For #TravelTuesday let's look at the benefits of travel. Yes, there are actual benefits. In fact, there's research out there on the benefits of travel, here are 7 which I 100% agree with. And you don't even have to travel far or long, the majority of people (89%) report a significant drop in stress levels after just 1-2 days of traveling.       

Where do you live? How much have you explored the state you live in? Travel your surroundings! I think a lot of us are guilty of living in some amazing places and yet never having actually explored them. Okay, fine - let me just speak for myself here. I am guilty of this for sure. I live in the amazing state of Colorado and there are so many places in this beautiful state - some less than an hour from me - that I've never even visited! So today, for #TravelTuesday, I'm starting to create a bucket list for my state and I want to start traveling Colorful Colorado and getting to know my state more. Do you have a bucket list for your state?  Here's the start of my list... Ouray Royal Gorge Bishop's Castle Maroon Bells Tiny Town Paint Mines Interpretive Park Sand Dunes Mesa Verde (I went there when I was a kid but didn't appreciate it like I know I would as an adult!)

For #TravelTuesday I've been thinking about my nation. I've been to a few states but nowhere near all 50. It would be fun - and interesting - to visit each state at least once. It would also be fun to travel through states in some kitschy manner - like traveling Route 44 and making stops along the way. Or traveling to all the big roadside attractions like the World's Biggest Dinosaur and stopping at each one (I stole this particular idea straight from a book I read in which the main characters did this very thing). Or visiting all the Hall of Fames, or baseball stadiums, or fill in the blank . Not only would it help the traveling bug but it would give me particular insight into the different cultures of this melting pot country I call home. I would get to experience the different regions - their music, their dialects, their food, their dress, their pride, and yes, perhaps even their flaws.  So today I'm going to spend some time looking up a state I haven...

For today's #TravelTuesday I want to talk about around-the-world travel. This is some of the hardest travel to accomplish for one simple reason - money. It takes money to fly other places, stay in many lodgings, eat out all the time, pay the entrance fees to places we want to visit, etc. Oh sure there are cheap(er) ways to do it but it still takes money.  It's worth it. Start small - get your passport if you don't have it. This is like making a promise to yourself that you will go somewhere someday. Put it in a shadow box, drill a hole in the top of it to drop change and dollar bills down into and start saving.  I've been fortunate enough to do some around-the-world travel thanks to the generosity of my parents. I've also been to Kenya twice thanks to the generosity of people in my life who believed in the reasons I wanted to go to Kenya. And while the traveling experiences were different for a lot of reasons they all have helped to expand my worldv...

What's the importance of training?  How necessary is it really?  (Please tell me you know those are rhetorical questions.)  Here's two scenarios for us to consider about the necessity of training: 1) I am guilty of being in a hurry and forsaking training up the child in the way she should go (as it relates to life skills) in favor of just getting it done. Small view it gets done quickly and correctly (which is my way of course). But large view is I do a disservice to my girls who need to know how to do those things as well - and why we do them. If I never slow down and operate in the large view mindset, my children are going to grow up to be really awful roommates - not knowing how to clean anything, do dishes, do laundry, etc.  2) I had a boss who wanted to delegate some tasks to me but wouldn't take the time to train me. He felt he was too busy. I kept reminding him that if he took the large view and took the time to train me he wouldn't regret...

Today's training is about our brains. And it's not new training, per se, but retraining. A lot of us have brains that need to be exercised in new ways. A retraining is in order, we've fallen into thinking patterns that have turned into actions that need to be changed. Check out this article I found, Retrain Your Brain—And Break Free From The Patterns That Are Holding You Back.   So take time today to consider how you might need to retrain your brain so that you can be successful in whatever you do!

The whole purpose of training is the space and time to learn and make mistakes. Mistakes are important because they help us learn. We have to be allowed to make mistakes and we have to allow others to make them.  Training isn't just for things like jobs or sports. Life takes training. And we have to allow for mistakes to be made.  Here's a couple of articles that talk about the importance of mistakes being made in training: The Best Way to Train Employees Is to Let Them Make Mistakes 9 Crucial Life Skills to Teach Your Child 12 Basic Life Skills Every Kid Should Know by High School

Last year my hub trained for his first full marathon. He's done a couple of halves but last September was his first full. (And no, those are not his shoes and my shoes above!) He trained for 16 weeks before running the marathon. This time of training was serious. I almost think running the marathon is easier than the training! The time of training consumed his time, in varying lengths, and he got pretty tired of the schedule. But he had a goal so he pushed through the weariness of the training and kept on. He's a better person than I am. He's got more self-discipline and stick-with-it than I do or will ever have. So today, in honor of my rockstar training hub, #TrainingTuesday is about endurance. One important tip for endurance is find the right training plan. If the plan isn't right for you then chances are good you are going to give up. Read about finding the right plan and four other tips to help you stick with your training by clicking here . Another key to...

For #TastyTuesday let's talk about eating around the world! Are you adventurous when it comes to your cuisines? I am...to a certain extent (no organs, no insects, no body parts...). So today let's talk tasty ethnic foods. These days, with the variety of restaurants and the variety on the grocery store shelves you can try ethnic foods and expand the worldview of your taste buds!  If you like to cook and like to try out new recipes, try out one of the ones on the link below. Or check out the many ideas on Pinterest.   Click here If you don't like to cook or don't feel brave enough to try cooking an international dish hunt down a restaurant in your local area to visit and try.

