Nicole

5 Ways to make your cat happy at home

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MorrisKnowsBest #CollectiveBias

Don’t you just love cats? Like most cat owners, one of my missions in life is to make sure that my furry friends are living their happiest, healthiest life at home. Especially my cat, Mr. Darcy.

Mr. Darcy, a rescue kitten my husband surprised our family with one afternoon last fall. He’s named after one of my favorite characters in fiction, Mr. Darcy, from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

Since the day my husband brought home our sweet little kitty, Mr. Darcy has become one of our best friends. A cat who lives life to the fullest. Making him the perfect cat!

From romping in laundry baskets to taking a leisurely afternoon siesta after a cuddle session, Mr. Darcy makes it his business to be anywhere there’s something going on at home. Especially if that involves him taking in a quick game of peek-a-boo from my laundry basket station!

Needless to say, Mr. Darcy has become one of my best friends. Which is why I make sure he’s purr-fectly at home. Now, if you too would like to make sure your cat is living their happiest, healthiest life at home, here are 5 tips to get you started:

Carve out quality time with your cat:

Your cat deserves your time and devoted energy each day. So make sure to carve out a few minutes twice a day, in the morning and evening, to devote to giving your feline friend one-on-one special attention.

Quality time that can involve cuddling or just sit quietly admiring your cat’s adoring gaze from across the room. Afterall, nothing says your cat loves you right back that a slow, deliberate blink of the eye!

Give your cat a cuddle:

Just like people, cats love a good cuddle! In our home, this means giving Mr. Darcy a small, 5-minute massage!

Simply stroking your cat, from nose to tail, gives an all-over feel-good massage that lowers a cat’s blood pressure and yours too! Pay special attention to the places he likes best, such as the base of the tail and under the cheeks.

Touching, petting, and massaging your cat also serves as a simple way to check your furry friend for lumps, mats, sores, or other creepy crawlies, like ticks. Especially important during the warmer months of the year if your pet ventures outdoors!

Provide your cats with toys:

Cats rarely work for a living these days. Which means that while you are working or tending to matters of the home, your cat may be bored out of its skull.

To prevent the proverbial cat-on-drape fiasco, provide your furry friends a variety of toys. Including laser, toys to stimulate prey instincts, small furry toys for batting, and even treats like catnip to ease their anxiety while your not home.

When cats have toys on hand, you can end your days coming home to happy-go-lucky friends and not a stir-crazy menace to society playing anti-gravity games with breakables on the counter!

Keep them hydrated:

I like to keep a cat fountain near Mr. Darcy’s food station. This provides him with both filtered water and the subtle ambiance of running water in the afternoons when I’m not home. It’s a small stress reliever that I believe he’s come to enjoy. Especially as temperatures warm up this season!

Feed them the best:

When it comes to Mr. Darcy’s care, we always try to give him the best. We want to keep him with us for as long as we can! He has a nice little perch in our kitchen where he can look outdoors and take naps. Then when he wakes from each nap, he’s ready to dig into a great meal!

We feed him 9Lives Daily Essentials® because it helps us give our cat the nutrition he needs every day at every stage of life. 9Lives provides Mr. Darcy with the vital nutrition he needs to help ensure proper heart, vision, muscular, skin, and coat vitality.

We also give our older cat 9Lives Plus Care. Because as cats age, their nutritional needs change. With 9Lives we know all our furry friends are being provided daily with food that will enable them to stay well and regular while supporting their digestive and immunity health too!

Darcy’s absolute favorite meal? 9Lives® Gravy Favorites Variety Pack, of course! What cat wouldn’t love meat and gravy for dinner, right?

I also like feeding him 9Lives Wet Cat Food because gives him variety in his diet. Including choices of tender, meaty morsels with rich gravy, flakes of fish, savory shreds, or ground food with flavor and aroma my cat cannot resist!

He also loves the 9Lives Hearty Cuts with Beef and Chicken in Gravy and 9Lives Tender Morsels Turkey and Giblets. Especially the Hearty Cuts with big, meaty chunks, cuts, and shreds in a hearty gravy.

Because 9Lives believes your cat deserves to live well, they are dedicated to the health and happiness of cats everywhere, we stock it every time I visit Dollar General! Food formulated to help Mr. Darcy stay happy and healthy at home!

The next time you are at your local Dollar General, be sure to pick up the 9Lives Daily Essentials, Indoor Plus Care, Hearty Cuts, and Tender Morsels cat food this season! It will be one of the best ways you can let your furry friend know just how much you care!

