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If you’re not familiar with military assignments, Alaska is considered OCONUS. However, because it is an OCONUS area does not mean that it cannot be an R&R area as well.

Occasionally, men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces may be able to take some time off—take a vacation from the service. Military personnel would be pleased, and some would even be surprised, to know that there are several hotels that offer discounts exclusively for them. These hotels are often called military hotels.

Military hotels are all over the country and men and women in the army can look forward to as much as, or oftentimes more, than $10 worth of savings a day. Apart from regular discounts, some military hotels also offer various packages like lower daily hotel rates for longer or extended stays and also double benefits. Some hotels have policies against double benefits but there are still some who allow them. Military personnel may also be able to take special rates from having a roadside assistance program. To max your savings, find the best military hotel that suits you.

But how does one find a military hotel? Some of your favorite hotels may actually be military-friendly hotels. A simple inquiry over the phone, online or through the front desk would provide you with all the information you need. If you are a bit wary over making calls and the like, you can always do a simple web search. The internet can supply you with a list of hotels that provide discount rates to the servicemen of the military.

Despite the obvious advantages of staying in a military hotel, some military personnel are either hesitant, adamant or both about finding these hotels. The important thing to remember is that everyone, not just military personnel, can always make room for savings from taking on discount (and most people are often all better for it).

If you have ever been in a tight spot that seemed very hard to get by, let alone solve, then being creative about your approaches to the problem will prove to be a lifesaver.

Every problem has a solution, always keep this in mind. Surrendering to the idea that every problem comes with a solution is, oddly enough, the first step to gaining the answer you need. Easier said than done but with diligent practice, you should be able to solve just about anything. So how exactly can you gain a creative perspective on problems?

There are two things you need to get your creativity rolling: optimism and open-mindedness. Being able to accept, without having the need to prove, that a solution is indeed imminent is the first thing you need to learn about creative problem solving. Secondly, you need to be open to all ideas that come your way and be receptive to the possibility that there could be more than one solution to the problem. The solution you’re looking for might come in packages you least expect.

To further your cause, here’s an exercise to squeeze out those creative juices:
In a piece of paper, write down the first word that comes to your mind. Take a few seconds to look at the word and, again, write down the first two words that strike you. Repeat the exercise until you can build a large enough tree of related words to fill the entire paper. This exercise will provide you with the practice you need to encourage spontaneous thinking and will result to a creativity that is enhanced and, well, spontaneous.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to come up with creative answers to a problem.

1. Review the what’s, the who’s and the why’s involved in the problem. Keep in mind that knowing the problem is crucial to solving it. If you know how a thing works and how it is structured, you will have a better chance of fixing it. Examine any benefits that can arise from the problem and take note of the setbacks it has caused and will cause. Sum up the information you have gathered and make a brief and concise statement of what the problem is all about.

2. Preconceived notions about things often cloud our judgment. Try to fairly assess the validity of your assumptions about a problem; this should broaden your perspective and find possible solutions that you have never thought of before.

3. Break down the problem from the top-down. Try to find solutions for each layer of problem you can uncover, starting from your general overview of the problem (refer to Step 1) to the more intricate layers. In other words, increase the complexity of your solutions as you go along each layer.

4. Two heads are better than one. Gather ideas and suggestions from others and you will discover that you will end up having more resources (perceptions, awareness, impressions, etc) to work with that will help you create ingenious, novel answers to your problem.

5. Being logical has its benefits, but sometimes it can get in the way of ingenuity. Creative thinking requires you to stretch your imagination, beyond the boundaries of established methods and systems. Apply creative thinking by looking for loopholes and developing and improving whatever solutions you have on hand. Tinker with other people’s opinions and suggestions as well.

6. Always remember that a problem may require more than one way out. It would help to keep a notebook that details either ideas that came to you out of the blue or the latest developments you have made on existing solutions.

7. Lastly, you have to make room for failures. Patience and perseverance must come into play on your road to creatively solving your problem. No one ever succeeded with just one try. Thomas Edison had to fail a thousand times in order to come up with some of the best inventions of our time.

