a butterfly garden is a great way to get some monarch eggs. Monarchs generally lay their eggs, whcih look like tiny white footballs, on the bottom of milkweed leaves. Then you simply clip the leaf the egg is attached to with a scissors. Once you have clipped the leaf, put it into a Tupperware container.

Now this is a good temporary home for your egg. It wont take long before they hatch and turn into tiny caterpillars. The caterpillar will need new milkweed leaves every couple of days. Make sure to remove old leaves, since they will mold before too long. A butterfly net house is a great place to move your caterpiller as it begins to grow. These are idea for housing your caterpillars as they turn into butterflies. Just make sure that when you open the top you are very careful of any chrysalis that may on the top.

A Monarch chrysalis is a bright green and will remain this color until right before the butterfly immerges. About 24 to 48 hours before it is ready to immerge, it will turn clear, allowing you to see the monarch's wings. If you want to learn more about attracting butterflies to your home, along with housing them, the butterfly book is a great resource. This can be a great learning resource for your children.

Tips For Getting Started Writing A Novel

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For anyone who has ever had a desire to write a novel, one of the hardest parts can actually be just knowing where to start. And while you might hear people say, "Just sit down and write," this is not always the best way to get started. After all - if you actually dream of getting this novel published - you will need the story to have more continuity than something can have if you "just sit down and write."

Of course, the first thing you need - even before you start writing your novel - is the seed of an idea. The idea does not need to be fully-developed or even complete when you get started, but it needs to be in place, as it will be your launch point. It will be time to start populating the story with fully-developed characters after you have come up with the seed of the idea. This is one of the most important steps, as you can turn a mediocre story into a great story with three-dimensional characters, and you can turn a good story into a great story! Plus, you will enjoy the work on the project - the daily writing - that much more if you are working every day with characters you truly enjoy.

Having all these elements in place will be an indication that you are ready to start the story; this does not, however, mean you are necessarily ready to start writing. Sometimes, to "start the story" means nothing more than to start figuring out exactly where you will go with it next. The story might actually feel too stilted if you plan it all out from the start, so this is not necessary - but you should begin with a general idea. And as you start to move through the writing, you should make sure you keep this "general idea" flexible, so it can change as necessary. In this way, you will be able to let the story take you forward, instead of trying to direct the whole thing yourself!

It can be an immensely rewarding experience, when you write a novel - and you will be that much closer to completing it well once you know how to get started properly!

Idea Walks

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No matter what sort of life you lead or what sort of job you have, there is a good chance you sometimes find yourself "stuck" on an idea or issue - regardless of whether it is something that has to do with work, your family, your personal life, or any number of other things. And while different people all have different approaches that tend to help them get "unstuck" at such times, one thing that seems to work for people across the board is spending a bit of time alone and taking a walk in order to "get over the hump" - and if you have ever found that such "Idea Walks" work well for you (or if you would like to find out whether an Idea Walk would work well for you), here are a few great approaches to try.

Morning Idea Walk: If you are taking an Idea Walk in the morning, the best way to do it is to get outside around the same time the sun is coming up; try to make sure your walk leads you to a place where you can see the sun coming up over a scenic setting.

Afternoon Idea Walk: Because there is so much "hustle and bustle" in the world in the middle of the afternoon, it can be more difficult to find a quiet place for an afternoon Idea Walk; your aims for an afternoon Idea Walk should be to find a place that is shaded, quiet, and cool.

Evening Idea Walk: The evening is the best time to take an Idea Walk in an area that has other people around, as most of the people around will be unwinding from their day; find a subdued park or a neighborhood that is relatively quiet, and enjoy some pleasant walking and thinking.

Each person tends to find that there are a few unique specifics that help them to get "unstuck," but the Idea Walk ends up being one of the best approaches for most people - and you certainly cannot go wrong with trying it!

