The Erickson Looney Bin

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Avalon Waterways. All opinions are 100% mine.

Look at this suite! This is not your everyday suite. This is a Panorama Suite with an Open-Air Balcony. Avalon Waterways has incredibly beautiful ships. This one is the Avalon Panorama that will be unveiled May 2011.

This ship boasts beautiful views with it's signature Panorama Suite on the top two decks. It's 200-square foot suites are 30% larger than the industry standard. The breathtaking views are what makes it in a class of it's own though. These suites have a floor-to-ceiling window that is nearly 11’ x 7’. It can also be opened to turn the suite into an Open-Air Balcony.

These suites are beautiful, roomy, and a great way to watch the beautiful surroundings. I think it would be hard to leave your room on one of these cruises. It would be perfect for a honeymoon. You could spend the whole cruise in bed and still see the beauty of the trip.

When this ship is christened it will sail the 14 day Magnificent Europe (Amsterdam/Budapest) itinerary. This beautiful cruise includes stops in BUDAPEST, BRATISLAVA, VIENNA, DÜRNSTEIN, MELK, PASSAU, REGENSBURG, NUREMBERG, MAIN DANUBE CANAL, BAMBERG, WÜRZBURG, MILTENBERG, RÜDESEHEIM, RHINE GORGE, COLOGNE, and AMSTERDAM.

For more info you can check out www.avalonwaterways.com and Request a free cruise brochure

This is a guest post by Fannson Hourly

I have two teenage daughters in the house. As you can imagine this can make for some pretty dramatic happenings at any given time in my home. One of the times that I absolutely dread more than any other time is back to school. My girls are very different in their vision of style and taking them shopping can take weeks. In recent years I have literally almost just given them my credit card and told them to get whatever they wanted while I sat in the car.

This year I decided that I may just do that. One day when I was telling my best friend Rose about what I was so dreading to do, she carelessly mentioned how she let her daughters shop at their favorite stores online—Old Navy, Delia’s, Forever 21. She gave them a preloaded Visa debit card and set them free. This was one of the smartest things i have ever heard someone say. I could do that also. So I did. Two weeks before school started i surprised my two lovely daughters with their very own prepaid debit card and told them that they would be doing their school shopping via the Wild Blue internet. Needless to say they were ecstatic. They could not wait to start their shopping for all of the things that they wanted. Also needless to say is how much of a burden this took off of my shoulders. There would be no begging and pleading to hurry it up, there would be no fussing and complaining, and best of all there would be no more of a frazzled and wore out me being dragged hopelessly from one store to the next.

It was as simple as that. The case was closed and the problem was solved. My girls happily spent their money and got whatever they wanted or needed.

You may remember that awhile ago I mentioned that we were getting new furniture. It has been a hellish experience! The furniture took a month to get here and then the delivery people damaged everything.

We purchased the furniture back on February 11th and finally on May 27th the new furniture will be delivered. Hopefully they will not damage it this time and this nightmare will be over! The manufacturer of the furniture we got the first time closed down so we chose to pick out new furniture.

Since we have one last week with this furniture I decided to post some pictures of the animals enjoying them. The animals have been the only ones enjoying them. The rest of us have found this to be a huge headache!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Medical Guardian. All opinions are 100% mine. I have written a few posts lately about keeping aging relatives safe. Everyone has someone in their family that they worry about. Aging relatives want to remain in their homes as long as possible but we worry about what could happen to them when they are alone. There are so many new products that help the elderly and help family members feel safe. You can make a house as safe as possible but there could always still be an accident. One of the biggest problems is when an elderly person falls. People are always worried that their older family members might fall down and not be able to get help. My grandmother had a cordless phone that she insisted would keep her safe but as she started to forget things she also forgot to charge it. One afternoon my father went to check on her and found her lying in the bathroom on the floor. She had her phone but it was not charged. That is why I love the Medical Guardian. You do not have to worry about charging it everyday and it will not be set down and forgotten.

We are finally getting some great weather! I love warm and sunny days. Is it any wonder that I miss Arizona? There are pluses and minuses anywhere you live but Arizona sure did have a lot of pluses. The top two were the mountains and all of the pools. Everywhere you went there was a pool.

We get moved around a lot because of James’ work so we always rent. Once in awhile we are just staying in a location for a few months so we end up in an apartment. I hate apartments but my favorite was a place in Oro Valley that had Luxury Condos. It had 25 huge buildings and had 8 pools.

Most apartments are small and crowded but this place was huge and you rarely saw another person. The only time we saw people was at one of the pools or when people would walk their dogs. I loved that we could still have our pets and that we had a fireplace. It was also nice to meet great friends there. Visiting each other was just a short walk.

The way the Apartment Market Overview looks I am sure that places like that would be a booming business right now. It was private but we never had to worry about anything. We could just spend our free time at the pool. I miss the one huge pool. Isn’t it pretty?

This move was a little easier since the place was so huge that every website had it listed. It can be very hard to search listings most of the time.

It amazes me how opinions can change through time. There are so many things that you can get used to and learn to love.

So why am I thinking about this right now?

When we first moved here I hated the sound of all the toads in the marsh behind our house. They would be so loud at night that it made sleeping very difficult. I found myself may nights closing the windows and turning on the A/C just so I would not have to hear them.

Now, I absolutely love the sound of the toads singing! It is so peaceful and relaxing. The toad sings me to sleep. I have even noticed that they sing during the day too. I can sit here with the windows open listening to the toads and the birds singing and get work done in a relaxed atmosphere.

So yes, I did think of this right now because I am sitting here listening to them.

Do you want to hear what I am hearing?

You can read a post I wrote last year about how much I hated them then. There is a link that allows you to listen.

Frog and Toad Mating Season

I can not believe we are going into our third summer living here. We moved around so much for so long that it seems unreal that we have been here for so long. James’ work has kept us moving from town to town and across the country twice.

At times I miss the newness of a new city. It can get boring when you have already seen everything there is to see. I do not miss the actual moving though. I hate packing everything up and figuring out what to save and what to trash. James is always busy getting everything ready at work so I am always in charge of the house.

Moving is a ton of work but the one thing I hate the most is searching for Homes For Rent.  I have spent way too many hours of my life going cross-eyed searching websites. There seems to be 1000 websites that show only a couple houses in any area so you search forever. I really hate the websites that do not show any Affordable Housing Options. I would search for hours just trying to find places that were not charging twice as much as they should.

Well, I am crossing my fingers and hoping that we will not have to move for long time. I really miss Arizona but I hate moving.