July 22, 2007
Today the announcement you have been waiting for finally
arrived! That new baby has been born and you want to buy the
perfect gift.
Think about choosing from the many personalized baby gifts
available. Personalized baby gifts are wonderful and make lovely
gifts. You will have many choices when looking for personalized
baby gifts. Look in local department stores for personalized
baby gifts. You may also find personalized baby gifts in
catalogues. One of the best places to look for personalized baby
gifts is online. You will find excellent personalized baby gifts
on websites that feature items for babies and children.
Websites are good places to look for personalized baby gifts
because of all the choices. Shopping online allows you to
compare prices and quality. You can view hundreds of
personalized baby gifts in a very short time and choose your
favorite.
Personalized baby gifts are always a good idea and you can
choose from baby blankets, cups and picture frames. Books make
good personalized baby gifts and so do photo albums or
scrapbooks.
You will also find clothing items that are available as
personalized baby gifts. Stuffed animals can be personalized for
baby gifts and so can diaper bags and stationery. Some of the
most beautiful personalized baby gifts are jewelry. You can have
tiny lockets or rings engraved with the baby’s name and date of
birth.
You may be surprised at all the personalized baby gifts that can
be given for baptism or christening gifts. These are very
special personalized baby gifts such as Bibles and christening
blankets. Other personalized baby gifts for these occasions
might include crosses, figurines or baptismal clothing.
You will enjoy shopping for personalized baby gifts almost as
much as the parents will enjoy receiving them. Personalized baby
gifts are gifts that will long be remembered. When you give
personalized baby gifts you will be giving gifts that may be
become heirlooms. Personalized baby gifts are an excellent way
to choose baby gifts that make lasting impressions.
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Today, more than ever, you need a Living Will. Discover the 10 most common questions you need answered so you too can have peace of mind.
- What is an advanced health care directive?
Advanced health care directives are written instructions that communicate your wishes regarding care and treatment should you no longer be able to make your own health care decisions.
- What are the components?
An Advanced Health Care Directive includes:
- A Living Will which outlines your medical and treatment choices
- Health Care Power of Attorney – the person you appoint to make medical and treatment decisions when you are no longer able to do so yourself.
- How are they used?
If you are no longer able to make choices regarding your health care, these documents will communicate to your physicians what treatments you want or don’ t want such as artificial administration of food and fluids, or even the use of CPR or a breathing machine.
- When do they become effective?
These forms are only effective when you cannot communicate your desires yourself. It may be used in situations where you are terminally ill and will die soon. In that case, life-sustaining procedures that only prolong the dying process will be withheld as you have indicated. Another time they will come into play is if you suffer from an event or illness that leaves you permanently in a coma. Because situations are varied, it becomes important to be as clear as you can, and make sure your POA understands your desires.
- What happens if I don’t have one?
Ever state has a hierarchy that is followed that describes who is your next of kin and who will make decisions for you. For instance, if you are a minor child, it will be your parents. If you are an adult with a legal spouse, that person becomes your decision maker. It becomes complicated when family members/significant others disagree about what your desires are. This is why these forms are so important.
- Can I change my mind?
You can change your mind about what you have written and who you choose as your decision maker at any time by destroying the old forms and making a new one. Make sure the new forms are given out to those that need them such as your decision make, family/significant others, health care provider, hospital, etc.
- If I have a living will, does that mean I won’t get treatment?
This is a common misconception, and the answers is no. These forms do not mean NO CARE. You should always get the care and comfort that you require.
- Where do I get these forms?
Often times, your health care provider or hospital will have them. However, it’s best if you do them before you ever see these providers. You can obtain them from your attorney, or there are several online sources where you can get state specific documents for free.
- Do I need to see a lawyer?
No. You can fill these forms out yourself following the form directions.. That said, if you situation is sticky, it would not hurt to get professional legal advice. In most states the forms do not have to be notarized. Make sure you get the required witnesses to sign these forms. They cannot be relatives or employees of your health care provider, hospital, clinic, etc.
- Where can I find more information?
