2011/12/03

troops Bases Near Lake of the Ozarks

The main attraction at The Lake of The Ozarks, of course, is the Lake itself. We spend so much time swimming, fishing, skiing, and just enjoying the wind in our hair as we skim over the water, that most of the time we plainly forget to look up. Then there are those times when you have to look up, when you hear a thunderbolt on a perfectly clear day. Not a literal thunderbolt, but an A-10 Thunderbolt Ii, nicknamed Warthogs. The A-10's that we see flying overhead in the "Land Of The Magic Dragon" are part of the 442d Fighter Wing based at Whiteman Air Force Base. Whiteman Air Force Base is 65 miles southeast of Kansas City, just off Us Highway 50 near Knob Noster. While missions the Warthog's objective is to provide close air keep by attacking tanks, armored vehicles, and other ground targets. Seeing them fly overhead you can't help but feel their power with a surge of patriotism and pride.

Many veterans, retired military, and old assistance members call The Lake of The Ozarks home or their home away from home. The proximity to services at both Whiteman Air Force Base and Fort Leonard Wood make this area a natural option for retired military members.

Whiteman Air Force Base provides a Commissary and a Base Exchange. Shoppers must show proper Id cards when production purchases at both facilities. The Commissary is a modern supermarket that offers a unblemished line of meat, produce, grocery, bakery, and deli items. The Commissary is open 6 days a week. The Base change Main Store is located next to the Commissary and is open 7 days a week. The Base change Main Store also offers Anthony's Pizza, Frank's Franks, Burger King, Robin Hood Deli, a coffee shop, flower, barber and attractiveness shops, a laundry/dry cleaner and a cellular phone retailer.

Fort Leonard Wood is located just off Interstate 44 near the towns of Waynesville and Saint Robert. The Main change Mall is open daily and has a food court and offers a range of concessions together with barber and attractiveness shop, shoe shine, flower shop, visual shop, among others. The Commissary is also open 7 days a week and offers a unblemished line of grocery products, together with Rotisserie Chicken and Sushi. Normal Leonard Wood Army society Hospital has 450,000 quadrate feet of clinic and ward space and offers a full range of curative services to active military personnel, military retirees and house members enrolled in Tricare Prime. Non-prime patients are seen as space allows. The Army Morale, Welfare, & Recreation department operates Lake Of The Ozarks Recreation Area (Lora) in Linn Creek. Lora Welcomes Active Duty, Retired Military, Members of the National Guard and Reserves, Dod Employees with Id cards, house Members and Fort Leonard Wood covenant Employees.

2011/12/02

The Thai Wedding Ceremony

There is a sure charm and romance in getting married through a traditional Thai wedding ceremony. As one of life's leading moments, a wedding is made more special the Thai way with its sacred customs.

Pre-Wedding Arrangements

Following Thai tradition, one of the closest friends of the groom formally asks for the bride's hand in marriage from her father. He also helps in negotiating the amount of dowry (sin sod) to be paid to the bride's house as a way of expressing gratitude for their daughter's good upbringing. In setting the date for the wedding, an astrologer is ordinarily consulted regarding the auspicious day for the ceremony, which is ordinarily held in August. On the evening before the ceremony, the integrate must pay respect to their ancestors in a Buddhist ceremony officiated by nine invited monks.

Religious Ceremony

The actual wedding ceremony takes place early in the morning at colse to 6am. Nine monks are invited once again to bless the couple. A string forming a circle binds the couple. After the monks' prayers are over, the integrate gives the monks each an envelope containing money. The newlyweds then eat lunch with the monks, final the morning ceremony, and will be production a donation to the local wat (temple) for the wedding blessing.

The main event of the wedding ceremony, called rod nam sang, is held in the afternoon. A flower chain connects the hands of the bride and groom as they are held in a wai (Thai emblem of respect). ordinarily the most senior and respected member of the group officiates this event. The couple's hands are soaked in the conch shell containing water, followed by wishes of good luck. The parents, close friends, as well as other prime guests will also tour to supervene and soak the newlyweds' hands.

The ceremony continues on until dinnertime, which is held in great revelry. Whether it be a buffet, a cocktail, or a formal sit-down dinner, expect colse to 100-300 guests to come to your wedding day, as the citizen you may have invited will most likely bring along their friends and house as well. Also be ready to stock up on cases of whisky, as Thai citizen like to drink together while celebrations like these. After the supper reception, the elders hold a traditional send-off for the newlyweds with decorated roses.

Marriage Registration Vs Wedding Ceremony?