Carol’s Daughter: A look at a line of natural beauty products
By: Sev – California

Actress Lisa Price who started experimenting with homemade beauty products in the early eighties in Brooklyn named her line of beauty products after her mother. Her products are all natural and alot of celebrities like Jada Pinkett Smith, Brad Pitt and Mary J. Blige use them.
The hair products are awesome. I have damaged hair. I could not find anything that would work on my tresses, not even the stuff that my hair stylist would recommend. When I asked a coworker at the newspaper where I work how she kept her hair looking so gorgeous she mentioned that she only uses “Carol’s Daughter” hair products. I decided I had to try the products for myself

There are a few stores in New York City, as far as I know, but since I live in California, I went online and found her website. It’s easy to find, just google “Carol’s Daughter.” The name is as unique as the products. So I purchased Lisa’s Hair Elixir. It cost me $20 and it focuses on repairing damaged hair with soy and sweet almond oils. It smells so natural and my hair feels soft and silky after years of looking like straw. “Carol’s Daughter” also offers a variety of other hair products, popular ones being Hair Milk, another luxurious replenishment for hair that’s fried and her Healthy Hair Butter which you leave in your hair. Healthy Hair Butter has almond oil, shea and coconut butter in its ingredients. My hair looks hot these days thanks to Carol’s Daughter.
“Carol’s Daughter” offers makeup, gift sets, products for the little ones, fragrances. I stumbled on one called “Ocean.” It’s an Eau de Toilette and its ingredients are mainly rosemary and rose. It costs $27.00 for 2 ounces but its incredible and unique. It’s not overpowering like fragrances made from artificial ingredients, its subtle and wearing it makes me feel sexy and carefree.
There’s other fragrances I want to try, like her “Groove” Eau de Toilette, which also sells for the same size and price.
.I have to say I love my hair, and her stuff is so good. It just works. The ingredients in her products are all natural and after using “Carol’s Daughter” products for almost two years now, I have to say Mother Nature and Lisa Price make a great team.

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If you haven’t figured it out, Carol’s Daughter does ship to APO/FPO addresses. I can even vouch for the product. I sent my mother a gift basket for Mother’s day and she absolutely loved it. Give Carol’s Daughter a try.

An unknown author raves about Old Time Candy’s popular product…the Moonpie. Appearantly, it has been a while since they have been able to sink his or her teeth into one. Well, until Old Time Candy crashed the APO/FPO boxes.
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I see a lot of off brands of moon pies, but nothing compares to the taste of the original. A moon pie is just right for my appetite. It never spoils my next meal. A moon pie is two graham cracker cookies filled with a delicious marshmallow crème filling and then dipped in chocolate or other coatings. They have the original moon pies, mini moon pies, which are half the size, a double-decker moon pie, which consist of an extra graham cracker cookie, and even a moon pie crunch, which explains itself. The older brands consisted of chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and banana. My favorites are chocolate and banana. They have just recently come out with six new flavors including peanut butter, lemon, orange, mint, blueberry and even a green tea. The green tea doesn’t sound appetizing but I would like to try it. With so many flavors and types to choose from there is something for everyone.

Moon pies are very popular in my family and too many other people. How can you resist graham crackers and chocolate? Then when you put marshmallows in the mix it is even better. It is almost like having s’mores, just without the flames and the heat. The most popular thing about is that it is soft. The texture of moon pies just melts in your mouth. You can get moon pies from a variety of locations. Most stores still carry them, but you have to look to find them. Don’t be fooled by the off brands like marshmallow pies, scooter pies, mallomars, wagon wheels, and choco pies. These pies are similar but still don’t compare. You may find them and even order them online.

Military Appreciation Day

The military is an important aspect of the United State’s defense. Military Appreciation Day usually takes place at the end of May because it is near Memorial Day. Most cities and towns have their own dates for Military Appreciation Day. During this time, many restaurants and retail stores have free things for veterans and those that are currently active service men and women.