Online, www.LawHelp.org provides free information for most states. Most state departments of health or your state legal association will be able to point you in the proper direction.
©2005 Barbara C. Phillips, MN, NP
Are you living with Vibrant Intent? Do you want to experience the Joy, Magic, and Wisdom of Successful Aging? Celebrate with us as we explore these issues and more. Receive your complimentary copy of “Celebrating You: 50 Tips for Vibrant Living” at http://www.OlderWiserWomen.com
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Charity isn’t the easiest virtue to master. And with St. Paul’s warning that our good works mean nothing without charity, we see how important it is to practice. Here’s a few practical ways to install charity into every day life.
Give to people what they want, not what you think is best. We’ve all said it- “If I give him money, he’ll just spend it on alcohol or drugs.” Give your gifts unconditionally, and don’t worry about how someone else will use them. As long as there’s no evil in the gift itself, the way it’s used isn’t on your shoulders. Besides, most of us use this as an excuse to give nothing at all.
Pick out one thing every day to do something special for someone. Not something you already do. Something new and extra. And do it quietly. Mt:6:3:3 “But when thou dost alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth.”
Say five Hail Mary’s every day for someone you don’t like. Pray for their general well being…not for them to change or leave you alone. “Oh Lord, let this man see his evil ways, and turn to You” isn’t a charitable prayer at all.
Ask yourself before you go to bed if you’re holding any grudges. If you are, then stop. Charity is impossible without mercy. Push your anger towards someone to the back of your heart and let it suffocate. Don’t allow yourself to fantasize about revenge, and pray for them.
When you can’t feel it, fake it. Charity won’t always overwhelm you with feel good emotions. Sometimes doing the right thing is difficult. So put your feelings aside and forge ahead. If you have a hard time caring about someone, just treat them as you would want to be treated.
Copy For Sale offers free religious newsletter and website articles…no link necessary, but it’s appreciated. http://copyforsale.com
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Living with chronic illness impacts one’s physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Living with chronic illness often causes one to feel helpless and hopeless, discouraged and isolated. It can devastate one’s career and financial security, friendships and love relationships, creativity, concentration, motivation, and one’s very peace of mind.
It is important now and useful long-term, to remain as active, social, and productive as possible. That means focus on what you can do and let go of what you can no longer do. Create priorities for your body, mind, heart, and soul.
Ancient philosophers and healers recognized that the body and the mind were one. Modern research confirms this body/mind connection. In the last 15 years, Western medicine has coined a term for what the ancients knew: psychoneuroimmunology. Harvard Medical School now publishes a professional journal called Mind/Body Medicine. Studies show that improved physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being stimulate an innate healing response in the body. It is possible to create a healthier lifestyle that will promote wellness. The key is to balance the physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual aspects of your life.
Improving and maintaining physical well-being includes proper nutrition, rest, and exercise. It means carefully selecting the activities in which you participate and the people with whom you spend time to ensure that you are making good choices about expending energy and making the most of each day.
Paying attention to the psychological and emotional aspects of your life includes becoming a good observer of your thoughts, feelings, and how/what you feel in your body. This is a time to allow yourself to experience, examine, and express your thoughts and feelings in an honest and forthright way.
Accurately expressing yourself is one of the most important aspects of living with chronic illness. No one will know how you feel and what you can reasonably be expected to do or not do unless you tell people directly. Value yourself and take ownership of your feelings, and thoughts, your resources and choices.
Honor and express your deepest truth and make what you say and how you say it match what you feel. Say your real “yes” and your real “no” and say what you feel without blaming or needing to please others. Don’t avoid saying what is in your heart or on your mind to say. Don’t hide your worries and concerns because you don’t want others to know you are not in control.
Accessing your spiritual nature can be as easy as watching the sunset or taking a walk through a beautiful garden. You might also consider meditation, yoga, chanting, or praying. Whether you call it God, the Universe, higher power, or “the force” a la Steven Spielberg, it is quite comforting and healing to experience the inner peace that is uniquely you.
Sitting in the quiet and allowing your attention to flow inward is very foreign to men and women in the Western world. It is, however, a fundamental practice if one is to develop and maintain health and well-being, inside and outside.