In Thailand, a lot of citizen do away with the legal aspects of the marriage, opting for having a traditional Thai wedding instead. However, it is recommended that you register your marriage at the local amphur (Civil Registry) so that you may be able to refer to this later on for legal matters. For foreigners, you will need to present an Affirmation of leisure to Marry fom your embassy, along with your passport. You Thai bride/ groom will be asked to show a copy their National Id Card and House Registration. The Marriage Registration process need not be done the same time as the wedding ceremony, but can be done after the wedding day as well.

Since the Marriage Registration process involves a necessary amount of time to be spent on paperwork, along with translation and legalization of documents, it would be best for you to seek the services of a Thai law firm who can not only handle the legal aspects of Marriage Registration in Thailand, but can also help make your wedding day an unforgettable event with their efficient wedding coordination services.

2011/12/01

Happiness - 10 Quick Fixes From Emotional Distress to Your Happy Centered Place

Do you feel shock, panic, anger, anxiety and disappointment from up-to-date lay-offs, firings or re-orgs?

Are you stressed and overwhelmed from too much work?

Are you feeling isolated and lonely from lack of house or friends?

Are you experiencing boredom, apathy and listlessness from lack of purpose?

Do you feel trapped and helpless from financial debt, toxic relationships or health issues?

Are you feeling confused, guilty and conflicted from a cultural identity crisis?

Are you feeling a sense of grief, sadness and depression from a separation, disjunction or death of a loved one?

Would you like to get some instant relief from your emotional distress and get to your happy, centered place quickly?

The quick fixes outlined below are what I use to provide me with relief when the emotional pain is so intense it prevents me from reasoning clearly. I am all the time able to return to my happy centered place quickly. Just by releasing the negative emotions, it clears my mind. This allows my creativity to kick in and I would find the solution to the qoute or the solution will gift itself. Just by the straightforward fact of changing my actions, it changes my energy and as a result, I attracted a distinct outcome and it has all the time been for the better. This often leads to a chain reaction of good things - directing me down a path I would never have concept of exploring. This has happened so many times that when I run into obstacles now, there is all the time a microscopic part of me that goes "Ooh, I wonder what great adventure is around the corner?".

So, the first thing you need to do to overcome your obstacle is to issue all these negative emotions and find your happy centered place. Even though you may not feel like doing any of these quick-fixes, you need to override those feelings and force yourself to take action. It's only in taking activity that you can turn your results. Apply "Mya" - Move Your Ass. There were times I did not feel like getting out of the house or even out of bed - but by using any of the quick-fixes on myself; I will all the time feel a thousand times better.

Although the quick-fixes below are based around my passions and interests - you will apply these normal ideas around your own passions and interests and make your own 10 quick-fixes to help you find your happy centered place quickly. If you do not have any passions or interests, then by trying these quick-fixes, you will find your own passions or interest. Do not limit yourself to what is just on my list, brain-storm and come up with your own ideas. Please use the worksheet at the end (Appendix A) to write your own Quick-fixes.

Start now - 10 Quick-fixes

These are not in any order - you can do any combinations of these any times a day or at minimum, once a day. Continue this everyday and vary the activities so that it does not become a disposition and you won't get bored.

1. Playing good music loudly

• This just makes me want to freestyle dance, all the time brings a smile to my face and leaves me feeling carefree and light. Disco and Abba is great for me. Also samba. Anything with a great African based rhythm. I stay away from death metal - that gives me a headache. I also like classical music - it's peaceful and lyrical and puts me in a calm, serene state.

• Choose songs that immediately make you smile, move or calms you down. Pandora.com is a free radio hub on the internet - enter one of your popular songs and it will find you songs of a similar type. Make any compilations: happy dance songs, peaceful calming songs etc.

• If music is not your thing, move on to the next action.

2. Do your popular exercises that make you sweat and your heart pumping for at least 20 mins to 1 hr. The foremost part is the sweating and the heart pumping. The natural endorphins your body releases will make you feel better. If you have a friend who is positive, exercise with them but don't discuss the problem. You just need to issue the negative energy. I advise doing these at least 2-3 times per week. I exercise daily.

• I go out dancing - salsa, hustle, ballroom, argentine tango, swing, freestyle, hip-hop, samba, belly-dancing. I all the time feel happy, excited and centered after dancing hard. The more stressed I am, the later I stay out dancing. In my corporate years, I would dance every night until 2-4am. I may be tired the next day, but I find I am in a best mood and when handling conflict, it brings about a best consequent when I am not emotionally attached to the problem. The other side benefits are that dancing has kept me salutary and fit and my dance technique has improved from all that practice. Now, I am a ballroom dance coach.

• Other examples - horse-back riding, wind-surfing, surfing, running, walking briskly, cycling, kick-boxing, spinning, skiing, snow-boarding, aerobics, swimming, racquetball, water-polo, swimming etc.