Check out DollarGeneral.com to find coupons and save on 9Lives wet and dry cat food from 4/1/18 – 5/31/18. Be sure to use the coupon to save even more this season! Now, friends, I want to ask, how are you helping to ensure your cat is living their happiest, healthiest life possible at home this season? I’d love to hear all about it below!

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Save Money This Spring With Brandless

Please note: I received this product for free from Moms Meet to use and post my honest opinions. Compensation for this post was provided and this page may contain affiliate links. All opinions are my own. #momsmeet @momsmeet @brandlesslife

First comes Spring, then comes time to clean. At least at my house anyway. And with all the work that comes with sprucing up my home at the start of each warm weather season, I like to make make sure to care of myself and my family. Which is why I love ordering from Brandless online.

Brandless makes hundreds of everyday essentials, including non-GMO foods, organic snacks, cruelty-free beauty products, non-toxic cleaners, and compostable tableware. With Brandless, it’s easy to find high-quality materials that feature healthy ingredients just without all the bad-stuff-less! With Brandless, you can shop your values while getting great value too!

At Brandless, you can buy products through the mail that are BrandTax™ free. Which prevents consumers like you and me from the hidden costs you pay for other national brands all for only $3.oo each. Perfect for zero-waste, minimalist homes like my own!

Buyers can also opt to lock in even more savings when you can purchase a membership for the low price of $36.00 annually. Which also offers the added benefit of free shipping. Click here to grab 33% off your one-year membership.

Still not convinced? Each time you place a Brandless order, a meal is donated to others in need through Feeding America®. In Brandless’ six months of operating success, they’ve already donated over 250K meals. A mission you can feel good standing behind!

My latest order from included:

For snacks we received:

For toiletries and household staples we received:

My favorite product? The non-GMO, USDA certified USDA organic Duck-Shaped Cheese Crackers. These snacks feature a quality a cheddar cheese taste in each ducky little bite! I love that they are free of artificial flavors and preservatives, giving you peace of mind while you share and snack with Brandless.

If your anything like me, you love cheese crackers. Afterall, I don’t know any kids, or adults, who would scoff at the chance to chow down on those cheesy little bites of happiness. Especially when they are better-for-you cheese cracker snacks. Like the Non-GMO Organic Cheese Crackers from Brandless. Perfect for frugal shoppers like you and I!

When done snacking, To keep your snacks crunchy and fresh by storing in an airtight container. You’ve got to try these cheese crackers for yourself. Including jerky for our dogs. Now isn’t it time for you to get quaking over to Brandless and check out these awesome snacks?

If you’re ready to get your savings ducks in a row and start maximizing your savings at home, head on over to Brandless and start shopping. Don’t forget to snag a whopping 33% off your one-year Brandless membership too! Now I want to ask, which of my must-try products from my last Brandless shipment are you most interested in trying?

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Financial Preparation Tips For Life’s Milestones

We don’t go through life with anything other than expectations and hopes for our futures. Each and everyone one of us like to dream about what we want in our lives and there are milestones that we like to hit to ‘tick all the boxes’ for ourselves. The problem is, those boxes all cost a little – and sometimes a lot of – cash.

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There are four major life events that most people want to achieve, and each of these has one thing in common: they’re expensive. When there are major life events ahead, we like to save up for them, but how can you do it? And what are these milestones?

First Car. Buying your first car and learning to drive is a big achievement. It’s a lot of responsibility to be on the road and in control of a vehicle and it’s also a responsibility to save for the right insurance and the right drivetrain warranty from Carchex. You should ensure that when you take on the difficulties of driving and being on the road with other vehicles that your particular car is in tiptop shape. Your first car should be one that is going to last you, so shop around and make sure that you find what you want for the price you want it to be.

Buying A House. You can choose to keep living with parents while you save for your house but consider that you should want to put a considerable down payment down to pay for your deposit. This would reduce the length of the mortgage and stand you in good stead for the banks to lend you what you need to cover the rest!

Getting Married. It’s a big day, but it doesn’t necessarily have to have a big price tag. All you have to do is learn to shop around when it comes to your wedding day and decide whether you truly need to have 300 people there for you when you get wed. Don’t be put off by the big venues and the dress costs and try not to go into married life in debt. If you cannot afford it for your day, do not buy it. It just takes a little sensibility to ensure that your day goes off perfectly.