Human beings are resilient and adaptable. When faced with seemingly insurmountable tasks, we rise to the occasion. Chronic illness often motivates us to re-evaluate and reconsider every aspect of life; to review and change habits, goals, choices, and decisions.
This review includes everything from food choices, career/work, social relationships and recreational activities, to including naps and going to sleep earlier. Now is the time to create a more flexible schedule and intentionally pace yourself.
Determination and persistence will enable you to stay motivated through the tough times, and stay involved in activities that are meaningful and joyful. Maintaining your sense of humor is essential.
Invite people into your life who are kind, respectful, and compassionate. Stay away from well-meaning, well-intentioned people who have an agenda for you and can’t see you or hear you accurately.
This is the opportunity to create the changes in your life that will bring meaning to every day and cause you to choose and maintain a lifestyle that promotes and sustains your well-being: physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual.
While chronic illness may close some doors, it will no doubt open others. Take good care! You’re worth it.
Remember, only YOU can make it happen!
Copyright Dr. Jackie Black 1999-2005
If you like this article, please read more about
Dr. Jackie’s relationship dating advice and help for issues and problems.
This article may be re-published with appropriate attribution to the author including name, web site, email address and telephone number.
Dr. Jackie is an internationally recognized relationship expert, educator and coach. Advice and coaching about personal relationships is Dr. Jackie’s passion. Her goal is to inspire and support single men, single women and couples through the challenges and pitfalls of dating, loving and building lasting, committed relationships in today’s fast-paced world. Dr. Jackie’s Relationship Coaching Programs and Groups, her Blog, downloadable PodCasts and her Internet streaming radio show are jam-packed with valuable dating tips and strategies.
http://www.DrJackieBlack.com
DrJackie@DrJackieBlack.com
1.888.792.6224
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I know that seeing ads everywhere in a blog annoys and I’m guilty of it. I do the best I can to provide you with information that you can use or find valuable. Many quality Web sites are using ads and I respect that. I even click on them when I find something interesting.
The ads are there for the most obvious reason. Since becoming a full-time content maven, I’ve had to explore various routes to support the family and that includes ads. This may not matter to you, but I simply want to be up front with you about this.
Ads come with the risk of losing readers. Master New Media, Engadget, Gizmodo (ooh, I listed competitors next to each other), and Boing Boing are well-respected and full of traffic, right?
I draw the line at animated ads or ads that appear in front of content. One site drives me nuts as an ad appears whenever the mouse pointer hits a certain spot. It happened so often that it was like a blinking ad. Some folks have trouble controlling the mouse pointer, so if you’re going to use “in front of content floating ads,” then at least have a close button instead of a “depends where your mouse” goes and it appears ad.
Meryl K. Evans is the Content Maven behind meryl’s notes, eNewsletter Journal, and The Remediator Security Digest. She is also a PC Today columnist and a tour guide at InformIT. She is geared to tackle your editing, writing, content, and process needs. The native Texan resides in Plano, Texas, a heartbeat north of Dallas, and doesn’t wear a 10-gallon hat or cowboy boots.
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For a number of e-Businesses, discovering the best way to accept payments is a frustrating task. As the Internet is an instant medium, it is highly recommended that a ecommerce website must accept credit/debit cards and online checks as modes of payment. In order to accept credit card transactions, you require setting up a merchant account with a merchant bank. As soon as you set up a merchant account, an online processor can provide you with the software or gateway you need to transact.
Selecting a suitable merchant account is considered to be one of the most tough business decisions you make as their existence has almost doubled and are now into more than hundreds. At the time of choosing a merchant account, you should be aware of the cost involved in setting up the account. Refer to the list below and don’t forget to ask about each of these items before agreeing to an account.
Application Fee
The application fee is compulsory so an agent or bank can “research” you as a potential customer. Few firms are more likely to repay this fee if your application is not accepted while others won’t. It is always advisable not to pay an application fee that will not be refunded in case you are rejected.