Tips For Getting What You Want Out Of Your Wedding Photos

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

In time, you will realize that your wedding photos are some of the most important photos of your life, as your wedding album will become a tremendous keepsake for you and your spouse – something the two of you can look back on and enjoy for years and years – but in spite of how important the wedding pictures are, many people go about selecting a wedding photographer in the wrong way. If you are currently planning a wedding and are looking for a photographer, here are a few important tips for you to keep in mind in order to ensure that you get the most out of your wedding pictures.

The first thing you need to know is what you want your wedding pictures to look like, as there are all sorts of different styles when it comes to wedding photography; rather than simply selecting a wedding photographer based on the what will get you the best price, take the time to browse the websites of different wedding photographers, and select one based on who you think will do the best job giving you the sorts of pictures you want.

As you get closer to the wedding, make sure you meet with the photographer at some point, getting a feel for their approach, and making sure you let them know some of the specific things you want them to make sure they do and make sure they get.

And perhaps the most difficult step of all (but also perhaps the most important) is that – when the wedding day comes – you allow your photographer to be in control; it is easy for a bride or groom to become concerned and want to monitor the photographer, but as long as you have followed the first two steps, you can rest assured, knowing that the photographer you chose to hire will get everything you need as long as you allow them to work!

By following these tips, you will end up with a wedding photographer who knows exactly what you want, and who will have no problem delivering on what you want when the wedding has come to an end.

A Way to Still Enjoy the NFL This Upcoming Season

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

The lockout in the NFL is still dragging along with little progress, so this upcoming fall we may not have a football season. Players and owners are arguing over many different points without any conclusion so far. Neither side seems to want to make any concessions even though billions of dollars are on the line for both of them. This means that fans across the country may be left with Sundays that are very empty this fall. Fantasy football, Monday night football, and live games in stadiums are all activities that may fall victim.

Thankfully though video games will still allow us to enjoy football this season. Madden NFL 12 has come out and is the newest game to date from the John Madden franchise. There are new features to enjoy and updated graphics as well since every new Madden game delivers them. The rosters are also updated with rookies and trades inserted appropriately. If drastic player movement occurs due to the end of a lockout, internet connections on each system can be used to download update rosters for all the teams. Roster updates throughout the season are usually delivered by the Madden franchise.

What really stands out from the new features are two important changes. Madden NFL Ultimate Team is a feature that combines many different aspects of football that fans love. Trading cards, fantasy football, and video game play are all combined to deliver a unique experience to the new edition. New this year is another feature called Dynamic Player Performance. Dependent upon your player’s performance each game, you will see a difference in them. Their confidence levels and their skills will adjust according to the successes and failures they have.

No football this year isn't a certainty just because the NFL is in the midst of a lockout. The football season can still be enjoyed thanks to the new Madden NFL 12. Play games on your PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 this upcoming season instead of just watching the games on Sundays.

Madden NFL 12.

Ending An Argument Without Allowing It To Carry Over

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

Very few people actually “enjoy” getting in an argument, but even though you might not especially want to get in an argument, the truth of the matter is that arguments are often unavoidable; of course, understanding how to resolve an argument when it arises is a valuable tool to have in your arsenal, but just as valuable as this (and something people think of far less often) is knowing how to move on from the argument itself without allowing it to carry over into the rest of your day.

The first step to being able to move on from an argument is being able to make amends with the person who you were arguing with; sometimes, this can be easier than other times, but regardless of how the argument ends or who you feel was “right,” making amends with the other person will go a long way in putting the argument completely to rest.

Another thing to keep in mind is that you should do your best to put the argument completely out of mind after it has ended; this is often easier said than done, but when you make a conscious effort to put the argument out of mind, you will soon be able to move on from it completely without allowing it to carry over into the rest of your day.

And finally, perhaps the biggest key of all when it comes to trying to move on from an argument is that you point yourself in the opposite direction, and the best way to do this is to go out and do something “fun" after the argument has ended; by doing this, you will be able to point yourself in the opposite direction, removing yourself as far from the argument as possible!

Even though you may want to avoid arguments, you should also realize that they are inevitable; but by being sure to follow these tips and tricks, you will have a much easier time moving on from these arguments when they occur, without allowing them to carry over into and ruin the rest of your day!

