Are you looking into buying a home in the near future?  Most people know that now is a great time to buy a new home.  Many places throughout the country are in a buyers market (not the area we’re looking in, of course).  Now you might have heard of cross country moving companies before.  They can help you if you are looking to move across the country. Since we are in the process of looking for a house I found their site to be very helpful and informative.  If you’re looking to move you’re going to want to check them out!

What can you do to help your teenager have good self esteem?  It’s so hard at that age with all of the hormones rushing through their bodies.  Their bodies are changing, they have such mood swings, they start to worry about their appearance, all of that kind of stuff.  So, what can you do?

1. Encourage healthy eating.  You don’t want to push too much or too little.  Your kids can sit around and eat junk food but you don’t want to deprive them of it either.
2. Encourage exercise.  Again- an area to be careful in.
3. If needed, let your teen have get the best acne treatments.  Having a lot of acne can really ruin ones self esteem.
4. Encourage their interests.  Don’t push yours onto your child- he or she has a mind of his or her own.

I know I’m not the only one, but it sure feels that way.  I’ve trying to lose weight for the last 3 years since my daughter was born.  Several years ago I was overweight and lost all of my extra weight by eating less and exercising every day.  I worked my way down to a size 2.  Now I know my body has changed since having my daughter so I may never see a size 2 again, but I would at least like to get back into the single digits as far as size goes.  I try to eat healthy but sometimes I just don’t have time to make healthy meals.  I try to exercise but it can be difficult with a 2 year old underfoot.  Maybe I need to take an appetite suppressant. Sometimes I just want to give up and be fat forever.  This is one of those times.

Did you know that in a little over 6 months that Christmas will be here?  Right now I’m thinking about getting all my summer decorations out, planning for several family birthdays that are almost upon us, getting back into the swing of things with summer vacation.  But, I also realize that before I know it, Thanksgiving will be here and then shortly after that- Christmas will be here.

So in order to keep ahead of the game- you should get started on your Christmas Green shopping now.  I create a list on a spreadsheet with all of our family members names.  Then I put down the amount of money we plan to spend on each person.  I leave several spaces open on my spreadsheet to fill in what I buy and another column for how much I have spent.  I also set it up to automatically calculate the total I have spent on each person as well as the grand total that I have spent on all family members as well as other purchases such as Christmas cards, wrapping paper and decorations.  It really helps to keep things in perspective about how much I really spend for Christmas.

My first step will be creating a new spreadsheet for this year.  Then I’ll start filling in ideas and let the shopping begin!  The sooner I get started the better- and I’m sure it’s the same for you too.