Minimum Account Billing
This fee requires you to do a least amount of business with a merchant bank. A majority of banks require a monthly minimum of at least 25 dollars in transaction fees. Anything less than 35 dollars minimum is satisfactory.
Statement Fee
In case there is a considerable minimum-billing need, then there should be no statement fee. Still, a number of banks charge this to cover administrative costs. If you are assessed a statement fee, it shouldn’t exceed 10 dollars per month.
Charge back Fee
In case a customer is not satisfied with their purchase, can’t get a refund, or is just looking for something free, you may be faced with a charge back attempt. Under this, the bank will return customer’s fund and debit your account for the full amount. Always make sure to ask about your bank’s charge back policy. Most banks tend to be more loyal to cardholders than merchants so protect yourself by preventing charge back fees.
Transaction Fee
This fee, which is usually about 2-3 percent of the purchase, is assessed on every transaction. If a product costs US$100, the bank would receive US$2-3 for their services. While rates are relative to the nature of your business, anticipated volume and your credit history, you should never pay more than 3 percent.
Setup Fee
This covers administrative work necessary to establish your account. In case you’re charged an installation or programming fee, there shouldn’t be a setup fee. There is a considerable amount of work completed to create merchant accounts, so fees of US$50-500 should be expected.
At the time of approaching banks or an intermediary about a merchant account, always keep in mind the following tips:
1. Read the terms, conditions and anticipated charges carefully. Don’t sign anything until your questions are answered to your satisfaction. Take time to understand exactly what you are getting and how much you are paying to get it.
2. Do you require a reserve account? It shouldn’t be, but if you are a start-up Internet business, have poor to marginal credit, anticipate low volumes or run a “risk” business, it may be required.
3. How long before funds are available to you? Ideally it should not take more than 72 hours from the time an order or transaction is processed.
Given below are some of the options available with whom you can setup your merchant account.
Paypal: With a free PayPal account one can accept credit cards on your website immediately
Click bank: It offers distribution of digital products and has an instant affiliate network promoting your business.
North American Bancard: It is a full service payment solution provider of Credit, Debit, EBT, Check Conversion and Guarantee, Checks by Phone & Net.
Copyright © Active-Venture.com’s (www.active-venture.com) ecommerce hosting service. This article may be reprinted freely online or in print, provided an active link is made to www.active-venture.com
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Looking for Christmas Gift ideas for your loved ones? With this little guide you can easily choose a suitable Christmas gift for your friends and relatives. Online Shopping for Christmas gifts rather than going to a local shop is very interesting. When you send Christmas gifts online, you save both time and money. Its also an easy way to shop for friends and family overseas. Finding high quantity gifts for Christmas is not a difficult task. Its only a matter of a few searches and mouse clicks. Let me show you what’s best for you to buy online with different types of Christmas Gifts to choose.
Online Christmas Gift Idea: Christmas Flowers
Consider Beautiful arrangement of flowers in flower vase, Bouquet or in basket. You can choose a wide range of flowers like roses, daisies, Lilies or mixed flowers.
Examples of online flower gift types to choose:
- Christmas Rose Bouquet
- Two Roses In A Bud Vase
- Six Roses In A Vase
- flowers with Carnations
- One Dozen Yellow Roses/Red Roses/White Roses
- One Dozen Mixed Color Roses
- Vase of Stargazer Lilies or Gerbera Daisies
- Wrapped bouquet of mixed flowers
- Fresh Flowers with Plant Basket
- Vase of Dendrobium Orchids
- Flower Basket or Flower Bowl
Online Christmas Gift Idea: Christmas Fruit Baskets
A basket filled with different types of delicious seasonal fruits will be a fantastic gift idea for this Christmas. With Fruits, you can also add cheeses, meats, crackers and other goodies like the following.
- Gourmet Fruit Basket
- Grande Gourmet Fruit Basket
- Plant and Fruit Basket
- Delightful Christmas Fruit Tray
- Christmas Tree Tower of Fruit and Gourmet
What about a small tower of orchard-fresh fruit and delicious gourmet sweets and treats, decorated with white snowflakes and shaped like a Christmas tree. Neatly tied up with an elegant red satin bow, the medium 3-tier tower includes seasonal oranges, pears and apples, Christmas select mix, cookies, pesto cheddar cheese, chocolate toffee, crackers and mixed nuts.