• If you do not have exercise in your life, you need to get started now. Not only will it help you with your current situation, the long term benefits to your health and reasoning well-being is enormous. If you continue to exercise commonly at least 2-3 times per week, this will help you in your path to enduring happiness and health.

3. Take a class in your area of passion or interest - studying will take your mind temporarily away from your problems, and get you out of your routine.

• I love to learn so it puts me in a good mood. It has also solved many of my problems. I take business, marketing, sales, leadership, personal development, dance or art lessons. In the past, I've taken golfing, skiing, drumming, piano, surfing, wind-surfing, framing, yoga, pilates lessons. If you are on microscopic funds, there are abundance of free webinars/teleconferences on the internet. The other alternative is to learn from a book, Cd or Dvd which you can borrow from your local library. My personal library is filled with books on leadership, business, marketing, sales, success, personal development, framing, art, dance and biographies of curious people.

• I signed up for Ballroom educator training to help cut the conflict between my boyfriend and me when I was teaching him ballroom. My teachers hired me to teach their beginner Ballroom classes after my first semester and I graduated top of my class 16 months later. Now, I transform lives straight through coaching, ballroom dancing and art!

• If you have insecurities about learning, don't do this yet. Build up your belief first.

4. Teach person else your expertise/passion/interest

• I cannot tell you the whole of times my students have certainly fallen straight through my door with gasps of "You cannot believe the day/week/month I've had" and left relaxed with a smile on their faces after 2 hours of painting. Or they leave rejuvenated and ready to conquer the world after one my of group or incommunicable dance lessons. In the case of first time beginners, the joy I see on their faces and the light in their eyes when they contemplate they can do something that they never concept they could. It is transformational for them. Or when clients call up overwhelmed and distraught and I am able to get them calm, happy, optimistic and armed with an activity plan. Even when I'm having a rough day, helping my students and clients and receiving these definite emotions back all the time lifts me up and energizes me.

• Even if you do not think you can teach, you should give it a try. I used to be afraid to ask questions in class and could not speak publicly until the age of 20. I advise beginning in a 1:1 situation if this is new to you. You can start with a house member or friend. person who is supportive and cares about you and needs your help. Then you can work your way to smaller groups. Who knows, this may lead to your next career. Working in the computer manufactures and in startups forced me speak commonly to large and small groups of citizen all over Asia Pacific, Europe and Us. My art and dance technique has improved tremendously straight through teaching. Worst case, you are just going to get best in your area of expertise/passion/interest.

5. Read an inspirational book, an inspirational blog or watch an inspirational movie or biography show on Tv.

• I like reading autobiographies and biographies of real citizen and how they have risen above their circumstances or adversities. Some citizen find this depressing, I find it motivational. It's like - "Well, if they can get over this, so can I". Some of my popular books are:

"Wild Swans: The three daughters of China" by Jung Chang,

"Such a long journey" by Rohinton Mistry,

"Stolen Lives" by Malika Oufkir and Michele Fitoussi,

"Daughter of Destiny - an autobiography" by Benazir Bhutto,

"The autobiography of Quincy Jones" by Quincy Jones,

"Jack: straight from the Gut" by Jack Welch and John A Byrne

"The Power of One" by Bryce Courtenay - don't see the movie, read the book. Even though it's fiction, I certainly identified with the lonely microscopic boy. And so many other books I could not bring with me as I've moved around so much.

• I loved the movie "Seabiscuit"... I am "Seabiscuit" - I didn't fit in, was once a cripple, do not look like everybody else and was imaginable to fail. The biography movies and shows on Tv profiling successful enterprise people, musicians, artists, athletes and world leaders have been eye-opening and curious - Warren Buffet, Oprah, Bill Gates, Sting, Jon Bon Jovi, Shania Twain, Jim Carrey, Christina Aguilera, Gandhi, Malcolm X, Ray Charles, Mohammed Ali, Tina Turner, Olga Korbut, Oksana Baiul etc.

• I bought "The Millionaire Maker" book by Loral Langemeier to help solve my boyfriend's problem; I ended up reading the book and signing up for their coaching services. My coaches recognized my vast personal caress in the arena of life transformations, my skills in teaching others and led me to my life purpose as a coach!

• Your local library is a great free reserved supply for books and some movies. Netflix.com is great for easy favorable passage to movies. I buy my books from Amazon.com - there is a used section if you have microscopic funds.

6. Call up or visit a friend

• Friends who have more problems than you - make him/her feel better.

I have a few friends in this kind - I don't tell them about what I'm going through. I just focus on them, make them laugh or tell them what a great mother/father/son/daughter/grandparent they are and how if they were my parents or siblings or grandparents, I would be so lucky. Then I march to tell them about how they are special. If they are in the midst of a crisis, I see what I can do to help. It's surprising how fast you can gain perspective on your problems when person else you care about is facing life or death situations.