Having A Baby. A first baby is a big step in life, but if you plan ahead you can ensure that you are not out of pocket with medical expenses and the initial costs of everything that a baby needs. If you fall pregnant unexpectedly, you can still rally; you have nine months to prepare after all. You can put other major expenses on hold to afford the baby in your life who needs your cash a lot more right now.

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Life gets in the way sometimes, but there are always ways and means to make savings when you need to. Don’t be held back by your finances; if you truly want something you will find a way to get it.

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The 4 Greatest Skincare Guidelines You’ll Ever Hear

Have you heard claims like this before? Sure. Are they easy to predict? Not really – there are too many tips. Indeed, it’s hard to keep up with them all as there are so many. Trying to keep your skin fresher, moister, tighter and younger, then, is by no means a walk in the park.

Sadly, the only one who suffers is you as your skin begins to show the signs of aging. In this case, there are four escape plans that some may call the greatest they have ever heard. While the jury is still out, why don’t you make up your mind?

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1: Something Over Nothing

Thanks to excellent marketing by the top firms, the majority of us assume only a handful of lotions work. Hint: it’s the ones with the top-secret ingredient, right? Wrong. On the whole, pretty much every cream or lotion helps the skin to stay young and healthy as long as it contains a handful of elements.

The Allure site says they include everything from glycerin to shea butter. As long as it has hydrating qualities, the moisturizer will help the skin to recover or to maintain. So, that tiny, complimentary tube in the hotel bathroom isn’t a waste of space.

2: It’s Always Sunny In…

Every state in every town and city in the country. Yep, even when it isn’t sunny, the sun is shining and it’s an important fact to keep in mind. We all know about UVB light as they are the rays which induce tanning. However, another form of radiation exists, and it’s known as UVA.

The Skin Cancer Foundation site has detailed info if you want to learn more. What sets the latter one apart is its ability to blast through windows, cloud cover, and anything which isn’t a sturdy material. As it has cancer-properties, it can turn the skin a yellowish color. Therefore, always use a protector even when the sun seems to have on its hat.

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3: Look Good, Feel Good

Let’s face it – people are judgmental. So, as soon as they hear that you are considering cosmetic surgery, the rumors will begin to flow. Normally, it’s enough for the average person to give in to the peer pressure and stick to the natural methods of anti-aging.

Although organic is great, some cosmetic surgery techniques are also worth considering. Take a quick glance at the James Christian Cosmetics website and you’ll see that they are fast and non-invasive in lots of circumstances. Look, they may be a bad option, but you should check out the pros and cons and come to an informed decision rather than listening to the gossip.

4: Small Mercies

The little details are easy to gloss over as they don’t seem as if they can make a difference. Come on – what’s wrong with drinking from a plastic bottle? Well, the experts say the constant pouting and face-pulling helps to develop lines around the mouth. A top tip is to use glass or buy a bottle with a spout and drink H2O the Indian way.

How does the above gauge on the scale of the best skincare tips you’ve ever heard?

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5 Ways Bloggers Perfect Their Analytics

Please note: This post is sponsored by Diamond Bloggers. All opinions are my own. Thank you.

One of the biggest buzzwords in the blogging world surrounds analytics. Or the way by which search engines are reporting and analyzing the information you post to the world each day. Which makes analytic tools for bloggers a true must.

Because blogs that struggle with disparate misinformation sourcing still must find a way to make data fit their niche and purpose. Through aggregation, standardization, and enrichment of posting sources.

An effective IT strategy can assist in the development of better posts, higher SEO rankings, and can help to eliminate gaps in advertising strategies. This helps bloggers create comprehensive and robust technology environments that boost engagement and improve cost-efficiency for marketing your posts too!

Now if you’re looking for more ways that you as a blogger can better manage a robust analytics platform for your blog, here are 5 ways to get started:

Scraping your browser: Scraping is a way to get information from a website into an Excel or sheets document. A carbon copy of your site that helps give you a better glance at how your site is performing. You can hire someone to build you a scraper or you can do the job yourself with a few clicks using a Google Chrome extension scraper that works right within your browser.

Behind the scenes, scrapers also help manage and guide individual blog posts as well. As a scraper retrieves HTML elements from a page based on the rules you specify. For everything wrapped in an <a> tag. Having your scraper data at hand will help you to find missing tags and help clean up your blogs SEO ranking.

Surveys: Want to know who reads your blog? Consider using Google surveys. Google Surveys, when administered to your readers in posts, on media channels, or in newsletters, help you to ascertain who reads your site, what posts they enjoy reading, as well as a wide range of demographic data they include about your respondents. You don’t just get answers to your survey questions, you can see who answered them. This will help you down the road, especially when creating a media kit or giving demographic information during pitch netters to sponsors.

