...But first, coffee (with Jen)

We have traveled from Canada to Florida a few times now, and each trip has been a little different.  We have found what works for us, and we use this information when planning future trips. If you're looking to travel to Florida and you are on a budget, then these tips may work out well for you. Set a realistic budget. Travel is expensive. So, plan ahead - research where you want to go, what you can expect to pay to get there and how much you will need to do the activities that you want to do while on vacation.  Start putting away funds ahead of time to cover the costs of the trip. When planing for Florida we add the price that we anticipate for flights, park tickets, food and shopping. Choose your traveling time wisely. The price of flights fluctuate quite frequently. When planning we have seen flights pop up with hundreds of dollars in the difference.  So, do your research, fly during the low (or off) season when possible, and set up flight price monitoring...

Conception Bay South has been working on projects to benefit their town's health - getting them out and moving if you will. The new stadium has a free indoor walking track, most of the old rail bed has been converted to a graded walking trail, and the Kiwanis national peace park is currently being created/greatly updated.  The new walking trail is only part of the a memorial park, and it can be seen from Peace Keepers Way highway. The Telegram wrote an article of history of this land where the Kiwanis resides and it's importance back in March. The trail is nicely groomed and leashed pet friendly. So far, it is about 3.7 km (total length) with more trail being developed.  There are several signs and trash bins along to trail for use - and to encourage the lazy people (yes, I went there - L A Z Y) to actually pick up after their dogs to keep the trail nice for all users.  This is a nice touch, because I really don't like carrying my dogs 'presents' for longer ...

As an avid coffee drinker, I use to dress up my beverage with both milk and sugar (2 teaspoons).  It was like a little treat in my over-sized mug that I indulged in a few times a day. This has changed recently as I am trying to eat better and become healthier. The milk in my coffee is skim or 0.5, and the sugar got a kick to the curb. I didn't start this change on my own - I was quite happy with my little sugary coffee.  This change started with a challenge that my co-workers had taken on themselves, that I had piggybacked on. The challenge was to give something up in your diet for 30 days. Mine was sugar in my coffee.  Doing this challenge with friends kept me accountable, which is something that I greatly needed to break away from this habit. Picture source: Kaboompics.com To be honest, a month after the challenge has ended, I don't miss the sugar.  The important part is still in my cup - the delicious, pipping hot coffee. It's been two months, and I ...

Towards the end of June I started seeing "Plastic Free July" posts. With the talk recently about the straws creating environmental problems, in addition to the other plastic waste problems, I guess that this is the new approach to the old problem.  I love animals - so, their environment is important to me. Here is where you can read more about this challenge:  http://www.plasticfreejuly.org/ . We recycle most of what we can in our home.  But, the TWO reusable bag collections that I have (conveniently stuffed into other reusable bags for storage - because that is how I was taught to store bags by the generations before me) in separate ends of my house bug me.  They collect dust and fur, and I don't want to use them because of this. For real, one of those bag collections has been sitting in my laundry room for 5 years - unmoved and unused.  I'm pretty sure that I've collected a whole dogs worth of fur on and in this stack. I'm a woman of lists.  And...