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How To Get Through The Most Difficult Times In Your Life

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No one ever said that life would be easy. In fact if you look around, you’ll tend to find that most people suggest quite the opposite. Life is tough, a constant struggle in many ways, and you often won’t know what’s just around the corner.

In a way this can actually be seen as a good thing. The trials that we go through in everyday life only serve to make us stronger, while the dark periods make the happy moments seem that much more special and amazing. If we never faced and adversity, we’d be weak and easily hurt and life and wouldn’t be the complex tapestry of emotions and moments that it is.

Still, waxing philosophical about how the strife in life is actually beautiful isn’t going to make it any easier on us when we’re facing those tough challenges. The secret is just to know how to deal with these times, so that you can weather the storm and wait it out until things get better.

Because they will.

Until then…

Talk to Friends:       Friends play a number of important roles in our lives, but among the most important is being there to help us through our more difficult times. Your friends will often be able to help you physically and practically with any challenges you may come across – whether that means helping you move house by offering their lifting skills, or whether it means driving you tow work in the morning if your car isn’t available.

At the same time though your friends are also there to listen if you are struggling with something less concrete. Friends make the best listeners, and if you just need an ear then being able to talk through your issues can often make them seem a lot smaller and more manageable.

Talk to Strangers:

Don’t talk to just any stranger – that will likely only scare them. What you can do though, is talk to particular strangers whose job it is to listen or who have volunteered to do so. This might mean calling the Samaritans, or seeing a therapist. Don’t be proud – having a non-judgemental ear to listen can make all the difference.

Talk to God:

          While a therapist will listen and help you to cope, they won’t necessarily be able to answer every problem and some issues will still need to go to a higher authority. If you are religious, then spending some time alone in a church to talk to God, or just praying quietly at home can help to strengthen your resolve.

Come Up With a Plan:

All these suggestions however involve ‘weathering the storm’. While these methods are all very useful and can help a great deal though, they’re not particularly proactive. Instead then, why not try taking matters into your own hands by coming up with a concrete plan that you can put into action. It doesn’t even matter if this plan doesn’t work in fact – just the fact that you have one will help you to feel more in control and a lot more capable as a result.

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Today’s featured writer, Andy Depp, works as a counselor for a Christian church in London. He’s a very religious person and prays to god every evening at his local church.

How to Come Up With Amazing Ideas for Your Garden

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For many of us coming up with a layout for our garden is a speedy and routine process. In most cases we will go with the normal design conventions that gardens tend to feature (a patio, a lawn and perhaps some flowers around the edge) and will be happy to keep our garden pretty much the way it was when we moved into the property.

Of course doing this though means that we won’t be taking full advantage of the space, and would mean missing out on many of the great opportunities that a garden presents. Here then we will look at some ways that you can come up with a garden design that will be more creative and that will help you to take full advantage of the space.

Look Around

Of course the first thing you can do to get ideas for your garden is to look around other gardens. This will mean visiting friends, looking around garden centres, or just browsing images of gardens online in order to get a feel for the kind of thing you like and that you might want for your garden. You may find a garden that you want to practically replicate for yourself, or you might just spot particular features and items that you want to use instead. Either way, this is a great place to find inspiration.

Use a Mood Board

(moj) FLAJER / (my) flyer

In any interior – or in this case exterior – design, a mood board can be a very useful tool for coming up with a design you’re happy with. Essentially a mood board is a collage that you create by taking images, photographs and words and attaching them to the page. This way you can start to come up with a general ‘theme’ that you want for your garden and start to get an idea of the colours, the features and the ‘style’ that you want to employ. If nothing else this is a great way to communicate to your landscaping contractors the kind of feel you want for them to work from.

Research

Researching what’s possible in a garden and the kinds of additional features and things you can get for them is another way to expand your horizons and to come up with new ideas. For instance you may never have heard of the ‘office pod’ which is essentially a pod that you can place at the end of your garden to create an enclosed working space. It’s very modern and very cool and completely changes the way you view what’s possible in your garden. Likewise researching the plants you can grow in your climate and your soil can help you to get a realistic idea of what you want to grow in your garden.

Sketch

Less involved than a mood board but just as useful is to simply sketch out some ideas, and as you start to find the features and the items you want for your garden you can use a sketch to come up with an actual layout and a plan for where you want them all and how they’ll work with your larger design.