Google Trends: I love to use Google trends to research keyword analytics. This allows you to discover how popular certain topics are over the past decade in terms of their global search volume. Basically, is this topic being searched more or less around the world, or in your specific area. I then use that data to splice blog posts based on how I perceive my audience will want to know that information or if the information would be better served on live broadcasting, in a podcast, or in a newsletter.

Facebook Advertising: Facebook gives marketers lots of control over their ad targeting. If you need to get some calculations for how many people are interested in a particular topic, simply you set up a random advertising campaign and use the audience targeting feature. This will allow you to see how quickly your audience engaged in a specific product, service, affiliate link, or blog topic idea before investing vast amounts of time and money into that field. Its a great resource tool before rebranding your blog or adding new social media features too.

Izenda: Using a professional reporting and analytics company can equip your blogging platform with the tools to take your SEO from novice to robust in a matter of weeks versus years. While giving your potential sponsors insights they need, when they need them, to begin working with you.

For such services I recommend Izenda. Which help bloggers and small business owner daily better utilize digital data management and ad-hoc reporting across various departments, blogs, and fields. This can also help bloggers determine domain strategies are no longer relevant to your blog management strategy.

Companies such as Izenda can help you master data management relationships that offer Microsoft MDM and Multi-Domain platform master data management to influencers and strategies from all digital walks of life. A service that can help take your blog to new platforms in the months and years to come.

Those are my top 5 ways to help you better address your blogging and blog marketing strategies this season by way of data policies, analyzing SEO, and database management systems. Methods that can help propel your blog and pitching to the next level in 2018. Now I want to ask, do you have any top strategies for assessing your blog analytic strategies? I’d love to hear about them below!

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Build Your Confidence In Time For The Summer

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One of the biggest challenges in life is struggling with confidence. No matter how you look, you will always seem to pick out the imperfections because we have the idea of wanting to be perfect when really being perfect is merely an opinion, not a fact.

Having said that though, it doesn’t change how we feel about ourselves. If you lack confidence you will never feel good, you will often compare yourself to someone else who you believe to be prettier, and more popular. Part of the issue comes down to social media. While it is a brilliant platform for providing opportunities for talent, it can also be a common cause for people to feel worse about themselves because they see so many other people with the best hair, best clothes, best cars, and so on.

One very important thing to remember is that it’s not real. Just because someone’s smiling doesn’t mean they’re happy. Just because someone’s skin looks flawless doesn’t mean that it is. There are tons of apps that work as an alternative to photoshop that allow you to airbrush, resize, reshape, and blur. So just because you see something in a photo on Instagram, it doesn’t actually mean it’s real.

So how can you boost your self-confidence in time for the summer? Here are just a few examples:

The beauty of makeup

Before we get into this, you need to know that makeup shouldn’t be used as a mask. You’re beautiful, and you should never feel the need to plaster yourself in makeup. What you can do though, is learn how to accentuate what you already have, creating a positive focus, instead of the negative one that you feel you have.

Take acne for example – this is a nightmare to go through because you only wish to have clear skin, but unfortunately for some people, no matter how much skincare they buy, their body is just prone to spots. Makeup gives you the power to cover these up, along with any blemishes and hyperpigmentation you may have, giving your skin a flawless finish.

Once the problem has been dealt with, you can then make your features pop. A little contouring here, and a little mascara there, and you’re good to go.

The power of hair

Hair is often a thing we use to hide behind – it’s a comfort blanket. But if you’re so used to doing this, you may have overlooked the care and love your hair requires. Or it may be just the issue.

When dealing with stress, a very common problem that can happen is hair loss, and that only increases the levels of stress because it’s a traumatizing thing. No one wants to see their locks on the bottom of the shower, or on the floor every time they brush.

Fortunately, you don’t need to go through this anymore as there are drug-free hair growth shampoos that stimulate your scalp through natural ingredients that are easy on the skin. You can then think of a new style that you can have with your healthy looking hair. Go to a professional salon and discuss ideas that will suit your personality.

The passion for fashion

You only need to take one step outside to see all the various styles that people choose to wear. You may not follow the latest fashion trends, and that’s okay, you don’t need to. The best thing about fashion is that although you have top designers that make a lot of money creating trends that the celebs promote – there really are no rules to any of it.

One of the best ways to be a unique individual is to dress however you feel like. It doesn’t need to ‘work’ – if you see something you like and want to mix and match with another item or accessory – so be it. It’s what makes you you! Another really fun thing is that you can create your own items too.