• Friends who are wise happy souls who can put things in perspective.

My friends, students, staff, clients confide in me when they are having problems - I'm their wise happy soul. It makes me feel good and adds to my happiness when I'm able to bring a smile to their face or provide some relief for their emotional pain. I commonly ask them in the big project of things, if they were to die tomorrow, how foremost is this pain/adversity compared to all the splendid things they have going on in their lives?

I have one close friend who I call when I'm in the middle of a connection crisis and she can reflect back and summarize my jumbled thoughts into something cohesive which I can take activity on.

As I have all the time helped others, I didn't get a lot of help myself until I signed up for my first coaching agenda which has been life changing.

• Avoid calling friends who will just keep you in that negative loop. They enjoy hearing your tales of misery and have more tales of misery for you to confirm how much your life sucks. And even more evidence that the world is a cruel place so you may as well just slit your throat and end it now. Ok I'm exaggerating but you know what I'm talking about. These citizen do not offer solutions - they just like to wallow in doom and gloom.

• If you do not have friends, this will need to be in your long term strategy for happiness and prosperity. You can volunteer at non-profits to help others less fortunate and hire a coach as your wise happy friend.

7. Go to a peaceful place - do this in your mind or in reality

• I'm not good at meditating but this technique works for me. I am lucky to live in a peaceful place so I can just sit in my yard, look at the canyons and do these breathing exercises - I drop my head down to my chest and I breathe in deeply and when exhaling, I am imagining that I am pushing out the negative emotions that are causing the clutching in my chest or that knot in my stomach. I keep doing this until the intense feelings are reduced. Then I replace it with thoughts of good things like how lucky I am to have a home, to have my health, to have good citizen in my life, to have a sound mind etc. This is an adaptation of Larry Crane's issue technique. I discovered this in my 40s and it certainly made a difference. I got rid of a growth by doing this - when I went in for the procedure, the ob-gyn looked at me in shock and said it was gone! There were many other obstacles that just worked themselves out when I concentrated on releasing the negative emotions around those problems. For example: I hate driving and used to drive up to 3-5 hours round-trip at times for business. By releasing on these emotions, straight through an splendid series of events, the studio owner of a local ballroom studio offered me a teaching position at his studio, just 13 minutes from my home (this is close for Los Angeles area).

I do a modified breathing exercise with my art students - they certainly like it as it immediately disengages their mind from their problems and relaxes them. Some of my students have to battle Los Angeles traffic (always horrendous) to get to my art classes so they arrive rather stressed and rattled. I first start by getting them to take a deep breath - most of them jump up from their chairs at this point and stretch their arms up in the air while they are breathing in. Then when they breathe out, I encourage them to shake, rotate or stretch out their tense muscles, commonly in their heads, necks, shoulders, arms, etc. Then we take another deep breath and when breathing out, I instruct them to push out the negative thoughts and anxieties that are inside their heads, or the clutching in their chest or stomach. Then on the final deep breath, I thank them for being there with me, I remind them how they are all gorgeous citizen and how lucky we are to be painting with each other.

• Drive out to the ocean and listen to the surf - that all the time centers me, brings a feeling of calmness and makes me feel strong and considerable again. When my connection was falling apart, when my uncle passed away, when I was burned out - just a few hours by the ocean got me going again.

• Go for a walk in nature. Try to get away from cars, technology and people. I find that very healing.

• If you have funds, get a massage. If only the leaders of the world would commonly get good massages. Maybe there will be less fighting and more love. I only discovered this when I was in my late 30s - boy did that help me with my stress.

• If you love animals, getting a pet can help you. Just stroking your cat or dog is very calming and peaceful.

8. Create something

• I commonly paint - I get out my watercolors and start playing around with the colors. After a while, some inspiration will come and this process of creation all the time makes me feel better.

• Or I cook - it's even best when I can cook and feed person else. The sounds of person appreciating my cooking all the time make me smile. Don't do this if you have weight issues - you will just get more depressed.

• When I injured my knee and could not walk upstairs, I started sewing as that activity complex sitting in one place or cutting from the floor. I taught myself how to sew and made ball-gowns to hide my bent leg when I was dancing. Yes, I still went dancing even though I spent most of the time sitting down. It distracted me from my painful knee and now I have 10+ new outfits to wear dancing!

• Start a journal - write down 3 good things that happened to you today. Do this every day. It can be as straightforward as a friend calling you on the phone. Or the sun advent out. Those are good things. Or write down all things you are feeling every day. It does not have to make sense, just dump it out. Who knows, this may lead to your next occupation - writing. That's how I started writing. I have lots of microscopic unfinished stories scattered around in my computer and in any journals. All produced during times of great stress, anxiety, grief or shock.