Online Christmas Gift Idea: Christmas Plant Baskets with Fresh Flowers
Sending a plant is a beautiful way to express thanks or to send cheer to a loved one. A beautiful combination of plants and flowers is also a good idea. You can include variety of plants combined with flower. What about sending Bonsai or Lucky Bamboo for your friend who is interested in Feng Shui.
Few examples are:
- Azalea plant in Christmas Gift Basket
- Plant Basket with Fresh Flowers
- Lucky Bamboo in Basket
- Great Wall Of Chi - Collection of bamboo canes woven together.
- Bamboo Forest Fountain
- Zen Reflections Juniper Bonsai
Online Christmas Gift Idea: Christmas Sweet Baskets
A beautiful hand painted basket with delicious assortment of fine chocolates bars, truffles, fudge filled cookies, Cherry Delights, Coconut Delights, Mint Delights, Peanut Butter Delights and much more. You’ll be loved for ordering this basket of sweets from Online shops.
- Chocolate Delights Gift Basket
- Coffee Connoisseur Gift Basket
- Sweets-N-Treats Basket
- Tea Time Christmas Gift Basket
- Chocolate Lover’s Basket
- Chocolate Covered Strawberries in Basket
Online Christmas Gift Idea: Christmas Cake Baskets
What about a basket filled with smooth and creamy cheesecake, chocolate cookie crumb crust, chocolate chips, caramel, lime flavored sour cream with or without fresh fruit toppings or embellishments.
- Turtle Cheesecake
- New York Cheesecake
- Marionberry Cheesecake
- Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake
- Orange Mango Cheesecake
- Key Lime Cheesecake
- Carmel Apple Crumb Cheesecake
- Olde English Style Toffee Cheesecake
Now a days consumers feel very comfortable in giving both their credit card details and contact information of the recipient to online shops. Advanced data encryption technology ensures maximum protection to your personal details entered on online forms. So all that’s left now is just to go online and enjoy Christmas.
Amy Tylor is the webmaster of Christmas Gift Ideas Site:
christmas-gift-ideas.7try.com/
and Christmas News Blog christmas-news.blogspot.com/
(c) Copyright 2005. Amy Tylor, all rights reserved.
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Back to school can be a tricky time for lots of reasons, especially if you have changed over the summer. You and your friends may look different in the fall than you did when you left school in May. You may be darker from spending time outside or have braids from your trip to the beach, you may be stronger from your summer job or wilderness camp, you may have a new hair cut or new clothes. If you had a growth spurt over the summer, you may be a different size or shape.
It can be stressful to wonder what others will think of your new look, especially if you are already self-conscious or you hang with a group that tends to judge people’s looks. Hopefully your friends are your friends because you like each other, have fun together, support each other, and feel good about yourself when you’re with them. Even if you haven’t changed at all, or you feel like the only one who is worried about what others will think of your new look, the truth is, everyone wants to be liked and accepted.
When you see your friends for the first time after the summer, maybe you could say things like, “I am SO glad to see you!” and give them a hug or a high-five, instead of saying how good they look. Grown-ups comment on each other’s looks (especially weight) all the time, but it’s not a very grown-up thing to do. When we say “You look so good!” to someone, we usually mean that we’re so glad to see them, but we are in a bad habit of not saying what we mean. Even though “You look so good!” is a compliment, it’s a negative if we are only focusing on someone’s appearance over all their other qualities. The problem is that it’s the easiest thing to focus on at first glance, and sometimes we fall back on appearance comments when we don’t have anything else to say.
If one of your friends says, “Did you see so-and-so? Did you see how she looks?” or “What happened to her over the summer?” you could say, “I feel self-conscious about looking different this year, let’s not talk about how people look right now,” “I’m trying not to gossip this year,” or something like that. It may be easier to just say, “I like the way that looks” or “Yeah, but she’s brave for dying her hair blue” or some other comment that turns a negative into a positive.