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Sharon King is a home improvement expert and says that it is a great idea to try new things while designing. She also says that you can take help from landscaping company while designing your garden.

Ugly Bathroom Troubles?

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You go there every single day. Everyone in your family goes there every single day. Even guests will go there relatively frequently. So why are you okay with having such an ugly bathroom?

Let’s face it. That multi-colored mint green and blush pink bathroom just isn’t cute anymore.

Thankfully, there are a lot of other non-mint green/blush pink tiled options out there. And, fortunately, people are beginning to realize that the value of their home actually increases considerably when bathrooms are modernized and updated; you actually have a legitimate reason to fix up the bathroom. So say goodbye to that not-so-cute bathroom your grandma picked out in 1964 and let’s talk remodeling.

You Can’t Do it Alone. No, Really.

First, let’s take a few deep breaths; remodeling makes most people panic. You’re not alone. But what sets you apart from the rest of the bathroom-remodeling folks out there is that you’re not remodeling the bathroom yourself.

You’ve seen too many pipes broken, walls destroyed, and money-pits happen to try to do something like a remodel yourself. Let me go ahead and tell you now, reader, that if you’re still even thinking about doing a home remodel by yourself, don’t. Just say no. I know you’re handy, sir, and I know that you’ve got a killer eye for design, ma’am, but trust me. Home remodeling rarely goes smoothly.

In fact, people end up paying more money for remodels when they do it themselves than when they work with contractors; accidents happen and unforeseen plumbing issues abound in the bathroom. Repeat it with me. Just. Say. No.

So now that we’ve got that out of your system, you need to decide what design you want for your new bathroom. The options are basically endless. Yes, this is that point in the article where you’ll open up a new browser window and start looking up online décor magazines and pull out your catalogs for some inspiration. I know, I know. Take five (or an hour and twenty-five) and we’ll regroup.

So now that you’ve looked online at all of the different options you know exactly what it is you want, right? Yeah, I didn’t think so. I know, I should’ve told you that would make it worse. Sorry. You would’ve done it anyway.

Where to Start?

Okay, let’s get back to your “where to go next” tutorial. You’ve already decided that your bathroom needs to be remodeled. Hallelujah. So, there are a few things we need to address so that you can get into full bathroom-remodeling mode.

  1. Make sure that you’ve got a budget set. This is, without a doubt, the most important part of your remodel. Tell your contractor (because you hired one, right? No? Well then stop here, call a contractor, and then you may proceed) exactly what the budget is, and tell them that that amount also includes the emergency fund. I can almost guarantee you that an unexpected expense will come up – make sure the budget is set.
  2. Be flexible. Like I just said, there are sure to be some unanticipated costs when remodeling a bathroom – be sure to have more than one design plan. If the problems cost more money than you’d anticipated, you’ll have a back-up plan that you yourself picked out.
  3. Make sure your home is prepared for the remodel. Be sure to clear the area of power lines, pipes, water lines, etc. Make sure you know exactly what’s behind every wall and shower before you (your contractor) starts tearing things out.
  4. Do your research. Certain designs and building materials will cost more than others.. Find out if it works for your budget. If something doesn’t work, there are a lot of other options out there. A lot of imitation materials are just as beautiful, even more durable, and half the cost of what you originally wanted.
  5. Stick to your plan(s). This goes along with budgeting. You know how things that you suddenly need just pop up – a different vanity, a different toilet, different faucets, etc. It adds up. Don’t let something sway you. You made your two plans (one for your dream bathroom, the other in case you need to lower the cost), so stick to it.
  6. Be sure to plan your bathroom thoroughly. Pick how many pieces you want, decide the layout (check with your contractor first to make sure it’s feasible), and then plan, plan, plan. Unplanned details can often result in more expenses.
  7. Make sure the people doing the remodel are reliable and know what they’re doing. Ask around for reliable workers. Don’t settle for someone. Make sure your work is done right. And be sure to document the bathroom before and after the remodel to make sure everything was taken care of correctly – and as contracted.

With any luck, that nasty tiled bathroom of yours will be on its way to sleek sophistication in no time. Just remember, don’t try to do it alone! You’ve got people out there who can help you, so take advantage of their services. Just say no to working solo.

Author Bio

Ginger Price writes semi-informational home improvement and home maintenance articles and works closely with companies who provide bathroom remodeling in Shreveport to bring awareness to the awesomeness of bathroom remodels.

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