Welcome to Floridas Emerald Coast!
June 22, 2007
Stay a week or stay a lifetime, the Emerald Coast of the Florida Panhandle is hard to resist. You’ll never forget how you relaxed on the sugar, white powder sands, listening to the blue green gulf water. One of the most beautiful coastlines in the world, this 100 mile stretch offers vacations that you will never forget. From elegant houses to highrise condos, the emerald coast has it all.
The emerald coast mainly consists of Destin, Fort Walton Beach and Okaloosa Island, Panama City Beach, Sandestin, and the Beaches of South Walton(Grayton Beach, Seaside, Watercolor, and Seagrove Beach).
With its clear turquoise green water, the Gulf of Mexico is waiting to be discovered. Try deep-sea fishing in the world’s luckiest fishing village - Destin, or enjoy miles of unspoiled beaches that provide plenty of swimming, snorkeling, jetskiing or parasailing. Leisure activities abound, too. The Emerald Coast has many golf courses and tennis courts on which to play, paths to ride bikes, and state parks to explore. If you have one of those days where you just want to get out of the sun, try visiting one of the many museums or shopping centers.
9 Fantastic Formulas for a Stress Free Holiday!
June 21, 2007
The holidays are officially here. And so the season for giving begins. Warm loving intentions, thoughtful giving and stocking stuffing take over.
It’s a wonderful time of year, but with all the activities, excitement and family obligations taking place at the same time, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, stressed and even a tad bit gloomy. Here are 9 simple steps to relax, let go and really enjoy a truly happy holiday!
1. Reflect on what an inspiration you are to others. The time you spend, the love you give and the enthusiasm with which you do it all with is what matters most to people close to you. The beautifully wrapped presents and bows are far less important than your loving friendship. You are appreciated and cherished in the lives of so many people. Love yourself with the same appreciation.
2. Be honest with yourself and don’t stuff your feelings. As you start to feel range of emotions this holiday? whether it is joy or fear? frustration or liberation?Don’t push them away like last season’s Prada bag. Give them a special place. It will be far easier to enjoy the holiday if you are honest with yourself and experience all the good, bad and normal parts of life. Be as accepting and generous with yourself as you are with the people in your life you care about the most.
Tis The Season For Love ? and Stress!
June 20, 2007
The holidays are upon us and for many people this is the most stressful time of year. There is so much to do and not enough time to do it in, places to go, people to see, gifts to buy, food to prepare, and on and on and on. We may feel overwhelmed, frustrated, exhausted, and angry, rather than joyful, loving and peaceful. Greeting cards proclaim wishes of peace, joy, happiness, and love regardless of the event being celebrated. They talk of families gathering, warm homes filled with love and peace, but for many, those wishes do not translate into reality.
Our memories of wonderful holidays from our childhood and our expectations for this year may put an enormous amount of pressure on us. There are traditions to be followed and expectations to be met, those of others and those we put on ourselves, along with the commercialism that has the stores full of holiday decorations and "gifts" even before the Halloween candy has been put away. Some people will struggle through much of next year to pay off the credit card debt that they accumulate over the holidays. But saddest of all, is when the holiday is over and we think to ourselves "Is that all there is?" "Where was the joy, the peace, the love?" "Why does it seem as though it never measures up to our expectations?"
Vacation Getaways and Healthy Living Tips
June 19, 2007
Going away on a vacation brings numerous benefits. It refreshes our enthusiasm, helps us to know ourselves a little better, and makes us, upon our return home, happier, healthier, and much more effective in coping with stress. The key to reaping the benefits of traveling is in the going away. Hardly anyone reaps a benefit from spending a vacation time at home to work around the house.
Want a reason or two to go away on vacation? Here are fifteen:
1. Relaxation: Vacations break our day-to-day routine.
2. Stimulation of new sights: New sights give us new insights.
3. Meeting new people: Seeing how other people live broadens our perspective on our own live.
4. Fellowship and camaraderie: Shared hardships and good times form long-lasting bonds of love and friendship.
5. Education: We learn new skills and activities. Remember when you picked your first farm-fresh fruit or vegetable, climbed a mountain, learned a new language?
6. Adventure: Travel returns a sense of adventure to our life and improves our self-esteem when we accept and conquer challenges that don’t exist in our routine life.
7. Surprise: It is the unexpected surprises in life that give us some of our fondest memories.
Happy Holidays? It?s Up To You
June 19, 2007
The Holiday Season. Does time seem to compress, or is it just me? There’s so much going on — the end of autumn, the beginning of winter, and all the holidays that follow. As a child it was an exciting time of year. As an adult, it seems filled with more shopping, baking, parties, and other events than I can squeeze into the available time.
