I love my hubby and I can't imagine life without him that's why I want to thank the person who created Yahoo Literati :)
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Guest post written by Kayla Winters
Planning my wedding thousands of miles away from my family hasn’t been easy. Normally on things like this, my mom would grab the reins and take total control. But I can’t exactly ask her to fly 12 hours just to meet florists.
I hired out a wedding planner to handle most of the stuff like that but a huge problem that came up pretty quickly was the matter of my cross-continental wedding registry. So I did what was easiest and decided to Get Wild Blue so I could assemble my registry online and make sure that none of my gifts got left out, like a salad spinner that I would use maybe once a year.
So I registered online at a few stores and put in the stuff to ship to our house here in the States. I didn’t want my guests, especially my international guests, to worry about travelling with a wedding gift. It ended up working out pretty well because almost all of the stuff arrived at our apartment right before the wedding and during our honeymoon.
Now I just need to write thank you notes and figure out what I actually will use.
MONTICELLO, Iowa, July 26 (UPI) -- Iowa Gov. Chet Culver has ordered National Guard troops to the site of a dam collapse in northeastern Iowa and declared the area a disaster site.
The dam held back water in Lake Delhi, a popular recreational site and home to hundreds of summer vacationers. Culver visited the area Sunday.
More than 10 inches of rainfall last week sent water cascading over the top of the earthen and concrete dam, and the force of the water eventually caused a 200-foot section to wash away.
Culver said the lake was a statewide asset and that he will do what he can to see that it is restored.
No one was hurt but about 50 homes and more than 20 businesses sustained major damage, The Des Moines Register reported.
It just makes your jaw drop," condominium owner Irv Janey said. "The lake's gone."
The Lake Delhi Recreation Association owns the dam, and the lake had several public boat landings and a pair of public beaches. Association president Jim Willey told the paper it did not have money to rebuild the dam.
"This is a real landmark, and I think it's in Iowans' best interests to save this lake," Culver said.
The dam was inspected in 2009, but only minor problems were noted.
If a new dam is built, it would have to comply with more stringent design requirements, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said.
The article written by Jan Gallagher
Summer means fun and summer means time out to play for kids. It's also a time when parents have to keep more of an eye on what their kids are doing now that they are out of school for a few months. The hardest thing for a parent to do is to try to keep their kids safe while enjoying the summer. What can you do to keep your kids safe?
Since they will be in the sun, apply a good sunscreen with a high spf factor. The higher the number, the better. Tanning isn't good for your skin, and burns are very painful.
Insects are plentiful in the summer too. Make sure that they(or you) apply an insect repellent that contains DEET in it. You will protect your kids from diseases like the West Nile Virus.
Kids sometimes in the summer will be at home by themselves because usually both mom and dad are working. Teach kids not to open the door just because they heard the doorbell ring and make sure they know how to contact emergency systems if there is a major problem. It would also be a good idea to make sure that you have an Oklahoma City adt alarm setup if your kids will be home by themselves quite a bit.
When they swim, make sure they don't swim alone and make sure they know how. Supervision with children is key especially around the pool or the lake. Since germs can still be contracted from pools, and if you own one, make sure an adequate level of chlorine is present to keep it clean.
Kids like to ride their bikes in the summer, too. Make sure that when they ride their bikes that they know basic bycycle safety rules. Teach them automobile traffic rules so they know what is going on around them.
Make summertime a fun a safe time for your kids.
Some options to consider to get rid of poison ivy include:
Thanks for the article from Adrian Waller
The Newlywed Game can be seen on satellite TV and is hosted by Carnie Wilson. It features three couples who compete against each other. In Round 1, the wives have to try to match their husband's responses for 5 points apiece. In Round 2, the roles are reversed and the husbands have to match their wive's answers. This time the first 3 questions are worth 10 points apiece. The fourth and final question is 2 parts and worth 15 points each. Therefore the maximum amount that a couple can receive is 75 points, if they get every question right. A tie will result in having to answer another question. The couple with the highest score wins a second honeymoon vacation. The questions are often sexual in nature and are used to determine how well each couple really knows each other. It is funny to see some of the people squirm at the questions and how they respond in the moment. Of course, it is great to see if they can match each other's answers and to see if a couple can come from behind to win. It offers plenty of laughs and physical harm can occur if the answers don't match.
Guest post written by Mary White
I spend most of my time in retirement in my garden that I can overlook from my living room window. But I also like to bring some of the Garden inside with potted plants and bouquets in vases throughout my house.
But when our air conditioning cut out recently I wasn’t just uncomfortable, I was afraid for my potted plants. Most of the potted plants are ones that I’ve bought from a store and are especially sold with indoor use in mind, so when the temperatures in my house starting increasing, the flowers on them started to suffer and wilt.
It really upset me a lot to see all my hard work wilting away in front of me so I just called heating and cooling from SEARS instead of waiting around for our normal A/C repair man to come back with quotes on replacement systems.
A new system was installed pretty quickly and I somehow managed to salvage my indoor potted plants. However, some of my cut bouquets had wilted beyond repair so I just replaced them with new ones for my garden earlier than usual.
