How To Travel Safely With Your Dog

 Disclosure: This is a partnered post. Please welcome today's contributor.

Your dog is as much a part of your family as kids or a partner, so of course, it makes sense that you’ll want to take them with you when you travel. It’s important to understand that simply putting your dog in the car and driving or booking them onto a plane and hoping for the best isn’t going to be enough; you must plan in advance.

Even though dogs can be very in-tune to what we are doing, it is still very hard– impossible in most cases – to make them understand that they are going on a journey. This is why you need to prepare in advance to ensure that you have everything ready and aren’t stressed. It will make the trip much easier for you and your pet.

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How to Fall in Love With Cooking All Over Again

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It’s hard to truly love something if we feel like we don’t have a choice. You might like what you do for a living, but since it’s not really voluntary, there’ll be times when you wish you could be doing something else. The same principle can apply to cooking. Most people have a love/hate relationship with cooking, and in an age when we’ve had to cook more than usual (since restaurants have been closed), the pendulum is increasingly on the hate side of things. The good news is that it’s always possible to reignite your love of cooking! In this blog, we’ll take a look at a few tried and tested methods that’ll have you on the right path in no time.

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How to Start Feeling More Confident about Your Body- Starting Today

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Research has shown that the more time you spend on social media, the lower your self-esteem is. Instead of deleting all of your social media profiles, you need to try and find healthy coping mechanisms that will stop you from feeling bad about your body.

Write Down the Cool Stuff you Can Do

Instead of focusing on the things that you hate about your body, you need to acknowledge everything that your body has helped you to do. It may be that you have had a baby, that you are able to run a race or that you can lift weights. Either way, your body is your friend, and if you have low self-esteem, then there’s a chance that you have made yours into an enemy. This is the last thing that you need, so it helps to make sure that you are focusing on the positives and not just the negatives. If you are seriously unhappy with your body and want to make a change, surgery is an option. Just make sure that you do your research and that you watch videos about tummy tuck surgery before you commit.

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Non Candy Ideas for Easter with Bundle Giveaway

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. All opinions stated are genuine and my own.

Some of you might remember that my oldest granddaughter is a very healthy eater. She's gotten a little more relaxed in her 7-years (she now likes ice cream and M&Ms, and yes, sometimes she likes them together). For them most part though, she makes wise choices about what she puts on her plate. Her parents still don't like to have her sugared up, and so I am careful about what I gift her on holidays that typically entail a lot of candy or other types of sweets. As such, I have compiled a list below of great gift ideas that have zero calories (because you don't eat them) and the kids will love them just the same. Candy after all, is gone right after you eat it. These are going to last a lot longer, and some of them (like the books) will last long enough to be passed down from one generation to another.

Scent Split Sample Shipment #4

Wow! If you've seen any of my previous Scent Split posts (linked under the 'fragrance' tab at the top of the blog), you might remember they send their splits in pull top dab bottles. This shipment, however, had the sample atomizers with a spray. They're only filled partially, and a note is included to tell you that is intentional so you don't think you're getting less than you should. Do I like the bottles? Yes!!! Spray is so much nicer for testing!! However, if they were to go back to dab bottles, I would still buy. Trying before buying is absolutely the way to go with scent. What one person (or even hundreds of people) love, could be a total turn off to you, or not work well on your skin. 

For all of the scents I try, I only find a few that I really, really like and want to purchase in full-sized bottles. It is worth every scent cent though, because when I do buy, I know it's something I'm really, really going to enjoy. I found a keeper in this shipment (the seventh scent on this list) and that makes me absolutely delighted. There were some others that I enjoyed too, and some that I did not (which is to be expected). I'll list them for you below.

3 Secrets to Ripping the Best From Your Workout Sessions

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Exercising is one of the most effective measures you can take towards self-care. The truth is working out is not meant for specific people, and you do not have to be overweight to hit the gym. This activity has profound benefits, such as the reduced risk of lifestyle diseases, improved mental health, general well-being, and healthy, lasting social relationships. 

How To Improve Happiness & Feel Satisfied With Your Life

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Being happy doesn’t always come easy. You may find yourself struggling to focus on the positives and live your best life. However, be glad to know that it’s never too late to make changes that will boost your happiness and help you feel more satisfied with your life overall.

It’s all about what you choose to do or not do each day. Life’s all about choices and you must be making moves that are healthy and contributing to improving your lifestyle if you want to succeed. The following advice will put you on the right track to improving yourself and your life and finding more happiness.

Spot Your Teen's Strengths...and then Tell Them About It!

This post is made possible with support from the Center for Parent and Teen Communication, part of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. All opinions are my own.

The Center for Parent and Teen Communication provides science-based strategies to support healthy family relationships. They're short, to the point, and spot-on with their advice. They also have a 100-word, daily parenting tip newsletter that you can sign up for, and it's free.

The CPTC has six short videos running and my favorite is Spot their Strengths. I love the message in it, to let teens know how you see them through your eyes. I've always told my son the positives I see in him, and watching this video reinforced the reasons for doing that...just this morning, I mentioned to him that I love his sense of drive (he made A Honor Roll last quarter and is striving to do the same for this one), I told him that his dedication towards his studies will absolutely help him go far in life...and I believe that it will!

These kinds of messages are good for us to hear as parents, and even better for our children to hear. Check out the six videos found HERE and see which one you like the best.