In Aikido, the martial art that I practice and teach, we have something called “randori,” an exercise in which the student stands alone on the practice mat and as many as five opponents attack simultaneously. Sometimes the holidays feel like this — which task, event, or relationship do I take on first?
The first secret of randori is to handle one attack at a time. I can’t let myself become overwhelmed by the enormity of what’s out there. I must stay fully present with what’s right in front of me. It’s hard to do, but it saves time, energy, and wear and tear!
Secret #2 is to engage the attack. Though it sounds counterintuitive, welcoming the attack puts me in charge of it. I decide what I want to handle first and move toward it.
The Only New Year?s Resolution You Need
June 18, 2007
I am going to make a bold statement. I think I have the only New Year’s Resolution you need. You have got to be kidding, right??!!! You don’t know me, Kimberly. You don’t know that I need to lose 20lbs., exercise, be a better mother, be a better worker, a better wife, etc. How in the world can you boil it down to one New Year’s Resolution?
We can find our one New Year’s Resolution in the Bible. Listen to this verse,
"Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
1 Corinthians 10:31. What do you think? Can we sum up all the many roles in our lives and state without reservation that we are doing them to the glory of God? I have to admit I do not do everything to the glory of God, but that certainly is a goal to try and attain. When you look at your New Year’s Resolutions how do they look differently in light of this verse? Do I eat to the glory of God? Do I parent my children to point them to God and reflect his glory? Do my co-workers know there is something different about me, because I reflect God’s glory?
Vacation / Honeymoons 101 - Planning for Perfect Weather on Your Trip
June 17, 2007
Did you ever worry when traveling about the weather? Most people worry about weather and it can play a major role in making or breaking your vacation.
People ask all the time and think just because they are going to a tropical island that it doesn’t rain. Well just ask people who have been to some of those tropical hot spots while in their wet season.
Tropical Island’s get more rain in a month then some places do in a whole entire year.
Wouldn’t it be great to be able to plan your vacation or honeymoon around the weather? Granted some locations rain everynight and when you wake in the morning everything is dry and you would never know it rained while you were sleeping, but I am talking about planning for perfect weather.
We have visited various locations all around the world over the years and recorded critical data to plan for perfect weather. When I say “Perfect Weather” I mean Sunshine all day long, not too hot, not too cool, not a cloud in the sky type weather.
Are You Truly Thankful For Everything?
June 16, 2007
Thanksgiving is the time of year when we stop and are thankful for all our blessings. Of course, we should be thankful every day of the year. I want you to take a different look at Thanksgiving this year. You certainly can list all of your many blessings and be thankful. But, are you truly thankful for everything?
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says: Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Are you thankful for everything in your life? Are you thankful for your troubles, frustrations, unfulfilled expectations, you fill in the blank? I think it is easy to be thankful for the good things in our lives, but not the difficult things.
How to Have the ?Perfect? Christmas
June 15, 2007
"This year will be different. I vow I won’t get stressed out over presents, parties, cards, Christmas plays, putting up the tree and decorating, and all the many other tasks of the season. I will remember the true meaning of Christmas."
Do you find that all the Christmas chores steal your joy?
"For unto us a child is born" - Aahh the miracle of birth. The true miracle of our Savior’s birth. As Christian mothers we are doubly blessed to celebrate Christmas. We know the joy and pain of childbirth. We can imagine an exhausted Mary looking at her truly perfect, holy baby.
How can we recapture the joy and the simplicity of the first Christmas?
Following are some suggestions for making this the "Perfect" Christmas
1. Decide how you want your family to experience the true meaning of Christmas. Ex. Will you help another family with presents? Our family now has a tradition of doing Christmas boxes for Samaritan’s Purse. Our children love picking out items for the box and praying for the child who receives their box.
2. Prioritize what is most important to you. Maybe you can’t do it all. You may choose not to send Christmas cards, but do a New Years note.
So You Want to Sell Your Timeshare
June 14, 2007
You are the owner of a timeshare and have decided the time has come to part ways. You may be interested in another timeshare or have decided a timeshare isn’t for you. Whatever your reason may be, a timeshare is a piece of real estate and you should place as much thought and planning into selling a timeshare as you would any other piece of real estate. Many agencies exist that will assist you in selling your timeshare or buy it outright. However, just as any situation where money is involved, there are many agencies that will successfully take your money and your timeshare, leaving you with a small percent of your profit. Of course, legitimate agencies exist that will assist you selling your timeshare in a completely professional manner. Weeding the legitimate agencies from the scam artists will save you a lot of time, frustration, and money.
