Beanie Books

Why should you eat fruit? People tend to crave sweets. This is especially true during the holiday season. Here is an idea: when you feel the urge for chocolate, cookies, or candy, maybe choose nature’s sweets instead (yup, that’s fruit). Fruits will satisfy you and give you vitamins and nutrients that can help lower your risk for heart disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. Plus, fruits are low in fat, salt, and calories. Now how ‘bout them apples?! Here is how: Remove junk food from your home and work area. Yes, lose those tempting candies and desserts. Replace them with easy-to-grab fruits, like bananas, apples, oranges, and berries. When you’re short on time (and craving sugar), making a healthy choice will be easier. Try these recipes: Frozen banana pops Mix Greek yogurt, honey, and vanilla until smooth. Coat bananas in the sauce. Then, dip bananas in crushed almonds. Freeze and allow the dessert to harden. Yummy fruit salad Slice and dice your favorite fruits — apples, pears, kiwi

When Ben left school with his twin sister Beth, he thought it would be the same as any other day. This normally means sitting by Angie and enjoying their short time together. However, Ben soon realized that this day would be different when an unexpected friend joins him in his seat. This friend made some poor choices on the way that led to Ben's bus privileges getting revoked.  So, Ben had to walk all the way to school the next day. He recruited his friend Cole to take the shortcut through the haunted woods. On the way there, they broke some bottles, saw an outhouse with dead flies, almost fell into a creek, and found an antique bottle that may or may not have something unexpected inside. All that happened next was the weirdest day EVER!   Join Ben and his friends on this fun adventure!! Click here to check it out .

“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.” — Theodore Roosevelt Working closely with people is key to success. Do your best to cultivate strong relationships with colleagues. Try to connect when you can. Your team will thank you! Want to be a great teammate? Author Jon Gordon says one of the most powerful things you can do is stay positive.  To share positive energy with your team, try:  Showing them kindness, respect, and gratitude.  Reminding them their work is meaningful.  Offering support to those who are struggling.  Forgiving mistakes.  Check out this post about staying positive .

Tips to feel better Try new things . It can feel great to try one little thing that you would not normally do. It can be anything like making a bowl of pudding. Be silly . Find the time to be a kid. Play a silly game on your phone. It can help release tension. Sleep . Get seven or eight hours of sleep. Click here for sleep tips . Be helpful to others . It can feel good to feel like your're contributing something. Helping someone can make a big difference. Click here for some ideas . Disconnect . Give yourself a break, chill out, and be with yourself. Give your brain a rest. Alerts are great at breaking focus and can be distracting. Try keeping your phone out of sight for a while. If you’re on a deadline, put your phone on “do not disturb,” move your tablet to a desk drawer, and close your email. Optimism . Think positive! Studies show that optimism can reduce stress and make you more productive.  Congratulate Yourself . Pat yourself on the back! Reflect

The ANT AND THE  GRASSHOPPER This one is a little different ... Two Different Versions ... Two Different Morals OLD VERSION The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold. MORAL OF THE OLD STORY: Be responsible for yourself! MODERN VERSION The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper   thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and st

Reframe It Instead of focusing on how hard things are, think about what’s good in your life.  For example, staying home might mean: You have more time to focus on your goals. Your family is spending more quality time together. You’re saving money from less driving and fewer take-out meals and drinks. You have extra time at home to tackle house projects or spend time on personal hobbies. You have extra time to learn a knew skill. You can click here to read about good deeds you can do during Covid-19 .

Savings accounts : Here are some of the different accounts that you can open to save money. Standard : The tried-and-true. This is the type of savings account most Americans have. Some have zero or low minimums. Do this if…you’re starting out and don’t have a lot of money to put into the account. Interest rates are low on standard accounts. Don't leave too much here, though...just enough to cover an emergency. You are just costing yourself a lot of money in lost interest.  CD : This is a certificate of deposit. Banks often let you open a special kind of account with better rates than you would get in a regular savings account. But you have to keep your hands off that money for a certain amount of time (usually a few months up to a few years). Do this if…you won’t need to access that money for the period, and you want a “can’t touch this” way for your cash to earn interest. High-yield savings account : An account where you put more in and get more back. The interest rates are

Good Deeds Need a feel-good boost? Do something nice for another person or local organization. Many small business owners are losing money right now. Try to make a purchase online (e.g., buy gift cards to your favorite local restaurants). If you have an older neighbor and feel comfortable, offer to leave groceries at their doorstep. Donate to a local nonprofit you support (family services, food pantries, arts organizations, shelters). Many of their resources are tight right now. You should click here to see a post about being of service to others .