It is important to have a military because the United States needs to protect its freedom and keep its homeland secure. Since the war in Iraq has not made many headlines in the news any more many military people feel like theirs and their families’ sacrifices go unnoticed and unappreciated. Putting their lives on the line every single day is a huge sacrifice for them. They are asked to go on very long deployments which impact not only themselves but their family members as well. These men and women are willing to die for freedom so it is important to show them as much appreciation as possible.

People who want to show their appreciation can do many things to help the cause. Putting flags on military graves, volunteering at veterans’ hospitals, writing letters to men and women in the military, donating to military charities, and sending care boxes to people in the military are great ways to help. There are organizations in all of the fifty states that help to get Americans involved with helping out military members.

Volunteering and helping out veterans is a great way to help because many soldiers come back from the war and are hurt or injured and will need to be in a veteran’s hospital for a long time. Some of these men and women have no family members or friends to lean on so by volunteering they can be less lonely and have people other than medical personnel to interact with. A kind word, reading to someone, talking about the day or news stories, and just showing up can really help someone get better and get their mind off of the awful things that they have seen while at war.

People do not have to spend a lot of money to help show their appreciation. Many service members feel homesick when they are deployed so even sending emails to people in the military through pen pal organizations can be very helpful. Other inexpensive ways to help are to organize yard sales, bake sales, and other events to raise money for military charities. Donating your time and getting involved shows that you like military men and women want to make the United States and the entire world as a whole a much better place. Military Appreciation Day comes once a year but all Americans should show their appreciation for their freedoms and the sacrifices that are made to secure those freedoms every day regardless of what the calendar says.

Being a leader takes more than just being born with a natural talent to lead. You need to have the drive to learn more than what you know and the determination to always be better than you are today.

Most people just let things happen. Even if things could be better, they stick to the system. Leaders do not idly stand by, they do something. Anyone who has the desire to create change can be a leader. But you need to have more than the desire, you need to possess and strive to achieve the qualities of a real leader in order to successfully initiate the change you want. Change must start from you.

We must first define what leadership is before we can get to the essence of being a true leader. Leadership is all about respect and never about fear. It is about bringing together different-minded and diversely-skilled individuals and driving them towards a common goal. The question is, how does one achieve this?

To be a leader, you need to have a clear sense of purpose. You must know where you are now and where you want to go. You must not only know the vision, mission, goals and objectives of the organization, but must also know how you want things done, how to get things done, who to approach, how the system works and how to work your way around the company.

Real leaders lead by example. If you create an impression of having command of your environment, your subordinates will follow suit. You should exemplify the qualities you require from your team.

To get things done, you need to provide instructions and communicate goals. It is easier to communicate goals when your team trusts you and your abilities. Gain the trust and confidence of your colleagues by always acting respectfully. Relationships that are built on respect will grow into strong, reliable partnerships that will eventually give you a team of individuals that trusts you and your abilities. Once you have earned the trust of your colleagues, you will find it easier to communicate goals and impart strategies and actions to take. Leaders get trust and entrust directives towards their subordinates. They are not afraid to delegate and, more importantly, they know when to delegate and whom to entrust certain responsibilities to.

To be a good leader, your judgment calls also have to be shrewd as well. Your decisions should not only be perceptive and marginally precise but should also be swift and timely. Your company and your subordinates or team will come to rely on your judgment, depending on the soundness of the decisions you have made.

Good leaders do not emerge overnight; they undergo years of practice and even a few mistakes along the way. When taking on the responsibilities of a leader, always remember that leading is not just about one person; it is about making wise use of a pool of resources, including your team who each have unique talents to contribute to the greater whole.

Ok, it’s no secret that one of the biggest recreational activities enjoyed by many many members of the military is, unfortunately, smoking. With the ridiculous system of hurry up and wait throughout every branch, it’s safe to say that it’s a convenient activity that is widely accepted. (Smoking and, controversially, dipping…that’s another post.)

There is no shortage of reasons to stop smoking. So many smokers want to stop smoking, but it’s extremely difficult. Nicotine is one of the most highly addictive drugs.

Smoking is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. It’s also the leading cause of lung cancer. Even if you don’t get lung cancer, smoking reduces the lung capacity of every smoker. Sadly it’s hard to say this when I’m sucking wind in a formation led by a smoker. Generally, smokers will become out of breath faster than non smokers even during normal activities because of the reduced lung capacity.

