She Says? Brilliance or Stupidity? | This Place Is Now a Home

While sitting on the train yesterday I had a flash of brilliance. Or utter stupidity? I?m not sure yet.

We are planning to take a family vacation this summer to go visit my family in the Philadelphia area. My brother and sister-in-law are having their second baby, which will bring the cousin count to 5, all within a few years of each other. So fun! We discussed a group vacation to a destination (like last year?s family trip to the Cape), but budgets and time and the fact that the littlest cousin will likely be born in July dictated that we would meet at the most convenient spot ? my older sister?s house with a pool! We?ve finally nailed down dates and I quickly did a search to see how much flights were going to be.

BOS > PHL round trip for the whole fam = $1,100

What in the?

Why in the world is it so expensive? First of all, we have to buy Owen a ticket since he will be over 2 by then. So that?s a BIG part of the cost. But really, Boston and Philly are SO CLOSE, why in the world does it cost nearly $400 a person to get there? I can fly to Vegas for far less. Heck, I could probably even get to Europe for less than that. Southwest and JetBlue are usually my go-to budget airlines, but they don?t fly directly between these 2 airports for whatever reason. Other, slightly cheaper?options include stopping along the way, but that just seems ridiculous since the entire flight time is probably an hour or less.

My first thought: Well, OBVIOUSLY we have to drive. But y?all know how Owen does in the car. Carsickness. Agitation. Crying. Pleading. He?s gotten SO much better recently, even on longer trips (like to the zoo last weekend, we pushed 40 minutes and he didn?t fuss at all), AND he will be over 2 so his carseat can face forwards. BUT! Sticking the most active toddler ever in a seat for 8 hours, plus bathroom and food stops along the way? Kill me now. Maybe I?m being a little too dramatic, but the thought of driving that many hours with Owen in his current stage makes me cringe.

Which brings me to the idea I just came up with. What about taking the train?

Advantages:

1. It?s cheap. Dirt cheap compared to flying.
2. We don?t have to go through security or pay through the nose for parking. That means we can bring all of the food and liquids and strollers we want, with little to no waiting in line.
3. Bathrooms and food are readily available.
4. No ?Fasten your seatbelt? sign. In fact, no seatbelts at all.
5. Owen will be IN HEAVEN riding a choo choo. At least for the first 5 minutes. Train conductors stopping by every once in awhile? The kid will probably want their autographs.
6. Scenery. I always take the train to New York instead of flying because it?s just. so. darn. beautiful.

Disadvantages? It?s still long. 6+ hours. But that?s still less than driving! Owen?s motion sickness could still be an issue, I?m not really sure. He won?t be riding backwards, which is a huge plus, but I will likely bring a few changes of clothes. For everyone.

Why don?t I hear about others taking the train with kids, or see toddlers running down the aisles normally? Is there something I?m not thinking of? Anyone ever tried this before?

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Sweden Journal: Skogs Livet

In Sm?land, everything seems to revolve around the forest. Dirt roads make their way into a sea of pines, birches and oaks. Only mildly dotted with small villages every several kilometers. Moss and lichen covered boulders give the illusion of an ancient habitat, yet can?t be older than the last ice age, 10,000 years ago, where glaciers rolled Atlas-sized rocks for hundreds of kilometers softening the edges so much that they look like pillows for giants.

The first day in Sweden was relaxing. The second day my father-in-law put us right to work! And we gladly worked with him right up until the day we moved out into our own farm (another post) for our first three weeks there. He told us ?wood is money here?. Most of the houses are still run on wood-burning stoves and boilers. In fact, little has changed in hundreds of years in most Swedish countryside estates. While they may have the modern conveniences of electricity and phone lines, power outages occur enough in the winter that no one would dare ever part with a wood burning stove or fireplace.

Indeed, it seems every Swede I meet knows very well the intricacies of several designs of wood stoves. Apparently, the Ankarsrum Sm?lands Spisen No. 28 in our new place is of top-notch quality. Although, I was very impressed with my in-laws wood boiler. In order to give our kids a bath we had to start the boiler about an hour before and keep feeding the fire until the thermometer got to about 40C. Then we would have enough hot water for a bath. As a Midwest suburbanite transplant, I was amazed that you could live fairly comfortably without electric, oil or gas heating. Wood is good!