Manage Money Stress It’s normal to be worried about money right now. But there are some positives. Think of the money you’re saving by staying home more often (less driving, fewer meals out). Find creative ways to save more. A lot of businesses are offering free or discounted deals. Take some time at home to go over your budget. Plan out your next few weeks to feel more secure. If you do not have a rainy day fund, the time to start is now. Try to have enough money to cover three to six months’ worth of essentials (these are the thing you need like rent and food) saved up. This fund will give you some cushion in case you lose your job or need to take on extra expenses.  Set a goal of having the equivalent of your annual salary saved up. This may seem pretty unrealistic but start small and see how that goes. Now, you should click here to read about budgeting .

“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” — Thomas A. Edison, American inventor and businessman Success is all about perspective. If you think about each “failure” as a learning experience, you’ll come out on top every time. In science, mistakes are just opportunities for learning something new, which is, after all, what scientific experiments are all about. Even if the experiment “doesn’t work,” we usually learn something valuable from it. Speaking of mistakes, don't judge people on making mistakes. We're all making mistakes. Judge people on how they handle it. Failure always brings something valuable with it. Don't let failure slip away until you have taken away something. It is better to think of failure as a tool rather than an outcome. If you just failed a test or had a social encounter that didn't go your way, try to find some nugget buried in there that can be useful. Maybe your study methods are trash. Maybe you stin

Advice from Stanford University Taiwan experts provide a simple self-check that we can do every morning:  Take a deep breath and hold it for more than 10 seconds. If you do this successfully without coughing, without discomfort, stiffness or tightness, there is no fibrosis in the lungs; it basically indicates no infection. In critical times, please self-check every morning in an environment with clean air. Serious excellent advice by Japanese doctors treating COVID-19 cases:  Everyone should ensure your mouth & throat are moist, never dry. Take a few sips of water every 15 minutes at least. Why? Even if the virus gets into your mouth, drinking water or other liquids will wash them down through your throat and into the stomach. Once there, your stomach acid will kill all the virus. If you don't drink enough water regularly, the virus can enter your windpipe and then the lungs. That's very dangerous. * Snopes says this is fake news ! Please copy a

Budgeting is the key to feeling financially secure. It may seem like common sense but here are four main steps to making a budget. Know your Income : Your gross income is how much your boss told you you’d make. Your  net income  is the money left over after deductions (things like income tax, Social Security, health insurance premiums, and your 401(k)). This is the amount deposited in your bank every pay period. Set Goals : Do you want to pay off a credit card? Save up for a trip to Australia? Save up for a home? Start with one big goal and write down the magic number that corresponds with it. Fixed expenses : Calculate your fixed, necessary monthly expenses. These are your “need it” expenses that stay fixed month-to-month. That includes rent, utilities, and transportation. Tracking : For a month, break down everything you spend that’s not a fixed expense. These are your “want it” expenses. That includes clothes and travel. Be specific so you know exactly where you’re spendi

The salt salesman There once was a salt salesman who worked for a company that sold salt to grocery stores. This guy grew up poor then joined the Navy. After his time in the Navy, he got into the salt business. One problem selling salt is that all salt is basically the same. Salt is salt no matter where you go to get it. There was nothing special about the salt that he was selling that differentiated it from other salt. Because of this, salt is generally purchased based only on the price. Yet, this guy became the top salt salesman in the company. So how did he do this? He found a system (not a goal) of helping people without asking for anything in return.  For example, one day, the salt salesman was selling salt at a grocery store and found out that the store owner was reorganizing his store over the weekend. On Saturday, the salt salesman showed up unannounced and helped the store owner reorganize his store. He ended up spending most of the day there. That store owner becam

Courthouse Rock from the double arch Auxier Ridge Loop- (5.0 miles) DIRECTIONS TO TRAILHEAD: From rest area at exit #33 off of the Mountain State Parkway Turn left, and go to end of road (.3 miles) Turn Right onto KY 15 (3.3 miles) Turn Left onto Tunnel Ridge Road (3.7 miles) Park at the End of Tunnel Ridge Road in the Auxier Ridge Parking Area DETAILS : Follow Trail #204 Auxier Ridge Trail (2.0 miles) (do NOT turn left on Trail #202 Courthouse Rock Trail after approximately 1 mile) Arrive at Auxier Ridge and Courthouse Rock Turn Left onto Trail #202 Courthouse Rock Trail (2.0 miles) Turn Right on Trail #204 Auxier Ridge Trail (1.0 miles) Arrive at Auxier Ridge Parking Area I got the route above here . We started by taking a pre-hike urination break. Here is where the trail begins Haystack Rock You should watch your step on the ridge Enjoy the views Be Careful! Lots of people have carved stuff in the rocks. Here is