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In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chosen by the player. Although often collected directly through touch, power-ups can sometimes only be gained by collecting several related items, such as the floating letters of the word 'EXTEND' in Bubble Bobble. Well known examples of power-ups that have entered popular culture include the power pellets from Pac-Man and the Super Mushroom from Super Mario Bros., which ranked first in UGO Networks' Top 11 Video Game Powerups.
Items that confer power-ups are usually pre-placed in the game world, spawned randomly, dropped by beaten enemies or picked up from opened or smashed containers. They can be differentiated from items in other games, such as role-playing video games, by the fact that they take effect immediately, feature designs that do not necessarily fit into the game world, and are found in specific genres of games. Power-ups are mostly found in action-oriented games such as maze games, run and guns, shoot 'em ups, first-person shooters, and platform games.

History and influence

Origins of the term

"Power-up" and "1-up" are examples of a common form of wasei-eigo, in which the word "up" is prefixed by some desirable quality. The general meaning of X-up in Japanese is "this will increase your X", and this construction is regularly used in areas such as advertising. This is similar to another phrase, X get!, as seen in Super Mario Sunshine's Japanese version's "Shine Get!" phrase.

First instances

Pac-Man from 1980 is credited as the first video game to feature a power-up mechanic. Every maze in the game contains four Power Pellets which temporarily give Pac-Man the ability to eat ghosts, turning the tables on his pursuers. The effect of the power-up was illustrated by one of the first cut scenes to appear in a video game, in the form of brief comical interludes about Pac-Man and Blinky chasing each other around. The power pellet entered popular culture with a joke on video game controversies regarding the influence of video games on children.
in the original Pac-Man game comically exaggerates the effects of the power pellet.
In 1984, Sabre Wulf introduced power ups in the form of flowers which, when blossoming, provided effects such as speed up and invincibility.
In 1985 Super Mario Bros. introduced the Super Mushroom, which has entered popular culture, being described as "the power-up". The original game idea was to have an always big Mario as a technical advance, but later the power-up was introduced to make him "super" as a bonus effect. The development team thought it would be interesting to have Mario grow and shrink by eating a magic mushroom, just like in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.. Other power-ups introduced in this game were the Super Stars and Fire Flowers, which gave Mario invincibility and the ability to shoot fireballs at enemies, respectively.
Konami's 1985 game Gradius had the first use of a selection bar where the player could select which power-up effect to trigger, instead of having a fixed instant effect.
In 1986 and the years after, the concept of permanent power-ups appeared in the action role-playing genre in the form of perks.

Types of power-ups

Power-ups can be classified according to the type of benefit they give the player.

Offensive abilities

Gives a new weapon, or transforms the player character into a more aggressive form that increases its attack power or makes some enemies vulnerable. This also includes "nukes", which are weapons that destroy every enemy on the screen at once; these are prevalent in many different genres including vehicular combat, run and guns, and platform games. The effect of the power-up can be time-limited, have a limited number of uses, last until the player is hit, last until the player is killed, or last until game over.
These typically consist of items like shields surrounding the character that deflects projectiles or absorbs a certain amount of damage, or invincibility/invulnerability. In the case of invincibility, this is nearly always granted as a temporary bonus; otherwise it would negate the challenge of the game.
Invincibility comes in two main forms: either the player character merely becomes intangible to harmful things, or can also damage enemies by contact. In either case the character is often still vulnerable to some threats, such as bottomless pits. In many games, invulnerability is also temporarily granted after the player gets hit or loses a life, so that the character will not be hurt/killed twice in quick succession. The effect is commonly indicated by making the player character flash or blink or by musical cues.
Items which help the player avoid or escape enemies or enemy weapons. This category includes "speed boosts" and other power-ups which affect time, which can be temporary, permanent, or cumulative, and "invisibility" power-ups which help the player avoid enemies.
Items which help the player enter new or previously inaccessible areas, or "warp" to another level. Access abilities, depending on the game, can be required to progress normally or be entirely optional.
Typically consists of items which restore lost health, items which increase health capacity and 1-ups.
In some games, using certain items or abilities requires the expenditure of a resource such as ammunition, fuel or magic points. Some games use a single resource, such as magic points, while others use multiple resources, such as several types of ammunition. Some games also have power ups which increase the player's maximum ammunition or power capacity.
Items whose main feature is that they are found in large numbers, to encourage the player to reach certain spots in the game world. They have various cumulative effects, often granting the hero an extra life.
These power-ups try to trick the player into grabbing them, only to result usually into damage, removed abilities, or player death.
There are many different methods of obtaining power-ups:
In many video games, especially role-playing video games, treasure chests contain various items, currency, and sometimes monsters. For certain role playing games, some chests are actually mimics, in which a monster looks like a chest, but will attack the player when they attempt to open it. This is notably seen in the Seiken Densetsu and Dragon Quest series.
Treasure chests provide a means for the player to obtain items without paying for them in stores. In some cases, these chests contain items that cannot be purchased at stores. Chests may be locked, requiring a key of some sort. For certain games, keys can only be used once, and the key is destroyed during its use. For other games, having a particular type of key means that the player can open any of the chests with a matching lock.
For most games, once a chest has been opened, the contents remain empty, although they may be repopulated with possibly different items during different stages of the game. This is different from perishable containers, such as crates and jars, which tend to reappear if the player exits the area and then returns.

Selection bar

Instead of having players collect a power-up that is instantly activated, the players may be allowed to select which power-ups they want to use. This is commonly implemented through a 'selection bar' which contains a number of power-up effects. To access the bar, the player must collect power-up items; the more they collect, the further along the bar they can access. The more powerful power-ups are traditionally placed further along the bar, so that more effort is required to obtain them. The selection bar was first used in Konami's 1985 game, Gradius.

"Perks" are a variation of the power-up mechanic, but permanent rather than temporary. The concept of permanent power-ups dates back to the early NES action RPGs, Deadly Towers and Rygar, which blurred the line between the power-ups used in action-adventures and the experience points used in console RPGs. An early video game that used perks, and named it as such, was the 1997 computer RPG game Fallout. Perks have been used in various other video games in recent times, including first-person shooters such as , Modern Warfare 2, and Killing Floor, as well as action games like Metal Gear Online.


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Found 1 results
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Book Chapter
A. M and H, N., The final determinant of seed germination: The mechanisms of weakening of seed covering tissues, in Ecology, Physiology and Molecular Biology of Seed Germination, The Society for the Study of Species Biology., T. Yoshioka and Seiwa, K., Eds. Tokyo: Bun-ichi Sogo Shuppan Co, 2009, pp. 251-258.

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Winning ways – lessons learnt by high performing hoteliers in a year of disruption

2020 will be the year that we all want to forget. Particularly for travel and hospitality businesses, which have been some of the hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. It is a tumultuous period, with market forecasts unreliable, swinging like a pendulum with underestimating the level of recovery in Q3 2020, and overestimating future growth in Q4 2020 with further rises in Covid-19. It is therefore not only the innovative and responsive businesses that will emerge stronger, but also those who are insightful.

Planning to live with Covid-19 in the long term requires new ways of working and understanding. These are some of the trends impacting the future of the travel and hospitality industry, as well as the winning ways that the organisations most-primed for recovery are employing.

Winning ways – lessons learnt by high performing hoteliers in a year of disruption - PACE Dimensions

Full recovery in the travel, hospitality and leisure sectors will differ by market due to differing secular, industry, and micro-economic factors.  It will also differ greatly depending on the purpose of travel (e.g. leisure, corporate, groups, meetings, events).  Leisure will recover quickest, while corporate travel may start towards the end of 2021, but grow slowly.  Groups, meetings and events will require the vaccine and government interventions to demonstrate sustainable containment before recovery will start. Recovery and the return of demand from 2019 performance levels globally will likely take at least another five years.

