My Happy Lists

As you can see, I haven't added a new blog entry in 6 months! That's pretty ridiculous. Like many people, I have some pretty typical excuses: I'VE BEEN BUSY.

Really? Too busy to take 15 minutes to post a new blog? Probably not. So here's to a new challenge to add one new post every day for 30 days straight. I'd like give myself a 100-day challenge because I think those are more substantial and fun, but let's start with a more manageable 30-day challenge.

And to give myself the motivation to get those posts written every day, here's a list of 10 reasons why blogging consistently is good for you:

1. Stretch your mind. It's one thing to sit and have a chat with a friend about something, but when you sit down to write something, you're going to stretch your mind much more. You have to organize your thoughts and communicate in a way that will connect with people.

2. Do better in Google. Search engines love fresh content. If you want to perform better in search engines and grow a larger following, you need to write consistently so that Google will rank your blog better.

3. Maintain reader loyalty. If you're writing just for yourself, then this one doesn't really apply to you. Usually people are writing for an audience – friends, family, or strangers. If you want those people to stay loyal to your blog, you need to give them content to keep coming back to. If you let your blog sit without an update for 6 months, no one is going to be paying attention!

4. Challenge yourself. Ok, so this is kind of like stretching your mind, but seriously – stop being so lazy and give yourself a good challenge. With something new to accomplish every day, you're going to push yourself more than just sticking with the "same old, same old."

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Jean-Clean Van Damme is a bad-ass. I don’t care if you think differently. He is the model of pure awesomeness. Last night, Tyler and I watched this awesome movie and I knew I had to share this awesomeness with my Happy List readers.

If you’re needing a way to cheer up, I encourage you to rent/Netflix/etc. his movie Kickboxer. It will cheer you up immediately. Just check out some of the reasons this movie is awesome:

1. 1980’s martial arts movie. Need I say more? The 80’s are filled with so many fun classics, and Kickboxer is one of them. If you love 80’s movies, you’ll love Kickboxer. It has a definite 80’s vibe to it: terrible dialogue, crazy awesome fight sequences, and a rockin soundtrack.

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After our Chocolate Apothecary and Auntie’s Bookstore date last night, we went out to Rusty’s Sports Bar & Grill for our friend’s 26th birthday.

We didn’t want to drive downtown Coeur d’Alene, but we wanted to go somewhere that was open past 10 pm – and so we went to Rusty’s for the first time. Overall, the service & drinks were good. Here’s what stood out to me:

• Down-to-earth service. Our server was friendly, but she wasn’t pretentious, annoyed, or fake. She was friendly and helpful. When asked what she’d recommend, she asked good questions and made good recommendations.
• Variety of music. Other than the times when there was music (which was kind of odd), we all liked the variety of music from contemporary to hard rock to country – something for everyone.
• Drinks were priced right. Most of the drinks averaged $3.75 – and that’s without having any specials.
• Variety of seating. There’s the bar, some high bar tables, tucked in booths, and a couple couches. Again, a little something for everyone.
• Sports on the TV. This is sort of a given since it’s a Sports Bar, but whatever. I like having some good old sports on the television so I can have additional entertainment other than friends and drinks.
• It’s in Hayden. For those of us that don’t want to go downtown Coeur d’Alene (or to some of the scary bars I haven’t tried), Rusty’s is the perfect solution.

After our fun chocolate tasting date at the Chocolate Apothecary, Tyler and I headed over to Auntie’s Bookstore to use another Groupon.com coupon (50% off $20 purchase).

I was so excited to get $10 free dollars to Auntie’s. Tyler and I love that bookstore. Here’s a few reasons why:

• It’s Big AND Local. We haven’t found many local bookstore that have such a huge selection of books at such a big location
• Downtown Spokane. There’s something fun about old downtown buildings. Auntie’s Bookstore is big, open, and old. It’s awesome.
• Great staff. Every time we go there, the staff are friendly and accessible.
• Huge selection of new and used. I love discovering fun little “finds” there – old used books for an affordable price.
• Autographed books. They are always hosting book signings, from local to national authors, including the likes of David Sedaris, Jamie Ford, Sherman Alexie and Chuck Palahniuk. If you can’t make it to one of the book signings, you can still pre-order a signed book, or even purchase one afterwards.

  Last night, the hubbie and I headed to Spokane after work for a Chocolate tasting class the Chocolate Apothecary in Spokane, Washington.

I didn’t even know they were there until their coupon showed up last week on Groupon.com. After 8 years of being together, Tyler and I are always on the lookout for new and fun adventures. Last night was just such an adventure.