Alright, many have heard this before. If that isn’t reason enough, smoking also damages the skin and can cause premature wrinkles. Not to mention the nasty smell which clings to your clothes, skin, hair and everything indoors if you smoke inside?

Then there is the cost. At $5 a pack, smokers spend a lot of money on cigarettes. A small fortune could be saved if smokers quit buying cigarettes. Let’s do the math.
Cigarettes are $5 a pack. If you smoke 5 packs a week that is $25. (We are assuming that you’re not bumming the entire 5 packs.) The total is $100 a month and $1200 a year. In 5 years, the money you spent on cigarettes would total $6000! Knock that amount off of your car payments. How about your credit card bill?

Not all smokers want to continue down this path. So many smokers want to quit after experiencing the negative side effects themselves, but fail at their attempts because nicotine is so addictive and their body craves it.

The good news is that every smoker who succeeds at quitting sees the negative side effects disappear almost immediately. Circulation starts improving not long after quitting and every negative side effect except the irreversible lung damage stops for good.

There is an abundance of reasons to stop smoking and no reasons to continue to smoke. As hard as it is, there is help to stop smoking so you don’t have to just do it cold turkey. Smoking aids improve your success at quitting than trying to stop cold turkey.
If you go to your doctor, you can get help with prescription drugs. The Army has Behavioral Health staff that can help you.

If you don’t want to see a doctor, there are some products that you can order online and they will ship to your APO/FPO address. Smoke Away is a natural quit smoking aid which is made from herbs and contains no nicotine. Many stop smoking aids contain nicotine, but the sooner your body adjusts to no nicotine, the sooner you will be free from nicotine addiction. Smoke Away makes different herbal non-nicotine products for different stages of quitting smoking. There are two formulas as well as homeopathic pellets, a motivational CD, a lung saver and Tunguska blast. Herbs have been used since the beginning of time for every problem you can think of and the right mix of herbs can also help you stop craving nicotine and stop smoking.

There is also the electronic cigarette. More information will be provided by this in a later post. If you would like more information about the electronic cigarette, you can click here.

The thoughts that constantly cross our mind, our voiceless commentaries on our actions, on events, on other people, among others, often reveal our mental landscape—whether we have a positive outlook in life or a negative one. Have you ever tried listening to these silent commentaries? Take the time to do so. You will find that the quality of our thoughts often go beyond the corners of our head and out into our actual, physical interactions with others and with life in general.

Positive people or people who carry a positive attitude are always brimming with life and thus attract people towards them. Negative people or people whose thoughts are generally negative have a tendency to suck the life and energy out of events or people. This is why negative people often repel others.

Developing a positive attitude has a lot of benefits. Positive people are healthier, have better stress coping mechanisms and are better at drawing people to themselves compared to negative people. Positive people have a filling effect on the people they interact with. Studies show that a positive attitude delays aging too!

In contrast, people that are inclined towards negative thinking or who have a generally negative outlook in life do not only cause gloom and low spirits within themselves but also unknowingly compels others to feel the same way.

So why do some people continue to adopt a negative attitude even with the unpleasant outcomes it carry? A negative disposition is often a call for help. Getting angry and sad are not necessarily bad but prolonging the feelings is no longer healthy or beneficial. A person needs to be able to let go after giving themselves a time to mourn.

Adopting a positive attitude is therefore the more logical, healthier disposition or outlook to assume. So how do we go about doing this?

Focusing on the good things in life produces a positive attitude and focusing on the sad and terrible things in life produces a negative attitude. Attitude is all about outlook and to adopt a positive one you need to bombard your thoughts with positive, happy things. Sadly media more often presents us with negativity. Parents even have only one positive thing to say, out of every 14 things they communicate, to their children.

Take steps to steer away from fostering negativity in your mind by taking the time to appreciate the little things in life. You could also watch a funny movie, play with kids (if that’s your thing), tell jokes or better yet do something you enjoy. These are activities that create a happy, positive feeling in your system. The more you practice these, the closer you are to developing or maintaining a positive attitude.