This has been a period of accelerated digital adoption as customer buying behaviour has shifted to brands that empowered them with the choice, control, and confidence.  Consumers have also shifted to brands that have made the customer experience frictionless, reliable and consistent. Instead of investing in large, cumbersome new systems, savvy hoteliers are focused on subscription-based technology partners who can provide platforms that can truly integrate across various systems. Importantly, the most effective technology is based on open services  able to integrate with third-party applications through industry standard APIs – and therefore be completely flexible as new future innovations become available, avoiding the need for costly change.

Sustainability is a key theme too, with the travellers of tomorrow acutely aware of their environmental footprint. Ensuring robust green and ethical credentials will be of growing importance. This impacts hotel developers too as governments are increasing their legislative, agenda introducing higher standards for sustainability and penalties for those that don’t comply.  Financial institutions are also following suit, increasing their criteria for making debt finance available.  As digital native media and retail companies bring an ever greater choice for consumers, the combination of political, legal, economic and societal trends will start to generate green and sustainable choices that consumers have a high propensity to buy.

The digital economy has been growing faster than traditional economies for almost all industry sectors in recent years.  The Covid-19 crisis has only amplified this effect as more consumers moved online.  For the leading digital natives in media, retail and branding in travel and hospitality, their business model, ability to scale quickly, level of investment in technology, and understanding of customer needs and behaviours, creates advantages that most incumbent suppliers cannot directly match. That said, within the subsectors of travel, hospitality and leisure, rapid consolidation of supply has continued to accelerate, and where brands have built substantive penetration in particular markets, they have been using digital media, improved customer experience and loyalty programmes to build stronger direct customer relationships.  The combination of rising indirect and substitute competition, as well as rapid consolidation of supply, has resulted in a far more dynamic, fast moving and much more competitive industry.  This will only further increase as weaker players struggle to survive and further consolidation will only accelerate.

With quarantine restrictions and border closures remaining in place, international travel is curtailed. Each time local Covid-19 lockdowns have eased, initially domestic travel then short haul has boomed. This favours the provincial regions that attract increased leisure demand.   For some developed economies such as the UK, Germany and Netherlands, the loss of international visitors will be more than up by the growth in domestic demand.  For those less developed markets that have a high reliance of international visitors, they will suffer significantly reduced demand for an extended period.

The regions will benefit from leisure trips, while city stays will lag until the prevalence of Covid-19 has significantly shrunk. Hotel brands are refocusing their marketing and distribution to reach potential guests closer to home, and reducing their reliance on international arrivals. This is somewhat challenging for destinations such as the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, however hotel and airline testing programmes could see some opportunities for route partnerships.

In the domestic and short-haul focus trend, short term accommodation rental has and will continue to redistribute travel behaviour as leisure demand recovers fastest and working practises shift.  Based on AirBnB year-over-year trends, domestic demand is growing fast (+15%)  and international demand in steep decline (-60%).  Major cities will see a rise in share of overnight stays (Top 20: grow from 7% to 13% share) as long stay business demand increases (28+ nights up 20%, 27 nights or less will decline by 30%).

New hotels will not stop being built, and in some cases, the spades were in the ground before the pandemic hit. Hotel supply will increase quickly as the pipeline investments are opened, but the rate of growth will drop in two to three years’ time as there is a current pause on investors committing to new projects, given access to debt is very difficult. To make the most of these investments, hotel brands are re-looking at the use of space within buildings. Expect to see hybrid hotels in the future, with floors dedicated to long-stay apartments for those able to work-from-anywhere who would also enjoy access to hotel concierge-style services. Plus, as almost all companies reduce their global office footprint, co-working spaces that bring like-minded professionals together will become more commonplace.

For existing hotels, it is harder to change the architecture and design. However, large spaces traditionally found inside hotels that are unlikely to attract the same revenue as before – such as conference and banqueting facilities – are being repurposed. Expect to see some of the fastest changes in this area, with events space being dedicated to new work-from-hotel membership clubs. We explore this topic more here. Already a trend pre-Covid, but likely to be accelerated, expect greater mixed-use developments combining hospitality, retail and working spaces delivering first-class experiences.

Living near the office is no longer a requirement for the world’s white-collar workforce. So investment in hotels in capital cities and leading business districts will not necessarily continue to grow at historic rates. Hoteliers need to be prepped for a long term downward pressure on demand for these locations and look at diversifying their real estate across higher growth markets and locations. A more remote workforce, and people living considerable distances away from where their company is based, will see a need for regional meeting and working spaces that were historically focused in the largest and most commercial cities.

The seismic shock of the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted to many organisations that they weren’t ready to deal with such an all-engrossing crisis.  Economically in 2020, Government stimulus went straight to the pockets of consumers, providing the impetus for leisure to recover in Q3 when government restrictions were lifted.  In 2021, consumer expectations of a rapid recovery are lower.  Stimulus will be more constrained, and governments more cautious at removing restrictions. To be successful in the future requires the agility to manage and respond to major events, with increasing frequency. Corporate machines need to learn to act with greater agility and speed.

  1. Build and further strengthen resilience: recovery will be cautious and the early start of demand will be price sensitive, so organisations need to build a resilience strategy for a five year recovery plan
  2. Invest in research: develop forward looking insights on the market and the lines of business with the greatest potential and rate of recovery, and then pivot the marketing and resources to support and prioritise
  3. Balance: increase the focus on revenue per trip against the demand and price. Businesses will run with sub-optimal demand for the next four years, but still need to operate profitably
  4. Return on capital employed: consider repurposing spaces that will not be utilised, moving to mixed use spaces and embracing new norms from remote and flexible workforces
  5. Operating model: transform your operating model to build greater agility, speed to innovate, and discipline in execution.  Executing well is as important as a good strategy.  Technology innovation has rapidly reduced the time for the fastest growth companies to move from new entrant to dominance, and increased the level of disruption to industries
  6. Accelerate adoption of digital capabilities: in particular focus on customer experience and broadening what you can sell to customers
  7. Build sustainability into your long term plans: rising legislation and penalties, access to financing and broadening customer brand appeal are all growing drivers of change as well as improving operating efficiency

In a complex trading environment, Pace Dimensions’ research and advisory work will ensure your business sets new benchmarks for the competition, and faces tomorrow’s challenges with confidence using insights such as these.

Read more in our whitepaper ‘Why reappraising business priorities is essential to thriving in the future’ here

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Meet our staff

A dive store is only as good as it's staff, and we've got the best!

ROBYN FYFE - Owner, Instructor

I have always wanted to learn to dive as long as I can remember and diving in Galapagos was a childhood dream. When I moved to Victoria in 1980 the first thing I did was get certified, then I found a great diving community and trained up to PADI Divemaster. During my 10 years in Victoria, I regularly dived local sites and discovered the incredible, critter rich waters of Port Hardy, including breathtaking Browning Passage and the exhilarating Nakwakto Rapids. Fast forward to 2012 my husband, Scot, encouraged me to become a PADI Instructor and to this day I enjoy introducing new divers to the wonders of our ocean. Scot and I fulfilled my dream of diving in Galapagos in 2013 and we also visited Bonaire, Curacao and Thailand for some spectacular diving. Of our 6 kids, 5 are certified and we hope to have the 6th certified after she finishes giving us beautiful grandchildren who are already hooked on the idea of becoming divers. I love owning Pacific Pro Dive because it is a perfect way to build community and promote conservation. I hope to see all of you out diving soon!

What is it about diving you love? The best part of diving is the community. I love meeting new divers and experienced divers alike and sharing our wondrous underwater world with them. It is never boring seeing the same creatures over and over but so exhilarating finding new ones and the same goes for dive buddies.

What is your favourite dive site? My favourite dive site is Seven Tree Island in Browning Passage, near Port Hardy. Every dive there is sensory overload because there is so much life to see. I am truly spoiled to live where the best diving in the world is at my fingertips.