Writing The First Draft Of A Novel

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

A lot of people imagine it would be lots of fun to write a novel, but while they might have a great idea for a novel, and while they might even have moderately good (or even very good) writing skills, it can sometimes be difficult to know exactly how to get started; of course, there is no right or wrong way to get started, as long as you are able to finish in the end, but there are certain things that anyone would be well-served to keep in mind in starting a novel, as these are some things that tend to work for anyone who chooses to put them to use!

The first steps to writing a novel will be coming up with a general idea for the story, and coming up with the characters who will populate the story; you do not have to come up with a blow-by-blow rundown of everything that will happen in the story, but rather, come up with a simple outline of what you expect to happen, then insert the characters you have created and see where they take the story!

Consistency will be the next step to writing a novel, and this means setting a certain amount of time you expect to write each day, and even setting a time of day during which you will tackle this "certain amount of writing"; in theory, this part is easy, but keeping up with this writing every day is one of the most difficult parts of the process - and all the while, it is also one of the most important!

And a lot of people face the problem of overanalyzing things as they move through the first draft, always asking if the writing is good enough, or if the story is good enough, or if everything is polished enough. But it is important for you to realize that at the end of the first draft's completion, you will end up spending far more time editing the manuscript than you spent writing it, and during that time you will be able to clean up everything that requires cleaning up - but the hardest part of all is simply getting the story down on paper, so do not worry about how polished it is, but instead, just keep drumming away on it every single day!

Tips For Taking A Great Trip To Las Vegas

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

It can be a great deal of fun to take a trip to Las Vegas with a group of friends, but if you fail to take the proper approach to such a trip, it can end up costing you a lot more money than you would like, and can be a lot less fun than you would like; if you're planning to take a trip to Las Vegas with your friends at some point in the near future, here are a few things to keep in mind in order to make this trip as successful as possible.

Flights to Las Vegas offer one of the easiest opportunities to come across great deals, but these great deals will not be available all the time; the best way to plan a date for your trip to Las Vegas is to wait until you find a weekend that offers great deals, and to plan your trip around this weekend, instead of picking a weekend in advance and buying whatever tickets are available.

While it will be beneficial for you to try to save money on your plane ticket, your hotel is not an area where you will want to try to save money, as it will be far more important for you to be staying in the middle of The Strip than for you to save a bit of money and stay at one far end or the other; generally speaking, hotel rooms in Las Vegas are not all that expensive, so go for a slightly more expensive option in the center of The Strip rather than trying to save money by staying away from the action.

And when it comes to staying in Las Vegas, one of the most important things for you to realize is that there is more to do than simply gamble, so take your trip with some ideas in mind of other things you would like to do and see, and set a limit on the amount of money you are willing to lose gambling, as this will make your trip more enjoyable and much more of a success.

Even if you fail to plan it properly, you can have a great deal of fun on a trip to Las Vegas with your friends, but when you make sure to plan properly, the trip will be even better, and will go a lot more smoothly while providing you with much better memories to look back on down the road!

Tips For Getting Your Book Published

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

A lot of people tend to operate under the impression that getting their book published is as simple as writing that last word and then shipping it off to all the major publishing houses (and - of course - hopefully finding that they are all battling to be the one who signs you!), but once you have written that last word, you will find that the publishing process is quite a bit more difficult. If the thought of writing a book has ever crossed your mind - regardless of whether your interests lie in fiction, non-fiction, self-help, or any other areas - it will be extremely useful for you to know the steps you must take in order to get your book published.

Actually writing the book is the first step to actually getting it published, and while this might seem like an obvious statement, many writers who are just starting out begin to approach agents and publishers before they have even written the final word and gone through an immense set of edits - which is a definite no-no!

Learn more from The Complete Idiots Guide To Getting Published.

You will need to find an agent for your book once you have finished the writing, and this will entail sending letters to all the agents who are open to submissions, and hoping that one of them likes the premise of the book and the writing in the book enough to ask you on as a client.