Comfort food! On this #TastyTuesday let's dish about comfort foods. I think most people have sweet ones and savory ones. I think it would be fun to have a get together where everyone brings their favorite comfort food to share. It would be such a random assortment of foods but it would be fun to enjoy them together! If it helps you to feel better about indulging in comfort foods here are some single-serving ideas... Click here

DIY mixes from scratch are more tasty than the stuff you can buy in the stores that have ingredients in them that you can't pronounce. Now I'm not making these mixes, I'm lazy, but I have thought about them. When I do buy a mix of something (cornbread, etc) I spend a lot of time reading the labels and purchase the one with the least amount of unintelligible ingredients - and there are the times I can even find mixes that have all okay ingredients! But back to DIY. Not only does DIY save money but it gives a fresher - tastier - flavor to your foods. I've often thought about whipping up baking mixes to have on hand so that when I'm struck with the mood to bake half the "work" is already done, maybe today - in honor of #TastyTuesday - I'll do just that! Here's some mix ideas which basically means I just did the Googling for you. *wink* All-Purpose Baking Mix (this can be used for any recipe calling for a biscuit mix - such as Bisquick) ...

In the summertime I love salads. And I love tasty dressings on those salads. So today let's talk tasty dressings. I confess, I'm lazy. I could make my own tasty dressings from scratch but well, as already confessed, I'm lazy. But I'm going to ditch my laziness and try to make some dressings from scratch. There's always the classic Ranch .  Good for veggie dipping, french fry dipping, and salads too! Lemon Vinaigrette   This one makes my mouth water just by reading the name of it. Blue Cheese Dressing   Blue Cheese is a favorite of mine, yuuuuuummmmmmmm. Honey Mustard Dressing / Vinaigrette Honey Mustard is a favorite of mine for chicken sandwiches/nuggets/tenders and I even like to dip my fries in it too! Well, and of course salad. *grin* Do you have a favorite dressing? If so, have you ever made it from scratch? I found this list of the 10 essential salad dressings Kitchn says we all should have. What do you think about the ones listed? Are there any y...

Got spices? One of the easiest, and best, ways to make food tasty is spices. I didn't understand this when I started cooking on my own. Salt and pepper were okay - maybe even Italian seasoning but anything past that was just too crazy for this chick to consider! Years ago - in what was, I believe, a totally different life - I sold Tupperware. And Tupperware had a few recipe books, one of the recipes I made and we loved it. But it called for this weird spice named "cumin" and I was like, "Uh, no." And we liked it fine without it. I had never tried this spice and I felt no need to go beyond salt and pepper. Then one night I made the recipe for company coming over and on a whim I decided to try the cumin. MIND. BLOWN. I couldn't believe I hadn't used it before. What was I missing by not using spices? So from that moment on when a recipe called for a spice I tried it. And a whole new world - of flavor - opened up to my fam and I. So #TastyTu...

Today's #TreasureTuesday topic is kindness.   Kindness is in short supply these days. And the more extinct it becomes the rarer of a treasure it is. It's almost like it has become a buried treasure. Today I say we dig it out, brush it off, and start to share it more.  True treasure is priceless - it's value far exceeds any amount of money we could fathom. Monetary treasure eventually spends itself and runs out, even when gaining interest. Emotional treasure can spend itself throughout generations and gain an interest we never imagined. The awesome thing about the treasure of kindness is it costs nothing, it is free. Yippee!  The great thing about kindness is, while there may be a shortage of practicing it, there is no shortages of ways to extend it and people to extend it to.    So go out there and practice kindness, you won't regret it. 

How different would our journey be without friends?   We are relational people, created to be in relationships, romantic and platonic. Some of our friends will be seasonal, around for a season or two and then gone. Other friends we have will last over years. Both are necessary and good - both are a treasure to hold on to.  I'm in love with these two ladies who I first saw on a Steve Harvey Show clip. They are the best.  Okay, did you see them?! Holding hands, giggling, helping finish each other's thoughts. They clearly know what it is to treasure friendship. Reading through this article made me think that the two ladies must have practiced true friendship with each other to last 94 years.  Do you have some treasured friendships in your life? Take some time to reflect on them today and perhaps even reach out to those people and expressing your love for them. 

Today's #TreasureTuesday focus is what our hearts are bound to. Whatever we hold near and dear in our hearts, whatever we make our top priority, whatever we pet and feed and cuddle in our hearts will become the treasure we seek to protect at any and all costs.  But the thing about treasure is it isn't always good - it can be twisted, toxic, hurtful to self and others, dangerous, I suppose you get the picture. The point is for today's treasure focus is to be honest with yourself and look at what your heart is holding on to as treasure. If it's not life-giving to you and others then you probably should consider exchanging that *treasure* for one that encourages an abundant and fulfilling life.  What does Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows have to do with this Treasure Tuesday? Click here to read about!

This #TreasureTuesday I'm cracking the lid open on the chest and letting everyone grab at the riches. The treasure I'm talking about is education. You really can't put a value on education - it is priceless. Some of the reasons for its value to individuals and societies are given in this article I found on LinkedIn.   Education contributes to the economic prosperity and social environment in a community or society. Well-educated citizens work in higher level jobs, drive business development and earn more money. Higher earning potential means greater community development and tax income, which support buildings and infrastructure. Many social conditions are enhanced with an educated population. Overall health rates are improved because educated people tend to monitor their health and have better insurance. Crime rates are also lower in an educated society. Because there are fewer people living in poverty, citizens have less need to steal. Voting rates and inc...