• If you have never done Anything creative before but have a normal interest, go with that. If you do not know how to get started, buy a how-to book or signup for a class in wood carving, pottery, art, glass-blowing, cooking, writing, piano, violin, bass, dance etc. That's how I got started in painting - I woke up one day with this strong enforcement to paint with the Chinese brush in 2001. I went on the internet and found a Chinese brush painting class in San Francisco and on that Saturday painted for the first time. Boy did that turn my life forever!

9. Express love and gratitude to your loved ones. If you have a spouse, children, house or friends who love you - reach out to them and tell them how much you love them and how much they mean to you. Give them a hug or a kiss.

• I don't have house but I write emails to my close friends at odd times. It's commonly too late to call. I will tell them I'm reasoning of them and hope they are doing well. I thank them for their friendship, and tell them how extra they are. When you tell citizen they are special, it means more to them if you spell out what it is they are good at or identify a definite event which highlights their talents eg: great listeners, patient, creative qoute solvers, great sense of humor etc.

• I tell my boyfriend all the time how much I love him, what his specials talents are. I reach out and ask for a hug when I need it. That all the time makes me feel better.

10. Take a trip to somewhere thoroughly opposite to what you are going straight through - if you were burned by people, then go to a third world country like Brazil or Cuba where there are still happy citizen who care about each other even though they are certainly poor. If you are advent out of a thoroughly frazzled situation - go somewhere remote and peaceful without a lot of citizen - the more unknown the better.

• When I left Oracle for a startup which went bankrupt 6 months later, those 6 months were so intense it left me drained, numb and tired of bad people.

Instead of doing what I would commonly do in that situation - modernize my resume and job search, I flew out to Cancun, met with a dance friend and exploring pyramids, wells, caves and gorgeous beaches. We found a microscopic place in Tulum, 2 hours south of Cancun and stayed in a microscopic hut on the beach. There was no electricity; the floor of the hut was sand. It cost approximately nothing. That was on of the most rejuvenating times for me. We then flew to Miami for the largest Salsa festival in the Us - Calle Ocho and danced our butt off for 1 week with 2 other dance friends. I came back to San Francisco with a tan, lost about 10 pounds, a smile on my face and found a voice-mail from the President of a new startup curious me in for an interview. He hired me on the spot as Director of Marketing. How cool was that!

• There was a time when I was certainly burned out from dealing with unethical citizen and citizen who took benefit of my kind helpful nature. I began to lose my faith in the human race. I found myself in a deep depression, not wanting to eat, not able to sleep, not wanting to interact with anyone. I signed up for a dance agenda to Cuba and the 2 weeks there was life changing. Cuba was just advent out of their famine and the citizen there were so poor - food was hard to come by, even if you had money, there was nothing to buy in the stores. But I have never happier citizen in my life. They were filled with joy, laughter and love. Their abundance spilled out to all of us -foreigners - all broken in our many ways. What was clear to me then was because there was no money or material things to buy, their time was not spent in pursuance of money. Their time was spent with each other, laughing, singing, dancing, talking, hugging, playing music or doing other things together. There are no lonely citizen in Cuba. When I was with our group of local Cuban dancers, if I wandered off on my own, they would all the time call out, "Come walk with us, don't walk alone". Their children are their national treasure - children can rove anywhere and they are held, loved, taken care of and fed by their neighbors and total strangers. person will all the time bring the kids home to their parents at the end of the day. How splendid is that?

• Other places I've been to which are great for recovering your spirits - Koh Chang in Thailand, Pulau Langkawi or Pulau Tioman in Malaysia, Morro de Sao Paolo in Brazil. These places are all inexpensive, remote and peaceful. I had an ocean-front beach hut for /night in Thailand and daily massages for /hr. I stay away from the hectic costly resorts. I only went to hectic costly resorts when it was funded by my work. When I'm funding it, then it could also be costly resorts but peaceful ones - like the Kea Lani in Maui and the Grand Wailea in Maui (only for the imaginable spa - the rest of the resort is too chaotic).

Not all of these are long term strategies for enduring happiness but they will help get you out of your state of shock, despair, numbness, depression, paralysis, anxiety or disappointment etc. The issue of the negative emotions that are tying you up in knots will allow your objectivity and creativity to kick in. Often, the obstacle/adversity is not going to be as insurmountable as it first appears and the solution will gift itself once your head is clear. Just by the straightforward fact of taking some action, you be changing your results... You are no longer beating up on yourself or repeated request your mind for a solution when it clearly does not have adequate facts to make a decision. Changing your actions, bypasses your current negative thoughts and feelings and that changes the result. The turn in your energy will allow you to attract a distinct result. And often one good thing will lead to another to another.