And these days, the most important thing of all on the path to getting published is for you to "build a platform," which is publishing lingo for having a strong web presence on Twitter, facebook, a blog, and anywhere else you can think of; the earlier you start this step (even before you start writing, in fact!), the better shape you will be in when it comes time to try and get published.

The path to becoming a published author is not short, and it is not easy, but when you know where to start in order to get where you are going, you will be much more likely to end up at your final destination.

Three Great Places To Sail

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

You probably already know all your favorite sailing spots if you own a sailboat of your own. But even if you do not own your own sailboat, this should not be any reason for you to miss out on the fun of sailing; after all, there are sailboats for rent all over the world. In fact, in many respects, renting a boat is even better than owning a boat. When you rent, you avoid the hassle of maintenance and of having to find a spot for the boat when it is not in use. Furthermore, renters are free to travel all over the world, renting boats where they go and sailing wherever they choose. Of course, you do not have to go far away to find good sailing; there is plenty of great sailing right around America.

One of the most covetous sailing spots in all the world is the waters off the northeast coast of the US. Many avid sailors swear that this is the best sailing you can find anywhere in the world, from Chesapeake Bay to Cape Cod to the coast of Maine. While the weather can be cold, even in the summer, the winds are great and the beauty is tough to compete with. As far as most sailors can see it, this area is everything sailing is supposed to be.

Also, consider the Florida Keys as a sailing destination if you are thinking of finding something more laid-back and luxurious. The weather here is almost always great, unlike the weather on the waters of the Northeast. If you aspire to see yourself as a "true sailor," this area might just feel a bit touristy for your tastes, but one reason why this area is so popular is, quite frankly, because it is a great place to visit.

To find the perfect blend of "true sailing" and great weather, you have to travel a bit further south than the Florida Keys, heading down to the British Virgin Islands. The only problem with the British Virgin Islands is that - with how beautiful it is, and with how many places there are for you to explore - you might not ever want to leave!

You can fulfill your sailing desires without straying too far from your home in America, no matter what your sailing desires might be. And if you do not own a boat of your own, the possibilities are especially endless.

Keeping Your Kitchen Free From Ants

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

Despite the fact that most ants invading your home do not put you at risk of being bit, there are still plenty of reasons to want to keep ants out of your house, and especially out of your kitchen – after all, the last thing you want is to have insects crawling all over your food after having been crawling around outside! At the same time, however - once ants have started showing up in your kitchen - it can seem like they are nearly impossible to get rid of, as they will resiliently and resolutely continue returning despite your most valiant efforts to keep them away; if you have been dealing with ant problems of your own, here are a few things for you to try in order to keep them away for good.

Some people pay to have an exterminator come out in an effort to get rid of ants, but ant spray you can buy at your local supermarket will be just as effective as the spray used by exterminators – and it will be much more cost-effective, as you should spray at least once a month!

After you have sprayed the bases of the walls and the edges of the windows (both inside and outside!), you also need to realize that ants will still find a way inside if you are leaving food around; get into the habit of putting your food away at all times, and the ants will get in the habit of looking elsewhere for their meals.

Many people do not realize that another thing ants are after is water; if you have sprayed and gotten into the habit of putting away your food, and you are still frequently seeing ants on your counter and in your sink, start wiping down your sink after you have used it, and pretty soon, the ants will disappear for good!

When you are trying to get them out of your house, ants can be hard-headed, but when you get them to change their habits and start going elsewhere, you should finally be rid of your ant problem for good!

Using Goodreads To Help You Sell Books

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

One of the most important things if you have written a book will be that you are able to figure out the things you can do to help the book sell well (and this is true regardless of whether you are published by a major publishing house or a small press, or are self-published!), as a book is unlikely to sell itself without a bit of help from the author; there are a lot of different ways by which you can go about promoting your book if you are in this position, but one of the best places for promoting your book is Goodreads - which is a social network for readers - especially if you know how best to use Goodreads to your advantage!