It was not as if the world was about to come to an end when Manny Pacquiao learned that Floyd Mayweather Jr. had opted to ignore a deadline set by promoter Bob Arum for him to make a statement regarding a proposed November 13 fight.
''I am very disappointed but we have no choice but to move on,'' said Pacquiao when Arum told him the bad news.
''I have always wanted to please the (boxing) fans. That's why I badly wanted to fight Mayweather. This is what the whole world wants to see,'' said Pacquiao, who has to settle for a fight either with Mexican Antonio Margarito or Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto.
A deal can de made within the next seven or ten days, according to Arum, and this was not contested by Pacquiao's consigliore, Mike Koncz, who is in the US attending to very important matters concerning the pound-for-pound king's needs.
''It wouldn't take long before we get a deal made,'' said Koncz, who expects to return to Manila on Thursday with a deal in hand.
Koncz has been in constant touch with Arum as they work on the finalization of an agreement.
Four cities are bidding to host a Pacquiao fight: Abu Dhabi (in the United Arab Emirates), Dallas, Las Vegas and Monterrey (in Mexico).
If Pacquiao decides to meet Margarito, Las Vegas and Monterrey will slug it out to stage it and if it's Cotto, it'll be a tossup between Dallas and Abu Dhabi.
Koncz said fighting outside the US has a distinct allure since Mexico doesn't collect taxes on purses.
''It'll save Manny millions in taxes if he ends up fighting outside the US,'' stressed Koncz, noting that 30 percent of earnings goes to the IRS.
Still, Koncz is hopeful that Pacquiao and Mayweather would eventually find each other on opposite corners.
''Maybe next year (in May 2011),'' said Koncz.
Meanwhile, Top Rank is dying to know the schedule of Pacquiao, who also has a new role being Sarangani congressman, so it could map out the promotional activities being lined up.
''We have to see what the congressman's schedule looks like (before we plan anything),'' said Top Rank publicist Ricardo Jimenez. ''We have a boxer (who is) like no other,'' said Jimenez.
Thanks to my friend Janet Dalton for this blog post
I am getting ready to go away to college again. I know it is a little early to be thinking about it, but I like to be prepared. Ironically, I do not like long goodbyes but at the same time I like to prepare for those same goodbyes as far in advance as possible. One thing I do not like about going away to college is that I miss my family, but having hughes net in oregon makes it a little more tolerable. I like being able to use Skype to talk to people, but I wish that more people had it. Fortunately my family has satellite internet in maine so we are able to Skykpe often. This year probably will not be as bad for me as it was last year. Being a sophomore in college comes with social responsibilities and one of those is to not cry like a baby for the first month I am there. Doing that is also not good for my studies, since I can not see my books through the tears. I know, I need to suck it up but I promise I plan to do better this year than I did last year. For one thing, I know what to expect and I am also rooming with the same girl I had as a roommate last year.
Guest post written by Mark Alton
I was certainly uncomfortable when our home’s air conditioner broke. But I was mostly worried about how my senior mother, who lives with us and has diabetes and other health problems, would be able to handle it during this scorching summer.
We figured out pretty quickly that the there was something wrong with the A/C because it didn’t take long it to get uncomfortably warm in our house. As soon as an A/C repair man came and told us that it was indeed broken, I started shopping around. One of my friends had recently bought a new air conditioner so she referred me to hvac installation.
I ordered the unit and arranged the installation. Fortunately for me and my family, we were able to arrange an installation appointment for the next afternoon. So we only had to brave it through ceiling and box fans for another night.
My dad was quite the trooper through it all although I knew that he wasn’t comfortable. I’m just glad that I don’t have to worry about him getting overheated now.
Guest blog post from Beatris Allman
When it comes to going on a well deserved vacation, I refuse to spend any time worrying about whether my house is protected. Vacations are a time to get away and relax. It’s no time to spend worrying about whether my belongings will be there when I return. So, this is where my obsessive compulsiveness serves me well. I make sure to take the necessary precautions before I leave. Interested in knowing what I do?
First, I advise two neighbors of my absence. Why two neighbors? Well, if one of them is called away or has an emergency, I have a backup just in case. I also provide both with my phone number and advise them when I’ll return.
Second, I make sure my security alarm from www.allhomesecurity.com is set and in good working order before I leave. I also test the sensors on the windows and doors of the house to make sure everything is working as it should.
Third, I ask my neighbors to move my car every now and then. I ask this to be done so that it doesn’t stay in the same parking spot for too long.
Finally, I have timing sensors on the lights in the house to coincide with when I would return from work and go to bed. I also ask my neighbors to pick up my mail. I don’t advise my mail carrier that I’ll be away as I want everything to appear as if I am still at home.
When it comes to going away on vacation, don’t make the mistake of wondering if you’ve done enough to protect your house while you’re trying to relax. Become a little obsessive compulsive. Make sure to do everything before leaving. Make a list and check them off one by one. You’ll be glad you did.