Appendix A: Your "10 Quick-fixes to Happiness and Prosperity"

Use this worksheet to make your own "10 Quick-fixes". make them around your own interests and passions. If you do not have any passions or interests, then by trying the quick-fixes, you will find your own passions or interest. Do not limit yourself to what is just on my list, brain-storm and come up with your own ideas. Send them to me and I will compile them into a "Best of Quick-fixes".

Do any combinations of these any times a day or at minimum, once a day. Continue this everyday, vary the activities so that it does not get boring.
1. Play good music loudly Start date:_________
Write down the songs that make you smile and dance or make you feel calm and peaceful. Make a compilation. Use Pandora.com to find more similar songs
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2. Exercise 30 mins - 1 hr, sweat-heart pumping! Start date:_________
Name your exercise(s): _____________________________________________
3. Take a Class around your interest or passion Start date:_________
List your interest/passion(s): ________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
4. Teach person your expertise/passion/interest Start date: ____________
What can you teach? ______________________________________________
Who will you teach this to? _________________________________________
5. Read inspirational books/ blogs/movies Start date: ____________
_______________________________________________________________

6. Call up a friend - Start date: ____________
Name of friend(s) who has more problems than you _____________________
________________________________________________________________
Name of friend(s) who is a wise happy soul _____________________________
________________________________________________________________
7. Go to a peaceful place Start date: ____________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
8. Create something Start date: ____________
What have you created in the past, go as far back as when you were a kid that all the time put a smile on your face or peace in your soul? What are the 10 things in your life you are grateful for?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
9. Express love and gratitude to your loved ones Start date: ____________
List their extra qualities: ___________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
10. Take a trip Start date: ____________
I use my reputation card for my purchases to fetch frequent flyer miles so I can take a trip anywhere. Make sure you pay the full whole off every month!
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

2011/11/30

Brides in Bikinis - The Bahamas

If you are seeing for the perfect destination for your honeymoon, the Bahamas will not disappoint. With powdery white sand beaches and crystal clear turquoise waters, you and your new spouse can celebrate your love in paradise. There are only a few things you need to do before you can enjoy the Bahamas. First, if you are a new wife, you will need to get a passport name turn and make sure your new husband can search his passport and renew it if needed. Secondly, you will need to whether make plane or cruise arrangement. Next, grab your bikini, have an phenomenal wedding, and get ready to soak up the sun.

There is a huge variety of hotels and resorts that offer super affordable hotel packages ready just for honeymooners. If you go online and do a dinky research, there are tons of packages that comprise gorgeous rooms, breakfasts in bed, candlelight dinners, scuba excursions, and free gifts ready at many resorts and hotels. Resorts on many of the islands offer these packages that are exclusive to newlyweds, giving you the opportunity to have an phenomenal honeymoon for a much more affordable price.

During your honeymoon, you and your new partner have so many ways you can spend your time as a newly married couple. The Bahamas is a natural splendor, and there is as much to survey on shore as their is in the ocean. Share a hammock under some shady palm trees along the beach, or watch the sun go down into the water with a chilly tropical drink in your hand. survey some of the most gorgeous coral reefs in the world, and swim with some dolphins and sea lions. Take a canoe and see the parts of the Bahamas off the beaten path, or go horseback riding along the beach.

The Bahamas is preponderant for its duty-free shopping and phenomenal food. Eat at a chic gourmand seafood bistro one night and hit a local hotspot the next. Buy handcrafted clothing, accessories, jewelry, and much more from the shops and vendors that populate the streets of the Bahamas. At night, the real fun begins. whether you want to relax to the sounds of local musicians or dance all night at a flashy nightclub to the sound of a Dj, the Bahamas has something distinct for every night of your honeymoon. Visit the world preponderant Crystal Palace Resort or the Atlantis Resort, placed on Paradise Island.

Enjoy your newlywed status relaxing on the pure white sands of the Bahamas. Order a drink in a pineapple and sit in the shallow sandbars. Spend a day exploring the preponderant streets of the Bahamas and hit a local bar for a night of dancing with your new spouse. Sit together and watch the radiant sun sink below the horizon in a display of pink, red, and orange. whether you want to have a honeymoon that is free-style, or packed to the rim with distinct adventures, the Bahamas promises to make whatever you choose surreal.

2011/11/29

Pros and Cons of Owning a Vacation Home

A vacation home is a second home as a supplement to your permanent home. As an owner of two vacation houses I can introduce you to a number of aspects that will help you getting your dream vacation real estate with chronic pleasure for yourself and your family. In fact when you read this easy list you will also get an impression of the pros and cons of owning an extra home for vacation.

Some of the same aspects of buying a vacation home are exactly the same as for buying a permanent home.

Price and running expenses of the vacation home

For most of us the price when we buy a home and the costs through the year are clear and prominent limitations to take into account. Make sure to think through what you can afford now and what you can afford when you retire if that is in the horizon.