Wood is also free, the only cost being the work to get it into manageable sizes for burning, and the population density of the Swedish countryside is low enough to make little impact. The forestry industry is required to replant within three years a tree for a tree and I?m told it is checked by plane regularly to make sure they are complying. My father-in-law already had all of his wood stockpiled last summer for this upcoming winter. He had cut down 12 trees before we arrived to use for winter in 2013. Of course, since part of their home is run on wood burning, they use a little in the warmer months for making hot water when they need it. Thus, they need quite a bit wood. He estimates that wood burning saves them in excess of 6000 kronor of year (~$840) and he gets good exercise too. We gladly helped him move brush into piles and stack the cross-sectioned logs in neat little rows between rocks and trees.

But wood is mostly a source of inspiration for many Swedes, including those who must make the livelihood, or their life, by destroying it. The forest here is the children?s playground, the sportsmen?s gameland, the city dwellers? place of zen, the country-dwellers? way of life and all of Sweden appears to have some intimate connection with Skogs Liv, the ?forest-life?. Even Peaches, our dog, seems to have come home again for the first time here. She races between trees spaced apart in such a way as to be nearly perfect for walking between. The dense undergrowth of her former North Carolinian home is replaced with grassy bogs and mossy stones.

Peaches ease into Swedish skogs liv was made possible with the help of Elsa, my in-laws loyal hund. They are very similar, about the same size, same temperament (submissive and cuddly), both trained very well and both very loyal to their families. They get along famously. Elsa knows the woods around Dunsj?m?la exceptionally well. Since living there, my in-laws spend about 2+ hours walking with her in the forest. My father-in-law has marked probably hundreds of kilometers of paths with red or blue tape through the forest. Elsa will occasionally run off for several minutes in complete and utter freedom and always return to her family on the trail. Naturally, Peaches chases off after her and has gotten lost on more than one occasion, but always seems to find us. The record so far has been about 26 minutes. She came back with a couple scrapes on her face, mud up to her shoulders and completely drenched all over. Must have been a good time. Sometimes I like to think that Elsa tries to play jokes on Peaches and lead her away from the trail to ditch her somewhere in the forest.

Even the forest abides by the Swedish law of lagom. Not too much wildlife, just enough. We?ve seen a charging wild boar, pterodactyl-esque gray herons, swans, several deer, a moose, and a nearly unlimited variety of fascinating insects and birds. It is always just enough to keep you on alert around every corner, or over every ridge. Something just might be hiding there! I know my view of Sweden is skewed because we moved to an area known to be among the most beautiful in northern Europe, with excellent summer weather and far away from the hustle of Stockholm and Malm?, which have typical inner-city type problems. Yet perhaps the Swedish people are engrained with lagom from their youth because their environment seems to be, well? lagom.We here often the phrase ?det l?ser sig?, meaning something along the lines of, ?it?ll work out?.

Swedish words of the day: Tr?d (traed) ? tree, Spis (speess)- stove, F?glar (foh-glarr) ? birds

*Note: Sadly, since we don?t have an internet connection yet I am unable to upload pictures. I?m working solely off mobile internet now and we are out in the forest too far from 3G towers, so for now we get generous download speeds on the 2G Edge network of up to 250kbps! For updates and mobile picture uploads of our new life on a swedish farmette, follow me, @kzelnio, and my wife, @SwedeMuses, on twitter!

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Black Diamond Supplements Blog

Anyone who chooses to enter the fitness world will soon be confronted with the idea of fitness supplements. There are many opinions from different professionals about what supplements are acceptable. There is some controversy about the supplements that are not considered to be acceptable. Anyone with true experience knows that each individual has his or her own criteria concerning morals and health concerns. These will determine which fitness supplements are acceptable to you.

The main purpose of fitness supplements is to assist in muscle growth. This helps individuals achieve the physique they desire. Muscle growth is not only an effect of weight lifting and cardio, but also a reflection of the nutrients received before and after a workout. Unfortunately the average diet is not adequate in the nutrients necessary to build muscle effectively. This understanding is why supplements have become so popular.