Setting yourself up as a "book expert" on your own Goodreads page is the first thing you should do - not only rating all the books you have read in the past, but also taking the time to write reviews of as many of these books as you can; when you have reviews of lots of books, people will be more likely to start following your reviews, and as more and more people follow your reviews, more and more people will try to find out more about you - and will end up looking into your book!

As is the case with any social network through which you are attempting to promote yourself, interacting with others on Goodreads will be an important part of your success as well; when people comment on your reviews or on the books you have read, make sure you comment back - and after you have read a new book, look around for others who have read (and written reviews) of this same book, and leave comments of your own.

And of course, getting others to "promote" your book for you is one of the best things of all that you can do, and Goodreads gives you a great opportunity for this, as it allows readers to recommend their favorite books to others. Try to get those who read your book to recommend it to others who they think will enjoy it, and watch as the word about your book begins to spread further and further!

Adding Fish To Your Saltwater Aquarium: The Yellowtail Damselfish

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

If you have a saltwater aquarium, or if you are planning to start a saltwater aquarium, you surely want to add as much color to your tank as possible. And when it comes to adding color to a fish tank, the yellowtail damselfish fits the bill as well as any other fish. But as is the case with any fish, you do not want to simply add a yellowtail damsel right away; first, you want to research and make sure it is a good fit!

The yellowtail damsel is a very hardy fish, which even leads some to suggest them as a great fish for cycling a new tank. But before you decide this makes the yellowtail damsel seem like a no-brainer, you might want to reconsider, as damselfish are also extremely territorial. And even though the yellowtail damselfish is one of the least aggressive damselfish, the fact still stands that they are a damselfish!

If you add a yellowtail damsel to cycle a new tank, and add no other fish with it, you will run the risk of them going ahead and claiming the entire tank as their own. After this, you will have a hard time adding any fish in the future, as the others will become ill and die due to the constant pestering the yellowtail damsel will do.

You should also consider the size of your tank if you want a yellowtail damsel; a single yellowtail damsel can be kept in a tank as small as 20 gallons, but you should really plan to keep at least 5 at a time. When you keep them in bigger groups, they become significantly less aggressive; with a bigger group, however, you also need a much bigger tank.

You will also need to make absolutely sure that the yellowtail damsel and the other fish in your tank have similar requirements when it comes to the water.

The yellowtail damsel requires water temperatures to be kept between 75 and 80 degrees, and the pH should be kept between 8.1 and 8.4.

Because of the beauty of the yellowtail damsel, they can be lovely and fun to watch. Just make sure it will fit well in your tank before you make the decision to add them to the mix!

Tips For Studying Properly And Successfully

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

One of the biggest obstacles many students face in high school and college is knowing how to study correctly, and in fact, many students decide that they are just "not good at taking tests," when the truth might actually be that they are simply not taking the proper approach to studying! While there is certainly no single "right" or "wrong" way to study, there are definitely a few things that everyone should make sure they understand about studying, as an understanding of these things will go a long way improving the effectiveness of the studying a student does - and in turn, will go a long way in improving a student's performance in school!

In order to improve your study habits, the first thing you will have to understand is the difference between learning and cramming; many students study for their tests by trying to make sure they "cram" everything into their brain, or by trying to figure out what they can do to make sure they "remember" things, when the best approach to take to studying is to do what you can to actually "learn" the topics at hand.

Along the same lines, understanding the value of starting the studying early is also important; a lot of students will wait until a week (or a few days!) before a test before they start studying, but if you instead spend the entire semester studying a little bit at a time, you will not have to study at all in the days leading up to a test, because you will "know" everything already.

And lastly, you will want to make sure you understand the importance of repetition when it comes to studying; the more times you look over certain notes or points, the more likely you are to retain these things - learning them to a point where you will have no problem recalling them when it is time for the test.

When you hold onto these understandings as you begin to study, you will be in much better shape to succeed in school, instead of being left complaining that you are "just not good at taking tests."