All you need is a pair of scissors, as well as a needle and thread, and essentially you can make brand new, never before seen garments that you rock around town.

One of the most important things to remember is that you should never feel like you need to fit in. You already do. Everyone does. The world is a diverse place, and that is what makes it so fantastic. How boring would our planet be if everyone was the same color, wore the same clothes, and had the same haircut?

So friends, how will you be working on building your confidence before the start of the next season? Share your stories below!

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Kalu Yala Criticism

Please note, this post is sponsored by Diamond Bloggers. Thank you.

If I could sum up my adult life in one word it would be thrifty. A word that became synonymous with my debt-free lifestyle at home. But one of the few areas in my life where I don’t cut corners on in price is my family’s ability to travel. Because for me, I firmly believe that travel is one of the greatest investments you can make in creating a global perspective for yourself and others.

And I know first-hand. As a teenager, I studied abroad in France. Then in college, I traveled, missioned, and studied in Malaysia, South Africa, Central America, and many parts of Western Europe. Adventures that helped make to mold me into being the well-rounded, empathetic, politically-savvy person that I am today.

I would work one of two jobs at a time, including work-study positions, to make travel plans possible. Now as a married woman with a family of my own, I want to make sure that I am willing and able to extend these opportunities to my family as well.

So if you have ever considered having your child study abroad but were still on the fence, here are three reasons to consider taking the plunge and allowing your child to study abroad:

1. You can see the world

The biggest reason you should consider a study abroad program for your child is that you will enable them to step outside their comfort zone and enable them with the opportunity to see the world. By studying abroad, your child will experience the culture, culinary traditions, and get first-hand anthropological experience with each host nation they visit. Travels that will leave an indelible impact on their view of the world around them.

In addition, when you’re abroad, your child will potentially not be limited to traveling in just the nation in which you are studying – you can see neighboring countries as well! For example, when I studied in France, I had opportunities to travel through various parts of Europe including London, Barcelona, and Rome. And your child can too!

2 Take in a New Culture

Many students who choose to study abroad are leaving their home for the first time. When they arrive in their new host country, they are fascinated by the distinct cultural perspectives. When you study abroad you will find incredible new foods, customs, traditions, and social atmospheres. During my own travels, I found that by studying other cultures allowed me to develop a better understanding and appreciation of the nation’s people and history. None of which would have been possible had I not been able to witness new ways of life in other nations for myself!

3. Educational opportunities

Another reason you might consider having your child studying abroad is for the chance that they might experience different styles of education. By enrolling in a study abroad program, your child will have the chance to see a side of their major or an area of interest that they may not have been exposed to at home.

Personally, I found that by completely immersing myself in the education system of my various host countries I was able to really experience each nations people, traditions, and culture.

With education as the centerpiece of your travels, choosing the right school is a very important factor for parents and students alike. One great study abroad opportunity you may not be aware of is the Kalu Yala study abroad program.

Kalu Yala is a study abroad program offering students the ability to study, work, and live in a sustainable town. The town is located in the Tres Brazos Valley, 50 minutes from Panama City and about 35 minutes from Panama’s International Airport.

This program centers on an ongoing sustainability building site. Which acts as both a midterm project for students and as a conduit for environmental and socially responsible communities projects.

Jimmy Stice, the creator, and CEO of Kalu Yala working with Moule & Polyzoides Architects and Urbanists based in Pasadena, CA, developed much of this New Urbanism project.

Since Summer 2010, The Kalu Yala Institute has offered students from around the world the opportunity to conduct research projects on sustainable living and zero-waste living efficacy. Kalu Yala Institute classes of choice include agriculture, biology, business, education and community development, design, culinary arts, health, wellness, and outdoor recreational sports.

As of Fall 2015, Kalu Yala has hosted students from 48 states, 25 countries, and 150 colleges. With each student being able to Tailor their own academic program to align with their own graduate and study goals. Projects that always center on sustainable community awareness.

Like with many study abroad programs, Kalu Yala problems have been plenty. Afterall, it’s in the jungle! But as a collective effort has worked diligently to move past its growing pain stages. In fact, you can see not only what Jungletown really looks like for yourself but also to find out the truth about Kalu Yala too!

Friends, I encourage you to find out more about this awesome program and to consider sending your child to study abroad this season! Now I want to ask, have you studied abroad or are you considering sending your child to study abroad? Or are you a college student looking for study abroad options for yourself? Let me know your opinions below!

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