What advice can you give to new divers? Don’t stop at Open Water. Keep diving, keep learning and keep exploring the wonders of our ocean.

I believe that our responsibility as people is to be good stewards of our planet, the animals on it and the environment in which we live. As a dive center we are in a unique position to teach people just how delicate and diverse our underwater world is.  Seeing the excitement in the eyes of a new diver makes it all worthwhile. The world is an amazing place, and diving around the world has opened my eyes to how beautiful the oceans and the life in it are. It’s a reminder to never take what we have for granted.

What is it about diving you love? I love the uniqueness of underwater life and the diversity from one side of the island to the other. It is important that we educate each other on how to respect and conserve the life.

What is your favourite dive site? My favourite dive site is in Galapagos because there is so much big life.

What advice can you give to new divers? Never be afraid to ask as many questions as you can before you make your first gear purchase.

TRAVIS FYFE - Courtenay, Sales

I have been with Pacific Pro Dive for nearly a year now, and I thoroughly enjoy spending time with all things diving! When I am not at the dive store, I am busy completing my business administration diploma through online learning, exploring the island, and of course dry suit diving!

What is your favourite dive site? I think I would go with Tyee Cove! I consider it the “standard” dive site, and it’s typically one of the easier shore dive sites to recommend for new divers to jump into. I like the fact you can choose either of the two walls to dive, and they always have something new to see! I also prefer this dive site as it has an onsite bathroom as well as plenty of space to setup and take down your equipment with a larger size group.

What is your favourite piece of dive gear? I am blown away by any new products I get the opportunity to learn about at Pacific Pro Dive. One of my most favourite pieces of dive gear would have to be dive masks. After selling countless masks at the store, I’ve really come to realize how important selecting a high quality, comfortable fitting mask is. Whether you scuba dive, freedive, or just enjoy snorkeling, a mask connects you directly with the underwater world. A good or bad mask can completely make or break your experience in the water.

What is it about Vancouver Island diving you enjoy so much? Vancouver Island diving offers such a diverse number of dive sites compared to other areas in the world. Are you a newer diver wanting to start your first dives in a calm, easily accessible spot? You got it. Are you an experienced diver looking to go past 100 feet? Done. Do you not dive at all but want to experience the salmon runs in Campbell River? You can do that too. The dive community here on Vancouver Island are incredibly welcoming. Nowhere else will you meet such a vibrant community that is eager to share their stories and set you up for your own successes in the water. It is how I got started diving, and it is how you can start too!

Guy Dewolf - Divemaster

Guy took up scuba diving in 2017 after retiring and moving to the Comox Valley. Guy is now a Dive Master, leading local dives, and also works in Pacific Pro Dive's Courtenay dive centre. As a military veteran Guy is also a member of CFB Comox's 19 Wing Pacific Divers Scuba Club with whom he teaches Discover Scuba Diving courses, assists with Open Water courses and serves on the club's technical committee. When not scuba diving Guy is frequently riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle year round with his fellow veteran biker friends around Vancouver Island and beyond.

What is your favourite dive site? Of the numerous amazing dive sites around Vancouver Island Guy is most fond of China Creek located just south of the town of Port Alberni. The wreck and the wall at China Creek are wonderful dives for both beginners and more advanced divers.

What is your favourite piece of dive gear? Guy's favourite piece of equipment is his underwater light, which he uses for indicating underwater points of interest for other divers and illumination for photography.

What is it about Vancouver Island diving you enjoy so much? Guy was born and raised on Vancouver Island and has a strong connection to the land and waters here. The marine life is abundant and captivatingly beautiful. With the mild winter climate, diving the waters around Vancouver Island is a year round activity. Emerging from the sea after a winter dive to see the snow capped mountains of the Central Vancouver Island Mountain Range and the Coast Mountains is to experience some of the most unparalleled natural beauty of Vancouver Island.

Sylvain Dalanson
Sylvain Dalanson - Instructor

It’s a dream come true to finally be able to dive in the British Columbia Emerald Sea. As an aficionado of cold water, I had the chance to start my diving journey in the water of Brittany, the French West coast in 2017 and I dove in the freezing water of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec for almost a year before having the chance to come on the Island. It’s been, since then, a wonder to dive with wolf eels, rockfishes, nudibranchs and octopuses. As a former P.E. teacher and scuba diving Instructor since 2019, it’s an honour to welcome new people underwater and a privilege to share with them the complexity and the wealth of marine life!

What is your favourite dive site?

My favourite out of many sites and probably also one of the most challenging is St. Rose du Nord in the Fjord of St. Lawrence River, where salt and freshwater meet. I had the chance to dive the site just before the freezing point of the fresh water under snowy conditions.

On top, a 5m deep layer of murky reddish fresh water and below, crystal clear salt water at 2°C, full of bioluminescent marine life, best done as a night dive! (no light going through the layer of fresh water). We were lucky, going back up to the surface between ice cubes forming, to reach the surface with the snow slowly falling down on us in the dawn of a late winter afternoon. That’s a picture that’s never gonna be challenged!

What is your favourite piece of gear?

I grew very fond of Poseidon regulators and that was my choice for my first set of regulators. I had the chance to bring mine into very challenging conditions without any failure! Reliability, sturdiness, an amazing propensity to give you air whatever the cold or the depth and it has a dashing look!
The set of old generation Jet Stream I bought from the director of the French Cave Diver Association – it has never failed me and took me through all of my professional certifications with PADI!

What advice can you give to new divers?

Don’t be afraid to go discover new places underwater with your buddies and never believe old divers who love to tell you fairytales (it’s alright to listen to the stories though, if they have a good homemade rum punch).


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New Year, New Mindset

2020 is fully here, not only has a new year begun, but an entire new decade!

What an awesome opportunity to give ourselves a fresh start and clean state.

One of my favorite verses says,

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;[a]
    his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.”

(Lam. 3:22-23)

If God’s mercies are are new for us every morning, can you imagine the mercies and love he pours out in a new year? In a new decade?

I don’t know about you but I am full of expectation when I think of the possibilities of this new year. I truly believe it can be the best year of all of our lives.

One of the greatest determining factors for this year being the best it can be beyond our income, our resources, is our mindset.

Our thoughts become our reality. I saw this most powerfully and practically in my last birth with Hanna. I took an amazing birth class that taught me the importance of visualizing my birth how I wanted it to go and being as specific as imagining myself breathing through each contraction peacefully.

While each birth I’ve had has always had its unexpected surprises, because I went into this birth with a positive attitude and believing contractions were not meant to bring pain but instead to help my body bring the baby down the birth canal, I was much more relaxed and had a much more peaceful labor than my first birth when my mindset towards birth and labor were completely different. My mindset helped shape my reality!

I’m taking that lesson into this new year and decade and I wanted to share it with you as well. 🙂

Many times we want our circumstances to change, but often as we change our mindsets everything around us follows suit.

Here are a few tips for us all in renewing our minds in this new year.