The most prominent aspect of a vacation house

If you ask a real estate dealer about the three most prominent aspects when you are searching for a new house he will say: 1. Location, 2. Location and 3. Location.

Think through what will that mean for you. When you get a home for vacation you might be able to heighten it and make it bigger and better. But you cannot turn the location for the same house or vacation flat.

Many will summarise it in the way that it is smarter to buy a not so super vacation home in a super nice location - than the opposite.

The style of the vacation home

As we already have 9 grandchildren from our four children we gave a high priority to our vacation houses that could accommodate everybody. Not in a luxury way but in a functional way. Other couples might be more focussed on having a more luxurious living space for themselves and say two friends on overnight stay or the like.

Other families might be more focussed on finding a rather easy and basic room that is not demanding in anyway but which might have a rustic appearance.

Facilities at the vacation home

If you go for a vacation house far away from other citizen the facilities in the house might be quite easy and primitive. You might not even have running water and toilet facilities.

In such a place it will also be a challenge to get help from professionals when you need fix and service. On the other hand such a house might be rather cheap to buy.

How often will you or family members use the vacation home?

Be realistic and reason how often you and your family would admittedly be able to make use of it when you think of your checklist for reflections before you buy an extra home for your leasure time. A vacation house or other vacation home must not invent to be a burden in daily life. Difficulties and expenses going there should be a part of your calculation, but also your ideas of alternatives like going abroad on vacation.

Can you make use of the vacation home in the way you want?

Finally you should think over and discuss in the family which kind of activities you want to have as options when you crusade for a vacation house or flat. Some families are very focussed on skiing, others on swimming and sun bathing on a beach, others on wildlife sense and others again on hunting. If you have juvenile children ask them what could attract them and expect to let them bring a classmate or other guest with them when staying on vacation.

Summing up the pros and cons of owning a vacation home

Pros of a vacation home

You will have the capability to fly from your daily duties and change your home environment with something distinct that might sacrifice stress and heighten your feeling of being on vacation.

Often you will integrate your trips to your sparetime home with communal activities like piquant friends and family members. Your guests will often think back of such visits with much more pleasure and pleasure compared to normal communal gatherings in your permanent home.

Your children will get a wider horizon by being well-known with someone else location than their daily surroundings.

Cons of a vacation home

A vacation home is an extra burden in economy and daily management.

It might limit your entrance to trip to new places and to sense unfamiliar sightings and cultures.

It might generate some discussions in the family when to go and when not to go. You might sense clashes between your dreams of going to your vacation place and to fulfil expectations to stay home and be involved with other activities, e.g. Birthday parties of friends etc.

And ultimately it will not be inherent to be sure when you can sell your vacation home in time to a decent price.

2011/11/28

Ontario cottage Rental - Make the Right selection for a flourishing Vacation

Are you thinking of renting a cottage for your vacation this summer? If so, you probably dream of fun and games on the water, lazing on the dock with that book you've been dying to read, balmy evenings spent barbecuing and watching a knockout sunset, and roasting marshmallows on the campfire. Then waking to the sound of loons calling before other day in paradise. These practical tips will help to make sure your dream becomes a reality and not a potential nightmare, so do your homework and have a great time this summer.

Don't leave it to the last diminutive 2006 was the year of the last diminutive booking, with a huge scramble for remaining cottages in July and August, however, this year the rental agencies are reporting a brisk company in enquiries and early bookings. If you have definite needs, for example, a cottage that sleeps more than 8 people, a sandy beach, or have to have queen beds in more than one room, you should make your reservation now.

Decide what is important to you and what you could live without Have a house conference, determine which area you want to visit, how far you are willing to travel, how much you want to pay, how remote you want to be, what facilities you must have, and which are not as important. Make a list of these in order of their significance to you -
remember, you may have to sell out some of your wants, the later you leave your booking. If you have small children, a sandy beach with shallow waterfront for wading may be number one on your list as could be a washer and dryer; if you authentically want to get back to nature, privacy and enough distance from neighbors might be your priority. Get these wishes clear and the less likely you are to be disappointed.

Be selective about your waterfront A vacation can be spoilt if the children can't swim because the volume of boat traffic and wake affects their safety. As lakes become busier, boats get bigger and schools of teens on seadoos are the norm, it can be very annoying if all you want to do is relax and enjoy some tranquility.

Make a list of questions to ask Don't take it for granted that the facilities listed on a website are accurate, so if something is very important to you and your family, check it will be ready to you.

Keep a article of your cottage crusade There are so many websites and so many cottages for rent that it is easy to forget where you saw that lovely one with the great sandy beach, and hot tub!