Tips For Looking For Movies You'll Enjoy

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

If you are a big movie buff - someone who pretty much considers movies to be your "hobby" - you will not have a hard time finding movies you will enjoy, as you will probably have a pretty good idea of the sorts of movies you will like, and if the places you can look to determine whether or not a movie will be worth seeing for you, but if you are the kind of person who only watches movies every once in a while, it can be a bit more difficult for you to determine whether or not you are likely to enjoy a particular movie until you see it, and if you do not especially enjoy seeing piles of movies you do not actually like, this can be annoying!

The first thing you need to do, if you want to make it easier on yourself to find movies you will enjoy, is firmly establish exactly what movies you do enjoy; oftentimes, people will have an immediate reaction to a movie, and they will never look back at the movie down the road to see whether this initial reaction was accurate, so take the time to look back over the movies you have seen and make sure you know exactly what movies you liked and disliked.

Once you have established in your mind what movies you have seen that you both liked and disliked, you can start to search out the reviews from different critics of these movies (the best way to do this is to go to the website Rotten Tomatoes, and to see what rating all the top critics gave to all your favorite and least favorite movies); when you do this, it will give you a better idea of how each critic's tastes line up with your tastes, and down the road, you will be able to use this knowledge to determine before you see a movie whether or not you are likely to like or dislike it.

And in the search for movies you will enjoy, realize that it is really not all that bad to take chances every once in a while. When you take a chance on a movie - going to see one you are unsure about - you may end up hating the movie in question, but there might also be times when you end up loving the movie, and this will make the risk well worth it!

Playing Capture The Flag

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

If you are looking for a game that you can play this summer with your family, or that you can play if you have a group of friends over who are wanting to do something fun and different, one thing that is always worth keeping in mind is capture the flag!

A yard that is large enough for the game, and that can be divided roughly in half, will be the first two things you will need for a game of capture the flag; of course, if you do not have a yard that will work for this, you can also go to a nearby park that will work, as it will be important for you to have a fair amount of space in which you can play the game, and for you to also be able to discern one side from the other.

In order to get started with your game of capture the flag, you will need to set up two teams that each have an even number of players, giving each team a rag, shirt, or towel - making sure each of the two "flags" are the same size and color; once the teams have been divided and each team has been given their flag, the teams should take turns hiding their flag on their side of the yard in a place where they think the other team will not find it (and make sure you have a rule that states how much of the flag must be showing - usually a couple inches - or it may never be found!).

Once each team has hidden their flag, you can start the game, with the goal being to find the other team's flag and move it back to your own side - without getting tagged by the other team! This part of the game usually has different rules depending on who you play with, and nothing is "right" or "wrong" as long as everyone playing knows the rules, but the main components should be that if a player gets tagged, they are frozen until a member of their team unfreezes them, and the game does not end until one team finds the other team's flag and gets it back onto their side!

Tips For Starting A Fire When Camping

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

If you are going to be taking a camping trip, one of the most important things will be building a fire, and while you might have thought that building a fire while camping is as simple as stacking some wood and lighting it on fire (and while it is, in fact, sometimes this simple!), you will usually have to know a few more things than just this. Before you hit the road to take your camping trip - regardless of whether you are going by yourself, with friends, or with family - these are some specific things you should make sure you know before you try to build your campfire.

Before you do anything else, you will want to make sure it will be legal for you to build a fire where you are going; if you are camping at a campsite, this will be important, as there will usually be people there who police things and make sure no fires are being build where they should not be, and if you are going camping in the woods, this will be even more important, as building a fire in an illegal area could lead to a forest fire!

You will want to prepare for your fire by digging a pit in which you can keep the fire, stacking rocks around it to make sure the fire does not spread, and then you will want to make sure that you have enough extra wood handy that you will not have to go searching for it when you need to add to the fire.

The easiest part of building a fire will be actually building the fire - simply stack the wood in such a way that air will be able to flow through it, then add some dry tinder underneath and get the fire going!

You should consider bringing dry tinder with you, as this will keep you from having to scrounge around for it when you are trying to build your fire, and you should also bring matches and a flint (in case the matches get wet), as this will help you ensure that you will be able to get your fire going!