7 Tips for Cultivating a New Mindset for 2020:

  1. Celebrate victories and acknowledge dissapointments from 2019. I love taking the time to journal at the end or start of a new year to reflect on the victories of the last year to celebrate them and also to take a moment to reflect on any dissapointments and take a moment in prayer to both celebrate and mourn with God. This simple exercise can be incredibly healing, affirming, and can help transition fully into the new year with a fresh perspective.
  2. Adopt a Growth Mindset. A growth mindset is a term that Dr. Carol S. Dweck teaches on, it’s the mindset that is open to challenges, sees failure as a springboard for success, and sees intellect, ability, and creativity as something that can grow and rather than being stagnant or fixed.
  3. Surround yourself with others who already have a mindset you would like to adopt. I love my friends and family, and am intentional about surrounding myself with others who are positive, who see the best in me, and inspire me to be my self. This month I’m launching my first ever facebook community group to connect, encourage and empower moms specifically. If you’re a mom and would like to join this uplifting community please connect with me here.
  4. Choose a new (or reread an old) book for the new year. It’s amazing how reading new information can produce new thoughts, ideas, and perspectives to old situations for us. Right now I’m reading a classic, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
  5. Begin your day with Affirmations. As women we often pour out so much, it’s so vital allow God to fill us up and we take the time for real self care. In my first pregnancy I started daily affirmations and it’s been life changing for me. No day is perfect but when we start our day proactively speaking life over ourselves its undoubtedly so much better.
  6. Take gratitude breaks. Throughout the day, especially moments I start to feel stuck or discouraged I’ll start thinking or even saying things I’m grateful for. I thank God for my children, for their personalities lol, for food to eat, for health, for the big and seemingly small details of my life. Taking those few minutes can completely shift my outlook and day.
  7. Put up inspiring words and images. Every year I love creating a vision board to have a visual reminder of my goals. I keep mine in my walk in closet “prayer room” area. As I’m getting dressed in the morning I see pictures of healthy foods, decorating ideas, a photo of my wedding day, and I’m immediately inspired to “carpe diem” and sieze the day! Posting scriptures such as the one above on God’s unfailing love for us are also wonderful tools to help renew our minds and keep them in a place of peace and positivity.

I hope these seven tips were helpful and inspiring to you! This is your year. A new beginning and a clean slate. Let’s adopt a new mindset and new perspective for 2020 and watch our dreams unfold as we approach life and others with a new attitude.

What are some goals for yourself or family you’re working towards this year? I would love to hear from and respond to you!

With so much love,


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Nev Schulman: Sexual misconduct investigation gave me shingles

“Catfish” host Nev Schulman was under so much stress during his sexual misconduct investigation that he developed an illness.

“I was so stressed and I was so out of control and desperately trying to get it into my control that I actually got shingles,” Schulman, 33, revealed on Josh Peck’s podcast, “Curious with Josh Peck.”

“Most people get it around their chest or ribs,” Schulman added. “I got it on my head.”

According to an online chat with Dr. Robert Bolash of the Cleveland Clinic, being under stress is a risk factor for getting shingles. “After having the chickenpox, your body does not rid your system of the virus … For the majority of people, the virus simply stays there quietly and doesn’t cause problems,” he said. “We aren’t always sure why the virus gets reactivated, but this typically occurs at times of stress.”

In May, Schulman was accused of sexual harassment by a woman named Ayissha Morgan, who appeared on his “Catfish” series in 2015. She alleges Schulman had repeatedly made uncomfortable remarks about her sexuality and his own anatomy.

Schulman denied the accusations in a statement, saying in part, “The behavior described in this video did not happen and I’m fortunate that there are a number of former colleagues who were present during this time period who are willing to speak up with the truth.”

The TV personality also said he was the first to alert MTV of the accusations. Production on “Catfish” was shut down until his name was cleared one month later. The network deemed the accusations “not credible.”

Throughout the ordeal, Schulman learned a painful lesson in keeping cool under distress, adding, “It’s been a really meaningful, eye-opening, emotional and physical experience.”


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Constant rise in prices

PRIME Minister Imran Khan and Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin held two important meetings on Monday to take stock of the situation arising out of phenomenal increase in the prices of vegetable ghee and oil as well as iron and cement but these proved to be inconclusive as no tangible decision was taken to arrest the upward trend in prices.

The Prime Minister, of course, issued directions for steps to ensure uninterrupted supply as per the demand for the raw material used in the construction sector as also the issues related to supply and demand of the basic commodities like ghee but the ‘steps’ remain unspecified.

The Prime Minister is visibly disturbed over rising prices of different commodities and this is reflected in a series of meetings he has held so far on the issue but the trend continues.

Food inflation is particularly worrisome as it affects each and every citizen and according to latest reports the prices of food items more than doubled during the last three years.

The Government surely intervened in the case of wheat and sugar as imports improved the supply side but their prices did not come down and instead soared further.

Similarly, the prices of cooking oil and ghee were frequently raised by manufacturers on different pretexts but they did not pass on the relief to the end consumer when prices of palm oil fell by $125 per ton in June this year.

The Prime Minister also announced a comprehensive relief package for the construction industry as per his vision to provide affordable housing to all citizens but the package has been undermined by steep rise in prices of iron bars and cement.

The prices of raw material do increase in the international market but it is the responsibility of the Government to adjust duties and taxes accordingly to guard against their negative impact on the masses and the economy.

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Saturday, February 6, 2016

No (less) plastic and zero (less) waste...a beginning.

I'm trying to get rid of as much plastic as possible and produce as little waste as possible. I start in my kitchen. I store and freeze in recycled glass jars.
I'm so much looking forward to the opening of a store here in Copenhagen (at springtime) where I can buy oil and flour and other organic products bringing my own recycled containers.
This is just too much waste....I can recycle paper, glass, metal and hard plastic...but not this....crazy. It would be so much better if I didn't have to buy it to get my flour and beans..
In my Esy shop today - pencil case section.

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The Great Re-Drawing Begins

I’ve finally begun the process of redoing all of the pages from the comic in a larger canvas size just in case I ever want to print the whole thing. It is a challenge to work on such a large canvas but I am hopeful that I can improve on my original designs.

The cover page for the prologue already looks much better and it’s not even finished yet! Here’s the original version for comparison:

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Do You Have What You Need?

Photo by Pixabay from Pexels

It’s that time of year again when students at every level are purchasing books and supplies that they need to begin new classes and new courses. Obviously, the number of possible books and supplies can seem endless, but to be prepared for the days ahead each student will need the right books and supplies for this particular season.

I recall this season well as both a mom and a former teacher. It’s a bit like a “rite of passage” as the summer nears its end, but for many of us the love of books we may have developed years ago lingers on. And I confess that I am one of those. If I buy a book, I am always reluctant to ever throw it away so usually I look for a new “home” for it with someone else who may need or enjoy it.

My life has taken many turns and at each one I accumulated a “library” of sorts. When I left teaching, I had stacks of books and materials I knew I would not need or use again. They had been my “tools” of the trade and served me well. There were assessments I found helpful, posters and borders for classroom bulletin boards, and a great many other things. Very few needed to be thrown out because I searched out other new teachers who could benefit from the “tools” and save themselves money in the bargain. (Most teachers spend a lot of money setting up their own classroom beyond what the school may be able to supply.) But I took with me a wealth of experience I had gained in teaching my special education students and relating with their parents and other teachers.

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

My new turn from teaching to become a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and Independent Marriage and Family Therapist required new and different “tools” for my workplace. Little-by-little I began to acquire a new “library” to help equip me with what I needed. It didn’t take long until the bookshelves in my office were filled to overflowing and bookshelves at home were filling up as well. The result was choosing the very best of these for my office where they would be readily available at a moment’s notice. As a result, those who came to my office and know me well would chuckle as they would tell you their memory of times in my office as I was sitting listening to them. I would turn in my chair and reach for a particular book and a particular spot in the book to share something with them that was exactly the area we had been focusing on. They were often puzzled at how I could do that so easily. Little wonder my difficulty with deciding what to do with the large number of books and resources on those office shelves when I retired 7 years ago. (Our bookshelves at home were already full…my husband reads many as well.)

For me there was no real mystery about what my clients saw me do. I think I have a relationship with most of the books I read (some more than others) and the most significant ones will have places underlined and highlighted or marked with post-it flags to alert me to the exact places I want to remember. Some of those are ones that first ministered to me. Over the course of my careers and life, the Lord has been helping me prepare for each day and season with the things He knew I would need.

He knew the books that would help equip and shape me, the conferences where notes and resource lists would help me. He also knew that when my children were young and I was enjoying staying at home full-time that there was more time to immerse myself in the Bible and what that would do to shape my beliefs, values, confidence, courage, and understanding. When our children went off to school, you could often have found me sitting in my favorite chair reading for big chunks of time. To all of these, the Lord added my experiences as well as those of others who intersected my life along the way. He wasted nothing and taught me the value of not wasting them either.