10 Reasons Chocolate Apothecary of Spokane rocks:

1. Groupon.com participation. Yeah, I know it’s basically for their own promotion, but without their participation in Groupon.com, we never would have known about them. Using effective marketing makes them smart (and I like smart businesses).
2. Chocolate Dream Tour Engineer. That’s not exactly what she called herself, but it was something awesome like that. She did a great job of presenting the process of making chocolate and the experience of tasting.
3. 14 different chocolates. By the end of the chocolate tasting, I was on an incredible chocolate high. It was fantastic.
4. A little to-go baggie. Once I started getting a chocolate overload, I wasn’t able to eat the whole piece of the samples. They planned ahead and had cute little to-go baggies so we could save our leftover chocolate. Brilliant!
5. Water. Water is fantastic, and we had plenty of it to cleanse our palate between tastings.
6. Journal & Pen. At first I thought it was silly that they offered a journal and pen, until I realized I wanted to take notes on all of the chocolates we were trying. Great idea!
7. Chocolate and espresso cafe with tables and chairs. People don’t have to just stop in and buy chocolate. They can stop in, have a drink, relax and enjoy themselves. The atmosphere was great!
8. Delicious souvenirs. Nothing like purchasing a souvenir that’s so delicious.
9. Perfect length. An hour event was perfect – not too long, not too short. It seemed to go really fast, which is a good indicator that we were enjoying ourselves.
10. Chocolate High. I felt amazing after munching down on so much chocolate. I could tell from the look in Tyler’s eyes that he was feeling mighty good as well. (He had this big grin on his face, despite feeling kind of sick earlier in the day).

Bottom line: Chocolate Apothecary has a fun Tasting Class that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys chocolate and wants a fun date.

With some input from Tyler Wilson (the hubbie) from Normdog Entertainment, here are the best and worst of the 2010 Oscars.

The Good

 Opening song by Neil Patrick Harris. The singing was slightly strained, but the song was great.

Tina Fey and Robert Downey, Jr. Actually funny. They should have hosted the show.

John Hughes movie clip montage. Because, who doesn’t love the Hughes? Pretty sad that he’s gone now.

 Samuel L. Jackson presents “Up.” As a former Pixar actor (Frozone, The Incredibles) Sammy J. introduced the movie clip without sounding like a teleprompter robot.

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Whether you are meeting your partner’s parents or extended family for the first time, you might be stressing out about impressing them.  If you are, hopefully this list will help you out a little.

Ways to Impress the In-Laws

1. Stop trying.  The harder you try to impress them, the less genuine and sincere you will be.  You’ll come off like a jerk and a fake.  So stop trying, or at least stop trying so hard.

2. Be yourself.  Assuming you are a kind, loving, and helpful person – just be yourself.  If you’re not any of those, count your blessing that you actually found someone who wants you to meet their family.

 3. Offer to help.  Offering to help is the easiest way to impress the in-laws.  You can offer to help cook, clean, serve, pick-up, run an errand, or anything else.  The simple gesture of offering your services shows people that you are outgoing and kind.  Nice work.

4. Avoid the booze.  I can’t say I’ve always been successful at this, but it would be best to avoid the booze while you’re spending time with people who haven’t had the chance to appreciate your drunken personality yet.  Give them time.

5. Leave or send a thank you note.  If they have you over for dinner or let you stay at their house, leaving or sending a thank you note is a very thoughtful and respectful gesture.  It shows them how appreciative and thoughtful you are.  Way to go.

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If you are going to see a counselor for the first time, it can be pretty intimidating. No matter what issue you are going to work on, the following tips will help you get the most out of counseling.

1. Drop your guard. We all have walls that we put up to protect ourselves. That wall is going to be one of the biggest obstacles to your growth. By dropping your guard, you commit to being honest and completely open. If you want to get your money’s worth, this is the #1 way to do it. It will be difficult, especially when you start approaching topics that cause some pain, shame, or negative emotions. Remind yourself that you’re in a safe place and that’s what you are here for. So drop your guard and be real.

2. Find the right match. Counselors are human, and they have personalities and therapeutic styles. To get the most out of your time, you must find the right match. That means you might have to hop around counselors for a little while, but it will be worth it. It’s better to shop around than meet the discouragement of delayed and negative progress due to a poor match. So take the time (and money) to find the right match.

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All children lie.  Yes, even your little darling will lie to you at some point.  However, some kids struggle with lying more than others.  If you have caught your child lying so many times you can’t remember and you can’t think of anything to get them to stop, try out some of these ideas.  Feel free to print the list off, add your own ideas, or leave feedback on your success.

1. 1 minute.  Children who are chronic liars often lie about bad behavior to avoid getting in trouble. If lying is the behavior you want to stop first, try giving them 1 minute.

Tell your child, "You have 1 minute to tell me the truth. If you tell me the truth about something you did bad, you will only receive the known consequence (for example, 2 minutes of timeout – something mild), but if you lie about something you did bad, you will receive the known consequence for the bad behavior (2 minutes of timeout) plus another consequence for lying (something WAY worse).

This works because your chronic liar experiences lying as a way to avoid a consequence. If you reduce the consequence she’s trying to avoid, then her reason for lying is removed.

Explain to your child, if you break the rules, there will always be consequences. But if you LIE, there will be consequences and then even bigger consequences on top of it. So just tell the truth, face the consequence, and move on.  The key here is not punishing your child over a prolonged amount of time. Give them nice, positive attention after they pay their time or consequence. Don’t hold it over their head. Give them a clean slate and more chances to be successful.

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I’m currently in the process of transferring all the blog entries over at happylists.wordpress.com over to my new wordpress website, www.MyHappylists.com.

Please be patient while I transfer over the older entries (and update them as best as possible in the process).

Thanks!

~Angela Wilson
MyHappyLists.com Writer & Administrator