Payment safety If you use an agency, ask if it is registered with Tico (Travel business Council of Ontario). Not only does this give safety for your money if the branch goes out of business, but it demonstrates that the company you are using is a member of a pro register and conducts its operations in accordance with provincial regulations. If you rent your cottage from a private individual, the transaction is based on trust so make sure they have a good rental deal that lays out the obligations of both parties. Expect to pay a deposit of up to 50% of the total cost with the equilibrium paid in any place from 45 days before the vacation takes place onwards.

Cancellation course An branch will have its course on cancellation clearly ready on its website or in the documentation you receive on booking. For private bookings, make sure you know what the owners' course is. Taking out a simple voyage insurance course will cover cancellation on curative and emergency grounds; some of these even offer a 'change of mind' clause that will cover your deposit if you determine not to perfect the reservation.

Make your payments on time The high season weeks of July and August book up quickly and both owners and agencies are inundated with enquiries from January onwards. So, don't expect either to honour a telephone or email booking if you haven't sent your deposit. If you can't use a prestige card, then send a cheque by Express Post.

Enjoy planning your vacation - it's a great part of the experience!

2011/11/27

Rent Disney Homes Rather Than Pay a Fortune in Hotel Bills

Increasingly many families are selecting to rent Disney homes in preference to staying at some of the expensive hotels in and nearby the neighborhood. Enjoying a house vacation in Orlando, maybe spending much of your time in Disney World, can be an fabulous palpate for the whole family.

However, whilst the days may be filled with rides, entertainment and fun, all too often there can be problems. If you select not to rent a hidden vacation home near Disney World, then approximately in fact you'll be forced to pay exorbitant fees at one of the nearby hotels. Quite apart from being very much more expensive, difficulties can arise, especially when families become confined to a particular room for a week or more.

If you have very young children, then approximately in fact you're customary with how excited and energetic they can become! This can be endearing for a while, but being cooped up in a particular room for up to two weeks can in fact turn your house holiday into a boot camp. Within a hotel there is itsybitsy to do except jump up and down on the beds, run nearby like headless chickens and disturb guests in nearby rooms. And as for the children!

But the qoute doesn't grow any smaller as your children grow bigger. If you have teenagers, then you're probably aware of them wanting their own space. This means that while you aren't out and about within Disney World, your children could well be roaming the neighborhood. Most parents will feel a itsybitsy uneasy about this - whether from the point of view of the welfare of their children, or the welfare of the neighborhood!

The third issue concerns costs, because in approximately every hotel you will find that you'll be paying extra for having the children with you, and the more children you have, the more expensive your vacation becomes. Many families like to go away on holiday with close friends or extended families, and when two or more families head off to Orlando, hotel expenses can become very significant, which may well put off inherent visitors.

However, the choice to rent vacation homes near Disney World has become more beloved recently, and a growing number of families have been discovering the wealth of advantages in making the switch from hotels to Orlando vacation homes. Renting a hidden home near Disney World takes all of the problems which hotel chamber incurs, and turns them into inescapable advantages.

For younger children, there is a clear advantage in staying at a hidden house in Orlando rather than a particular hotel room. They are able to run around, let off steam and enjoy themselves without causing your blood pressure to rise as speedily as the hotel bills. Most hidden homes available for renting near Disney World comprise up to seven bedrooms, living rooms, dining rooms and a kitchen, and even gardens, hidden pools and spas.

Imagine being able to relax on your own patio after a hard day at Disney World, a cool glass in your hand, and your children happily wearing off any excess vigor by running about the organery or splashing in the pool. in fact this should be what a vacation feels like, rather than being squashed into a shoebox?

The advantages continue as your children grow older. Teenagers who would otherwise be confined to a hotel room will ordinarily feel the need to get away and do their own thing. This is quite natural, and from the parents' point of view gives them a break too.

If you select to rent vacation homes near Disney World rather than hotel rooms then your immature children will be able to enjoy their own space, have their own bedroom, and maybe even spend time in the pool or spa. This gives you and them the break from each other you'll need now and then. But even great than this is that you'll in fact know where your kids are. Rather than having them wandering nearby the local streets, they'll be safely at home with you.

It is only natural to assume that having a holiday where both you and your children can relax and enjoy yourselves, rather than being stuck with each other in a particular room for two weeks, will cost more. Any way natural this assumption may be, it is quite wrong. This is the third real advantage of renting Disney homes rather than staying at a hotel. The costs are far economy in many cases. If two families share a particular home with seven bedrooms, then this will often work out at nearby fifty dollars per adult per night, with children costing nothing.

So if you're mental of heading to Orlando or Disney World, and are implicated about coping with your kids for two weeks, or the charge of hotel accommodation, consider the choice to rent Disney homes instead, giving you privacy, comfort, peace of mind, and a good deal more spare cash as well.