Those things and that knowledge was what brought a smile to my face as I was reading the Gospel of Matthew in The Message rendering and came to this verse where Jesus is speaking to his disciples:

“He said, “Then you see how every student well-trained in God’s kingdom is like the owner of a general store who can put his hands on anything you need, old or new, exactly when you need it.”

Mt. 13:52 (MSG)
Photo by nappy from Pexels

You never really know how what you are reading, watching, listening to, or thinking about will be something the Lord tucks away for one day in the future. You may not even recall that you have it tucked away, but suddenly He can and will often bring it to mind as something for you or someone else at just the right time. You don’t need to be a teacher, counselor, ministry leader, or writer. The Lord delights in using each one of us in some of the most unexpected places and with people we may not even have met until that moment. I love how the writer of Proverbs reminds us of that idea:

“The right word at the right time

    is like a custom-made piece of jewelry,

And a wise friend’s timely reprimand

    is like a gold ring slipped on your finger.” Proverbs 25:11-13 (MSG)

The Lord wants us to be equipped for what He calls us to be and do, those He wants us to connect with and those He will allow to intersect with us. But the great news is that He is in the business of doing it before we even realize or recognize that He has done it. He is really that GOOD!

You cannot imagine perhaps how whatever is happening in your life today might have use for Him or how what you are reading, watching, or listening to could be a benefit at some future point. But I can tell you from my own lived experience that it is just like Him. I am guessing the boy who showed up on the hillside to listen to Jesus preach and had a small lunch of 5 loaves and 2 fish would be the first to jump up and agree!

Lucy could never have guessed how Aslan would use her…

16 thoughts on “Do You Have What You Need?

  1. Pam, I so enjoy reading and my books bear the marks of underlining and notes in the margin. My devotionals are rotated and are filled with dates. All of this makes it hard to break up with some of them. I return to them often to read the words I have cherished and found my soul nourished.

  2. What a wonderful reminder, Donna. As someone who struggles with mental highs and lows due to a chronic illness, it’s a great comfort to know that God will give me what I need when I need it. In my weakness…

    1. Hi Ashley! Somehow it seems there’s a hiccup on my name. It’s Pam vs Donna, but no worries…your comment on the post got to me.

      Thanks for the affirmation. I think we all identify with your words about God meeting us in our weakness💕

  3. Ahhh, Donna. Good books. yes. When I was in college earning a degree for elementary education, I began purchasing books for my classroom library. I fell in love with the stories! And when I stopped teaching to become the wife of an Air Force man, I packed up all my files, papers, notes from students, posters, charts, and other resources. They moved with us for a few years, just in case . . . In time, I gave away most of them to nearby elementary schools. We have two floor-to-celiing bookshelves filled with books, and I have over 200 titles on my TBR shelves. I don’t have tons of time to read right now, but I enjoy reading when I can. Great post!

    1. Thanks, Jeanne! It seems we have had some similar experiences. Every so often I regret I don’t have a book when I recall something from one I have already adopted out!

  4. I must admit I regret breaking up with some books and wish they were still on my shelf. Although I mainly use the library now and have ebooks, my book shelf is where I look to most for inspiration! So true that God brings us words we need just at the right time, and sometimes in places we least expect them.

    1. Ouch! I have had that happen as well. Lynn. Occasionally, I go to look for a book that I know has something in it I want to revisit and find I no longer have it. That makes it even harder to let go of other books!!!!

  5. I resonated with your thoughts on having a relationship with the books on our shelves. Unfortunately, my relationship is a little too close, and I think I am at a point where I need to break up with some of my books….

  6. Thank you, Pamela, for the reminder that Father always provides what we need. It make take years until we are ready to receive it, but He never withholds any good thing from us. Hallelujah!

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March of the Trees 9″ X 12″ Acrylic on 150 lb. pressed paper

I love when the seasons change and right on schedule the temps are starting to dip as Christmas approaches. Now for a little snow to cap off the holiday events.  However I don’t think that will happen this year.  It has been dry, dry, dry in the West.  I see my friends in California watch as their houses burn this past week and it saddens me.

Here in the mountains of Prescott we should be having snow, but all we get are the dreaded winds and more draught. I hold my breath hoping we do not suffer what California is going through right now.

So I go on with the season praying that Christmas cheer will abound and that winter snows will come and that I get all my commissions completed in time for gift giving. As an artist I can paint as much snow as I want and surround myself with paintings of snow, but I am dreaming of making snow angels and snow ball fights.

Musing about snow, one painting at a time…

March of the Trees

9″ X 12″ acrylic on vellum paper, matted in white to 12" X 16" and ready to frame.

Reflecting on Thanksgiving

“Saguaro”  with a private collector

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  It brings back so many memories of wonderful times with family and friends.  As a kid, I remember going to my Aunt Lydia’s, I thought she was the most glamorous women I ever knew.  She lived in a brownstone in Detroit, back in the day when Detroit was a prosperous place.  Her dinning table was always set so stunning with golden rimmed plates, a huge floral arrangement and place tags. Of course at my table, where the cousins and I sat, we had plastic plates and little turkey decorations with crayons to draw on the paper tablecloth.  I couldn’t wait to become an adult, and sit at that beautiful table. My uncle John, was a hunter and besides the turkey we would have fresh venison made into meatballs in a sumptuous sauce.  Mincemeat pies, pumpkin deserts and side dishes galore were brought by all the other cooks in the family.  Uncle John would always toast to lasting family and friendships with Champaign in fluted glasses.

Years later I remember traveling to Illinois to visit my brother Rex and his family, he  lived on a horse farm.  Ginny, my sister-in-law, was a tremendous cook and she would put on a feed to beat all feeds.  Fresh from the garden fruits and vegetables and fresh slaughtered turkey and goose.  After the meal we would ride horses, to shake off the tryptophan coma that we were all experiencing.

Next I remember the Thanksgivings that I would host.  My first turkey that took an extra hour to cook, my children and their cousins sitting at the side table while us adults congregated around the dinning room table.  My attempt at trying to mimic all the great memories I had stored in my heart.  Many years we would invite, singles from church or my husbands USAF squadron, when extended family couldn’t be with us.  It was always heartwarming to sit around the fireplace and learn about others lives.

I remember the first years that my grown kids started hosting some of the Thanksgivings, and we would travel from California to Arizona.  The year we had Tofu-turkey when my boys were vegetarian.  The year that my daughter’s oven stopped working and we had to cook the turkey at my son’s home so we watched hours of DVD,s waiting for the turkey to get done.

Now I no longer host Thanksgiving, it has officially passed to the younger generation.  Thanksgiving is hosted by my daughter-in-law. New traditions have changed how we go about things.  No more sitting at one table, it is buffet style, and sit were you want, inside or outside around the swimming pool with roasted  and deep-fried turkey on the menu.  A huge array of wonderful foods still grace the serving table by all the extended relatives and friends,and I marvel at the joy in the room as scads of grandkids run in and out.

Thanksgiving has changed through the years but the love of family and friends has not.  I cherish every moment of the day and feel so blessed for all that God has given our family and friends.  I hope that your Thanksgiving will be all you hope for, and shared with those you love.  Now go grab the grub…


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Here\’s 7 Reasons Why You Should Come to PCB for Spring Break!

To commemorate the fact that Panama City Beach Spring Break 2015 is literally just days away from getting under way, we want to point out seven reasons why you should be looking forward to Spring Breaking with us this coming March!

  1. The People

Spring Break is nothing without the people. When it comes to Panama City Beach, you’ll find that EVERYONE comes here. To be more specific, half a million students each year! They don’t call this place the Spring Break capital of the world for nothing. Party with thousands. Literally.