Pre-workout supplements are designed to prepare the body for the upcoming workout. Most serious trainers use some form of a pre-workout supplement. Your body will respond differently to each supplement and each one will have varying intensity levels. If you choose to use a pre-workout supplement, it is important to keep your dosage low until your body is comfortable. It is also crucial to drink an adequate amount of water to protect yourself from dehydration. You should also consider alternating your pre-workout fitness supplement because your body adapts to everything.

Post-workout fitness supplements are considered to be the most important supplement to take. For anyone who truly desires muscle building, this step cannot be skipped. There are multiple post-workout solutions, but they all essentially assist in the most important aspect of weightlifting. That would be recovery, or how quickly your body begins rebuilding the muscle you broke down. Without sufficient recovery, you risk injury and will most definitely not be building muscle.

Fitness supplements are important and maybe even necessary for serious weightlifters. Not only do they give individuals an advantage, but they also ensure one's time was not wasted. It is important to test multiple fitness supplements because your body will react differently to each. With persistence, you will definitely come across the supplements that give you the best chance to succeed.?

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Easy Planning Tips for Starting an Online Business | Et Colleges

How to Begin Making Plans for an Internet Business

Many of the people making plans for an online business have no experience in this particular industry. For this reason it shouldn?t be a huge shock that they often feel a little overwhelmed by it all. Of course there are many things harder to do than create a business on the web. But there is still an awesome learning curve associated with it. You?re not alone if you?re struggling but don?t let the worry stop you. This articles condenses three vital lessons that can really help you plan your first Internet business much better. Revitol Eye Cream

Figure out what kind of link you?re going to utilize between the marketing methods you?re using to drive traffic to your site and the actual design of your site. Most people build their sites first without giving a single thought to how they?re going to get traffic. Search marketing is something that can greatly improve the rankings of your site with search engines. The design of your site must accommodate that though in order to make it work. There are some marketers though who are interested in smaller websites that focus on PPC advertising. These sites aren?t nearly as concerned about SEO as other sites may be. The bottom line is that you need to plan for the way you?re going to market your site while you?re creating it. Breast Actives Keep some things in mind if you hope to attract lots of organic traffic via search engine results. If your SEO efforts aren?t focused, you risk losing any search engine rankings you might have achieved. Try not to put all your hopes into attracting traffic from just search engines. It?s a good idea to work on several ways to attract new visitors to your site. So then that takes us to marketing diversity, or not having all your eggs in one basket. There have been very many people who instantly lost their income due to something changing. If you?re smart, you can avoid this type of thing happening to you.

If you know right now that you want to promote affiliate products, then think seriously about making a review blog. Your review blog needs to be for affiliate products only though. Google doesn?t smile favorably upon affiliate marketing. With that in mind, there are a lot of affiliate review blogs that rank very well with Google. Google really seems to approve of blogs that are established and that do not promote Clickbank products. Yes, Google seems to really dislike Clickbank products for a lot of reasons. If you want to make this particular venture work there?s only one thing to do: provide your audience with content that offers the best in on-page SEO and quality. If you use the correct info, your online business plan will be a great one. Even if this is your first online business, you can do this and it will make your success a lot more likely to come true.

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Romney: ?Of course? scrutinize Bain, but election is about Obama?s record

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Rep. King: CIA, Pentagon, too close to filmmakers

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A House committee chairman is charging that the CIA and Defense Department jeopardized national security by cooperating too closely with filmmakers producing a movie on the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King first raised questions about the bin Laden movie last summer, but said Wednesday that newly released documents confirm his suspicions.

The filmmakers are director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal, who won Academy Awards for the motion picture "The Hurt Locker."

Defense Department spokesman George Little said the Pentagon engages on a regular basis with the entertainment industry on movie projects, to make the films as realistic as possible.

King, a New York Republican, said that Bigelow and Boal had extremely close, unprecedented and potentially dangerous collaboration with the CIA and DOD.

Associated Press

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