If you are the person making those mean comments, remember they don’t just affect the person you’re talking about – in fact that person may not ever know. But comments about others will make your friends think you’re judging them, too, and although they may joke about it in front of you, they probably feel self-conscious inside and maybe even scared that you are going to talk about them when they’re not around. In the end, negative comments about other people can make you feel cool at first, but they usually make you and the people around you feel worse later.
Usually we think that the person who bad-mouths others thinks they’re so much better than everyone, but usually it’s the exact opposite. The person judging feels so insecure that they have to point out other people’s flaws so no one will notice theirs. You never know what is going on inside someone else. No matter how together or cool someone looks on the outside, it may not match their feelings. A person who really feels good inside doesn’t have to cut other people down to feel better.
The saying “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me,” is so untrue. If you’ve ever found out that people have been talking about you behind your back, or if you’ve ever been teased right to your face, you know that words can hurt a lot. Even small comments. I know changing is hard, and feeling different is hard, too. Even grown-ups have a hard time pointing out to our friends that what they are doing hurts. But when we are feeling grown-up, we do, because judging people on their looks hurts all of us, and it’s worth it to make the change.
Jessica Setnick is a registered dietitian in Dallas, Texas who travels the world spreading nutrition wisdom. As an accomplished speaker and writer, Jessica’s passion is promoting a positive relationship with food and eating as a key component of a healthy and happy life. Find out more or contact Jessica to speak at your event by visiting her website at www.understandingnutrition.com.
© 2004 Permission is granted to reprint this article in print or on your web site so long as the paragraph above is included and contact information is provided to www.understandingnutrition.com.
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I’ve been sending out email camapigns for clients for over 6 years, and in that time I’ve seen variations in clickthrough ranging from 3% to 84%!
Some of this is due to the product, or the professionalism of the website, but a great part of it is down to the message that is sent.
So how can you maximise the chances of getting adecent response from your first email campaign?
Follow these simple rules and your email camapaign should be successful right from the beginning.
1) Know What you Want
Before you sit down and write your email, think about what you wan tot achieve from it. more visitors to your website? More sales for a hard to sell product? More signups to your newsletter? Or something completely different? Whatever the aim, keep it in mind while writing your email
2) Spell It Write!!
There’s nothing worse than receiving a marketing email with poor spelling and grammar. If you can’t spell and your email doesn’t sound right, how can you expect people to buy from you? A marketing writer such as Angela Sherman of Content Creation can help you with this.
3) Not Too Long
Keep paragraphs short and punchy - you have very little time to grab people’s attetion, and text on a screen is notoriously difficult to read once a paragraph hits more than 4 lines. Stick to simple words, short phrases and paragraphs consisting of just 1-3 short sentences.
4) DON’T SHOUT!
USING ALL CAPITALS IS DIFFICULT TO READ AND LOOKS AS IF YOU ARE SHOUTING. DON’T DO IT!
Occasional use of capital letters to emphasise a word is ok, but be aware that some spam filters delete email messages with words all in capitals.
5) Call To Action
The first two sentences of your email should identify a possible problem the recipient may have, tell them who you are, and what you want them to do.
So sentences such as: “Fed up with not appearing in search engine listings? NikkiPilkington.com offer guaranteed top listings in most major search engines. Click here for your free report” get the message across quickly and easily. Then you can use the rest of the email to expand on your products and services.
6) Conclude & PS
If you have a fairly long email, don’t forget to repeat the call to action at the end, and in a PS to remind the reader once again what they should do.
7) Sense of Urgency
Create a sense of urgency by using phrases such as ‘First 50 to apply’ or ‘Only valid until’ - fear of missing out on something always generates a good click through - guaranteed
So that’s your 7 step guide to a great email marketing campaign - for more free internet marketing articles, please visit www.nikkipilkington.com
Nikki Pilkington is the owner manager of NikkiPilkington.com, an internet marketing consultancy based in Northampton UK. Nikki has been marketing websites for almost ten years and specialises in search engine listings and email marketing.
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