  1. The Beach

When it comes to Spring Break, it’s generally all about the beach. Tropical beach weather beats snow, ice, and freezing wind all day long. Panama City Beach has been rated as having one of the very best beaches in the world, giving it the nickname “The World’s Most Beautiful Beaches”. We tend to agree!

  1. The Best Hotels and Condos

Panama City Beach has come a long way in the past ten years or so, offering up some of the best, most affordable beach front accommodations. Whether it’s the Holiday Inn Resort, the Summit, Origin or The Sandpiper Beacon Resort, you’re in great hands when it comes to picking a place you know you can not only afford, but also be extremely excited about.

  1. The Concerts and Celebs

With thousands of students flocking down south every winter, the DJ’s, bands and celebs follow. These aren’t just guys plucked off the street. These are internationally known names that show up and perform to massive crowds. Steve Aoki, Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, Cole Swindell, Drake, and Flo Rida are just a few of the big names to hit our beach stages in recent years.

  1. The Clubs

These are not your average clubs. These aren’t even above average clubs. These are the clubs you tell your grand kids about. There’s a reason why the largest club in the USA is situated in the Spring Break capital of the world. And it’s more than just that. There’s no less than seven super clubs on the beach to choose from every night of the week.

  1. The Parties

Whether it’s the world famous Beach Bash Music Fest (the largest daytime party on Spring Break) or the Glow Paint Party, or Legendary Foam Party, there’s no shortage of events to choose from.

  1. The Memories

Regardless of whether or not you dish out your story to your friends, family, grandchildren, you will come home from Spring Break with tons, and tons of stories. Maybe it’s laughter. Maybe it’s friendship. Maybe it’s love…. Anyways, point of all this is that you’ll have memories to last a long, long time. And PCB and Spring Break is about that life.

Think you’re ready? Join us for Spring Break 2015! Trust us you do NOT want to miss out.

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General Description

-- PeterWintz - 04 Nov 2013

STT x-y view The central Straw Tube Tracker (STT) in the PANDA target spectrometer features a high-resolution spatial and momentum reconstruction of charged particle trajectories in a broad momentum range from about 100 MeV/c to 8 GeV/c. In addition, a particle identification of protons, kaons, and pions in the momentum region below 1 GeV/c has to be done exclusively by the STT, with a measurement of the particles' specific energy-loss. The STT design is optimised for a minimal material budget by the technique of self-supporting straw layer modules. The detector is essential for the online track reconstruction and track association to events in the PANDA specific environment of about 150 tracks from 40 individual events within 2 µs.

The detector consists of 4636 straw tubes, each with a length of 1400 mm and 10 mm inner diameter. The wall thickness of the aluminised mylar film tube is 27 µm. The tubes are pressurized to 1 bar overpressure (2 bar absolute pressure) and glued together to close-packed, self-supporting multi-layers which sustain the wire tension and tube stretching equivalent to 230 kg and 3.2 tons (sum for 4636 tubes). The straws are arranged in two semi-barrels around the beam pipe with a few cm gap to leave space for the vertical target pipe.

STT 3-D view

STT Dimensions
Inner radius 15.0 cm
Outer radius 41.8 cm
Total length 171 cm
Semi-barrel gap (vertical) 5.0 cm
Material budget (radial) 1.23 % (X/X0)

Number of straws 4636
Straw length 1400 mm
Straw diameter (inner) 10 mm
Straw pitch 10.14 mm
Straw film tube Mylar (aluminised)
Straw wall thickness 27 µm
Sense wire W/Re
Wire diameter 20 µm
Number of axial layers 15-19
Number of stereo layers 8
Stereo angle +2.9, -2.9 deg
Gas mixture Ar/CO2(10%)
Gas pressure 2 bar (absolute)
Maximum drift time (2T-field) ~ 200 ns
Spatial resolution (sigma) 150 µm (xy), 2-3 mm (z)
Energy resolution (dE/dx) < 10 %
Maximum rate (innermost layer) < 1 MHz/straw, < 7-14 kHz/cm
Mean charge load 0.2 C / cm
Back to STT.WebHome

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rain in Hue and Ninh Binh

It rains in Hue. I buy a rain jacket.
And it's cold.
We spend a day on the Perfume river, exploring some ancient mausoleums. They look pretty scenic in the rainy haze.
Then follows my second try on the Vietnamese railway. The after-midnight train is delayed  until noon so we leave with a man who announces that he'll catch a 'car'. Only later do we realize that by 'car' he means everything with wheels under them. We end up hitchhiking on a highway in the dark and rain. The man has four big bags. Finally he manages to stop a passing bus, haggle down the price for all of us and we pile in. Jesus with a latern on his forehead guards our sleep. It is warm.
The area around Ninh Binh is supposed to look like Halong Bay on dry land. We hire bicycles and take a look around. It is indeed picturesque. We are very popular among school girls.
cycling from Dalat to Hoi An
on Han La bay

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Living with a post traumatic stress injury sucks. Living with addiction and depression sucks. Let me highlight some reasons why.

  1. I often can’t remember who you are. I know that it’s common to forget a name when we meet an individual again, but I literally forget that I have ever even met you at all! This doesn’t happen all the time, but it’s common enough that I avoid large gatherings for fear that the person whom I’m talking to is expecting that I remember them. I try so hard to practice name association, but that memory technique is completely useless when I can’t remember that we’ve ever met.  It’s an embarrassing fact about my life now.
  2. I rarely leave my house. I’ve become somewhat of a hermit. I try to get out and enjoy the nice weather, but there is not a single bone in my body that wants to do so. Noises like motorcycles, loud mufflers, chainsaws and busses put me into full anxiety mode. I try to plug my ears fast enough, but it’s usually too late. When the noise comes at me all I want to do is sit in my room with my fan on which provides enough white noise to block out the world and to have a window open from time to time.
  3. I can be very apathetic. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a caring person; buried deep down is my desire to help people all the time – which makes sense as I have been a paramedic for fourteen years. But allowing strong emotions such as love to bubble to the surface as much as I allowed it to before, is very scary to me. My ability to logically match an appropriate reaction to an emotion has changed, often causing me to worry and over reacted to something quite minor. So I avoid feeling all together. My kids are a different story, I love them so much I could explode, but as for any intimate relationship in the future I am doubtful any will last, so I imagine myself living alone on a mountain, and somehow I’m completely ok with that.
  4. I constantly fear that you don’t believe me. There is a liar in my head that tells me that anyone who has not experienced PTSD, depression or addiction doesn’t believe me. It tells me that people are just nice to my face, but that behind closed doors they roll their eyes and laugh at me. I suppose that’s why almost ALL of my friends have changed to one’s who ‘get it’, and that’s ok. I know that for the most part that people support me, but the liar convinces me from time to time that even my closest friends and family think I’m putting on somewhat of an act. That I could just pull up my sox and stop being so glum and useless. It’s funny how I think that people think that I want to be sad.
  5. I forget really important things. Not only do I forget that I’ve met you, I forget things that are super important. Doctors appointments, to pick people up…heck I even forget what I’ve forgot!  Eff!

The struggle is REAL.


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Blog Tour - Release Day Review

Tuesday, 24 April 2012.

The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden, #1)

The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1) by Julie Kagawa
Published by Harlequin Teen
Pub Date: 24th April 2012
ISBN: 0373210515
Target Audience: Young Adult

5 of 5 stars

Julie Kagawa is amazing. She reeled me in with her Iron Fey series, even though I wouldn’t have been a great fan of faery books. I read great reviews for that series and I had to give it a shot, and I love it. It has become one of my favourite series. And I now have a new favourite to add to my list, The Blood of Eden series. When I heard that Julie was writing a vampire series, I was excited to see her take on vampires. And I wasn’t disappointed, she did an amazing job.

Allie (Allison) is an unregistered. She is unknown to the vampires who run the city and treat humans like blood cattle. Because she’s not on the system, she doesn’t have to attend the blook bank to give regular donations but that also means that she doesn’t get any food stamps. She lives in the Fringe where she has to scavenge for food.

When she is attacked by the rabids, and on the brink of death, she is given a choice by a vampire, Kanin. He can let her die from her attack, and maybe turn into a rabid, or he can change her into a vampire. Ultimately, still killing her. She chooses to live after death and become a vampire, one of the monsters she detests so much, because when it comes to it, she doesn’t want to die.

Kanin teachers her the vampire history and how to fight and live as a vampire. When they find themselves being chased down by vampires from the city, she must separate from Kanin and make her way on her own. This is how she meets a group of humans who are searching for a better place, called Eden. They believe her to be human and invite her to join their group. She travels with them, and vows to protect them. To hold onto her humanity and not become the monster she is destined to be.

Allie is an amazing character, a hero I would say. She cares so much and wants to help even those who hate her for what she is. Even as a human, she looked after the weaker in her group.  She will risk her own life for others. Her strength of character is clear as we see her fight her inner monster throughout the book.

I really took to Kanin. He was a dark, brooding vampire with a heart. I am hoping he is making a comeback in the second book.

The love interest, Zeke, is such a sweetie. And yet, he is tough and brave when the need arises. He is second in command to the group, under his stepfather Jeb. He has a fantastic manner for dealing with the group and has all their best interests at heart.

The romance was written really well. No love triangle…..but as I loved Kanin so much I had a bit of one going on in my head because Zeke was so lovable too lol.

Julie once again does a fantastic job of the world building. Her descriptions are so good, you can literally visualise yourself there.  I would give this book a 5+ star rating as I couldn’t fault anything about it. I absolutely loved the story line and I can’t wait for the next instalment in this series.

Book Trailer

Buy the Book: Amazon/The Book Depository

Nicola said...

Such an awesome book! :D I should really get to her Iron Fey series soon.

Great review :)

Elodie said...

I really have to pick up a copy, I feel like everyone has read this book and loved it !! Thanks for the great review Suzanne :)

Heidi@Rainy Day Ramblings said...

I just started this yesterday! So agree with you, Kagawa's world building is extraordinary! I will have to come back and reread this once I write me review and see how we compare.

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Postpartum Exercises for Moms

5 Best Postpartum Exercises For New Moms

Pregnancy causes a lot of physical changes, including stretch marks and weight gain. Getting your body back after having a baby is probably one of the hardest things you might face. In this article, we have discussed five simple postpartum exercises that can help you get back in shape.

Although you might feel that exercise is the last thing you want to do as a new mom, it does have benefits. Starting a moderate postpartum workout program after having a baby is beneficial in many ways.

  • Regular exercise improves your mood and immune function.
  • Help you to sleep better and feel more energetic during the day.
  • Protect you from aches and back pain.
  • Reduce the symptoms of postpartum depression or anxiety.
  • Help to increase your appetite for healthy foods.
  • Postpartum exercises help you to lose the baby weight you gained during pregnancy.

Essential pieces of equipment you need for postpartum workouts at home!

There are easy ways to do postpartum exercises at home, and before you get started, it’s essential to get a couple of home workout equipment. These pieces of equipment aren’t expensive and provide you the motivation you need to get started.

We recommend that you include these two best home workout tool for your postpartum workout plan.

1. Gaiam Yoga Mat

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Exercise Ball Chair - Yoga Ball & Stability Ring. For Pregnancy, Balance, Pilates or Birthing Therapy. Use at...
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  • BASE INCLUDED - Stop your gym ball rolling during yoga poses, pregnancy, birth and physio therapy...
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  • DURABLE HEAVY DUTY - Unlike cheaper grade swiss balls that can burst, ours is Professional Grade,...

Best Postpartum Exercises for New Moms

Mom Walking Exercise

Walking is one of the best ways to tone your post-pregnancy belly. You can start with an easy stroll. When you walk, tighten your belly as you walk. With a baby hip carrier in the front, you can add extra weight that will increase the benefits. Do this for a minimum of 15 minutes a day, and you will see a difference. Consistency is key, which is true for any exercise.

Deep Belly Breathing

When dealing with newborns, you have to be calm. This exercise is so easy that you can do it in your bed, on your living room floor, or in a comfortable chair. It helps ease your stress, and strengthen and tone your abs and belly.

Head and Shoulder Lifts

Head and Shoulder Lifts Exercise for Moms

This exercise helps to tone your abdominal muscles and burn calories. Don’t be disheartened if you can’t feel your muscles working during the workout. It will take some time to regain your strength.

Pelvic Tilts

This is another good exercise for a toned belly. Strengthening your Abs can relieve back pain. It also improves your posture. There are several ways to do it.

Kegels help strengthens the pelvic floor, which can help with “holding it” and stress incontinence. They also help with urinary leakage during late pregnancy and when you get older too. They also may improve sexual pleasure for both partners, if you need another reason.

When you do them correctly, they are extremely helpful, important exercises, both during and after pregnancy.

Postpartum Workouts: How To Ease Back Into Postpartum Fitness

Postpartum fitness is very important, especially for stay-at-home moms. It’s important for your mental health and happiness, especially since the first six months of your life revolves around taking care of a newbie. Exercising helps you with the stress of being a mom likes nothing else does. That’s why it’s so important to ease back into postpartum fitness for the long haul.

When to Start

Talk to your doctor about your postpartum fitness plan, and make sure to start slowly. Doctors generally recommend waiting around six to eight weeks depending on your birth experience. Rushing through healing to get your body back will only cause more injury and longer healing time.

Remember, your body and mind just went through some major changes. So it’s good to start off really slowly and give yourself enough healing time. If you’re an otherwise healthy and active individual, you can probably get back to postpartum exercise sooner.

Overcoming Barriers

Finding time and motivation to exercise will be the two major barriers to your postpartum fitness goals. Being able to exercise at home can be a huge lifesaver! Deal with shorter workouts initially and incorporate your baby into your exercise routine. You could use an app or fitness tracker to keep you motivated and ensure you’re getting enough exercise.

You can also join local mommy and me classes. Some exercise programs are designed for moms and their babies. Find out what works best for you and your baby. Sharing your experiences and exercising with other moms will also keep you motivated.

Finding Time to Work out With a Baby

Most new moms struggle to lose the weight they gained during pregnancy. Even you were active during your pregnancy including working a job that required a lot of time on your feet and managed healthy eating, still, you might gain a lot of weight. Many working moms continue to gain weight even with breastfeeding. The struggle with post-pregnancy weight loss is real, and you aren’t alone.

Juggling work and motherhood is a constant balancing act. Taking care of your health (both mental and physical) and making time for yourself is crucial during the early days of motherhood. The key is choosing a postpartum workout plan that you enjoy and brings harmony to your schedule and lifestyle. Here are some suggestions to manage time to exercise as a busy mom.

1. Be Clear on Your Non-Negotiables

It’s really important to get really clear on your non-negotiables rules and routines. For you, that could be the thirty minutes minimum of some type of going within. That could also be a walk at your favorite lake, yoga, mindfulness, reading an inspirational parenting book, journaling, or a bath with essential oils and healing salts. Whatever it is you should take this time very seriously, and you will feel more grounded, healthy, and joyful as a result.

2. Limit Your Screen Time

Exercise releases certain chemicals to the brain and body while TV watching releases chemicals that give the opposite effect. It is harder to sleep when you’ve just had the TV on—with all the horrors it can bring, interjected by flashing, and blaring advertisements. Even skipping an hour of screen time in the evening gives you the opportunity to incorporate exercise into your daily routines.

3. Make Meditation a Daily Habit

Try to wake up earlier to do a half-hour of Yoga to start your day. You may find it counter-intuitive, but this much is true, those early yoga sessions will keep you feeling awake and refreshed through most of the day. You will also be in a better mental state knowing that you have already exercised.

4. Wake up Ahead of Your Baby

When you wake up before your baby is up, you start the day proactively and intentionally. Take a shower and a few minutes to meditate. You will feel absolutely wondrous having a good workout first thing in the morning.

5. Have a Good Night Sleep

Taking care of a little baby is a lot of work. You will surprise yourself with how much movement there is in your life. Check your resting heart rate. The higher it is the less sleep you will need per night. The more you exercise, the lower your heart rate, and the more sleep you will need to recover. If you can’t get the sleep you need in one shot, take one or two naps during the day. Gauge your wakefulness and ability to concentrate on the task at hand. If you constantly feel tired for no reason and you are not ill, you need more sleep. Try eight hours per night and adjust accordingly.

6. Choose Moderate Exercise

Moderately brisk walking for 5 or 10 minutes times a day amounts to substantial exercise. It is one of the simplest ways to make a profound change in your life. If you walk for 5 or 10 minutes every day, you will end the week with 50 to 70 minutes of walking each week. Exercise is the biggest part of that change, but it’s only one part. You are also outside, feeling the weather and clearing your head.

7. Involve Your Baby in Your Workout

More often moms feel guilty about not making more time for their newborn baby. You can certainly live an active life that includes children and exercise. Yard work, gardening, and community dancing are activities that give you a chance to live a healthy life that includes children. If you want to weight train and you have young kids, you can always use them as your weights. They’ll think it’s a hilarious game, you’ll get some resistance training in. It’s a win-win.

Don’t feel guilty about not going to the gym more, or making more time for exercise. Allow yourself to accept that you need rest. Do exercise for recreation or procreation. Have fun living.

Breastfeeding and Postpartum Fitness

Breastfeeding is one of the fastest ways to lose the baby weight. If you are breastfeeding, be mindful of your calorie intake and overdoing workouts. It can often change the taste of your breast milk and even drop your milk supply.

Also, don’t jump into crash diets.  This is just dangerous for both you and your baby. Consult with a nutritionist if you need help with your diet.

Managing Expectations

The fast few weeks after having a baby, you’ll be dealing with postpartum hormones, lack of sleep, baby’s different stages, and etc. It’s a lot to take on at once, so maybe lowering your expectations is a good idea.

Try not to expect fitness results too soon. How quickly you’ll be able to get back to your pre-pregnancy clothes depends largely on your activity level throughout your pregnancy. A big part of “bouncing back” is just genetics, so again don’t push yourself too hard and don’t be discouraged. The trick is to be patient and persistent with your postpartum fitness goals. It will pay off eventually.

Once you start to ease back into your postpartum fitness routine, remember to drink plenty of water. If you are going out for a walk with your baby, bring a water bottle with you to drink often. This will ensure that you are hydrated and well on track to being a healthy and happy mom.

Support Group

You aren’t alone in this struggle, there are tons of others out there, as well. Look into a postpartum exercise boot camp for new moms. You can bring your little one, exercise, and meet other new moms who are a great source of support.

Everyone is different, so you need to try different things until you find something that works for you, your baby, and your schedule. Don’t get disheartened and surround yourself with people who understand and support you! Remember, it is the support group and energy that will keep you going!

Take Care of Yourself

Taking care of your health is also taking care of the baby. Stop beating yourself up if you aren’t hitting your postpartum fitness goals on time. Exercise to feel good, and take sleep into account. If you’re doing that, your body will drop that weight when it’s ready.

Postpartum Exercises: Things You Should Know

Despite so many benefits, little attention has been given to exercise during the postpartum, and specific guidelines are essentially nonexistent. Here’s what you should know about your postpartum workout plan.

Consulting with Doctor or Midwife

Pregnancy causes considerable physical changes beyond stretch marks and weight gain. You should consult with your doctor before beginning an exercise program. In case you were active during pregnancy, you can continue doing whatever you were doing previously. You can increase the intensity gradually. If you had a cesarean section, consult with your doctor first and wait until you recover fully before beginning an exercise program.

See a nutritionist if you are looking for help with your diet. Try not to fall for magic teas or pills; losing the baby weight that way can be unsafe for you and your baby.

Know the Postpartum Workout Warning Signs

Pregnancy causes a lot of changes in your body. Learn about the most common post-pregnancy issues:

Diastasis Recti: This symptom occurs when the abdominal muscles in your abdomen separate during pregnancy to accommodate the growing uterus. Besides your frustration with your aesthetic appearance, you may have back pain and abdominal discomfort. Plank is one of the best exercises for diastasis recti. If you think you have a separation, see a physical therapist instructor in your area.

Pelvic Pain: Childbirth can put a huge strain on your pelvic floor muscle. You need to follow-up with your midwife as soon as possible.

Urinary Incontinence: Losing control of your bladder is another common post-pregnancy issue. Physical therapy has a good success rate for the treatment of urinary incontinence. You might also try Kegels for new moms. Proper instruction in pelvic floor muscle exercises is often critical for success.

Learn about the warning signs that you’re doing too much too early.

  • Bleeding restarts after it had stopped
  • You experience pain during exercise
  • You feel exhausted
  • Rapid heartbeat
  • You feel muscular soreness

Postpartum Workout and Nutrition

Eating the right meal will heal your body quickly. Enjoy a variety of healthy foods, and make sure to include lots of vegetables, fruits, and proteins. Losing baby weight is a gradual process. Don’t fall for a quick fix like a strict diet and magic pills. Discuss with your doctor before you change your diet and exercise regimen.

The Do’s Don’ts of Postpartum Workout

Start out slowly. Gradually increase the length and intensity as time goes by. Be careful about abdominal workouts as your stomach muscles might be still weak. Pelvic floor workouts can actually worsen this condition. Wait until you receive your medical clearance to do exercises that go beyond gentle tummy-tightening.

Look for workout routines that are specifically for postpartum and designed to help you get your post-baby body back in shape.

Finally, be realistic, and don’t be discouraged with your weight loss efforts. Remember, it’s a long haul process.

The Bottom Line

Dedication and patience are key to your postpartum weight loss efforts. Your body undergoes a lot of changes throughout pregnancy. It might take some time, but with the right approach, you will get there eventually.

Remember this is not a competition. We all lose postpartum weight, but at different rates. Don’t think too far ahead and get overwhelmed — take it one day at a time. Overall healthy choices following nature’s laws are the only way to long-term health – even for postpartum fitness. You have to stay committed to it and never settle for being overweight. Try different methods and see what works for you, but don’t give up too easily. Good luck and enjoy your bundles of joy.

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First Post – Fathers Looking To Find Or Reconnect With Their Daughters

This blog post category is for you. This post category is for fathers who lost or severed ties with their daughter and would like to reunite or just get a message out.

Click on Post and give as much information as you feel comfortable with, a situation, a name, a nick name and a message that means only something to her and your relationship. Then Send your post to

After reviewing your post for suitability it will be posted under the category you requested and will available for comments and replies.

Best wishes,
Joe Verola

2 thoughts on “First Post – Fathers Looking To Find Or Reconnect With Their Daughters

  1. Hello,
    I would like to locate my 22 year old daughter why stop communicating with me after her college graduation may 2014
    Her mother and I are going through a divorce after 25 years of marriage.
    Breakup of marriage was initiated by my wife in December 2013
    Until that moment my daughter was regularly communicating with me
    can anyone advise

  2. My name is William Christopher Sherrill. I am 60 years old. I am looking for my daughter, Jodie Marie Sherrill, born 6/18/78 Duval County, Jacksonville, FL. Her mother’s name is Diane. The last time I saw my daughter she was 6 years old.
    My Hawaii friend, Robin, is helping me reconnect with her. Thank you for any information that you can share.

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Find Nissan Auto Parts Near You at 4401 STATE ROAD 33 N

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