When we moved into our home five years ago, I remember looking at the rolling expanse of dirt, dotted with scruffy patches of grass and wayward thistles. Other more experienced gardeners might have seen a blank canvas, but I felt overcome with landscape anxiety. An impossibly small landscaping budget and a file full of seemingly perfect garden images only made matters worse.
From the start, I knew I had to make peace with Mother Nature. This meant creating a landscape that could bear harsh temperature swings, little rainfall, and droves of hungry deer. It also meant raising my weed tolerance if I didn’t want to institute a serious spraying regimen or commit to hand digging a thousand dandelions.
I didn’t know it at the time, but these obstacles were forming my landscaping philosophy: beauty without perfection. After I got over the idea that my yard needed to be magazine-worthy, I could think about what I really wanted my landscape to do and be.
I knew I wanted a cottage garden landscape, with an abundance of flowers and vegetables and a place to enjoy them. From here, I could decide the best way to achieve this. I haven’t followed a rigid plan, but I have relied on several ideas that have helped my landscape take shape and that have kept my landscaping budget in check.
Spend your time and money on landscaping features that will bring you pleasure. If you need to create a landscape from scratch or want to punch up what you’ve got, start by setting some priorities. What landscape element will bring you the most joy? A lawn that looks like Astroturf? The same climbing roses that grew on your grandmother’s arbor? A fountain, fire pit, or pergola? From here, you can think about the best way to reach your landscape goals.
View landscaping as a process. The best landscapes evolve over time and anticipate future wants and needs—there is no such thing as an instant landscape. I always buy as many small plants as I can afford, rather than buying more mature and expensive specimens. I also tackle one or two landscape projects each year. This year, the plan is to build a roof over a back patio for some much-needed shade and create a small playhouse for our children. Make a list of what you want to accomplish in your landscape and choose the top two or three priorities to tackle this year.
Use materials readily available to you. I am fortunate to have an abundance of natural slate rock that we used for garden beds and paths. The horses in a nearby pasture supply our compost needs. A pile of cedar milled from old power poles became a garden shed and a picket fence. Look around your home and your neighborhood. What is available to you that you can put to use in your landscape?
Enhance what you already have. Paint worn patio furniture a vivid yellow or turquoise, repeating the same colors elsewhere in your landscape. Use specialty paint to splash color on a boring cement patio. Divide plants to expand your plantings. Think of ways you can incorporate existing plantings or features into your plan. Add shutters, painted trim, and a small window to a plain garden shed, for example.
CCCS/ACCE –American Center for Credit Education
Carey Denman
Friday, April 9, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Practicing Gratitude is Worth the Effort
My husband was recently helping me with the spring garden chores, which involved top dressing beds with compost and cutting back the perennials within an inch or two of the ground. He was hard at work on a catmint, one of the most onerous plants to deal with in my garden. Bent over a dried tangle of woody branches, he looked up, pruners in hand, and asked, “Why did you even plant these things?” I responded with my gardening mantra, “Because I love what grows.”
In my prairie garden, where moisture tends to be scarce and hungry deer can be plentiful, catmint is a sure thing. It is tough as nails, blooms profusely, hides the fading foliage of other plants around it, and the deer don’t touch it. Yes, it tends to grow out of bounds, spreading seedlings into the gravel driveway and all along the path, and gives me blisters when I cut it back each year, but it grows—beautifully.
Loving what grows keeps me focused on the good in gardening, makes me grateful that I can sink my hands into the dirt and coax something, anything into bloom. It might take practice, but “wanting what you already have” is a good principle for life. In other words, practicing gratitude is worth the effort.
According to the research of psychologist Robert Emmons, the greatest reward for being grateful is a happier life. In several studies, Emmons asked three separate groups to keep a journal for a period of ten weeks. The first group kept track of what they were grateful for; the second group wrote down what they found irritating or bothersome; and the final group was instructed to write about something that had an impact on them.
At the conclusion of the study, the participants who focused on gratitude, by paying attention to and recording the good things that happened to them during those ten weeks, reported a higher level of well- being; they were generally happier and more optimistic, even sleeping better and exercising more. Other more objective data has shown that practicing gratitude has direct health benefits, which include lowering stress levels and moderating blood pressure.
If it makes good sense to practice gratitude, what’s the best way to do this? It doesn’t have to be a formal exercise in writing things down. It’s really about finding a way that you can acknowledge the good things in your life. At our house, this often happens at the dining room table, where we ask our children to tell us the best part of their day. Just last night, our five-year-old reported, “We got two jelly beans today. We’re really lucky kids.” It’s hard to be a cynic when I’m face-to-face with this kind of child-like thankfulness.
The next time you’re at a stoplight, resist the urge to pull out your cell phone or fiddle with the stereo. Instead, make a mental list of everything you’re thankful for. Or do the same when you’re brushing your teeth or taking a shower. However you do it, make gratitude a ritual. When you do, you’ll learn to want what you have, and you’ll be much happier for it.
CCCS/ACCE –American Center for Credit Education
Carey Denman
In my prairie garden, where moisture tends to be scarce and hungry deer can be plentiful, catmint is a sure thing. It is tough as nails, blooms profusely, hides the fading foliage of other plants around it, and the deer don’t touch it. Yes, it tends to grow out of bounds, spreading seedlings into the gravel driveway and all along the path, and gives me blisters when I cut it back each year, but it grows—beautifully.
Loving what grows keeps me focused on the good in gardening, makes me grateful that I can sink my hands into the dirt and coax something, anything into bloom. It might take practice, but “wanting what you already have” is a good principle for life. In other words, practicing gratitude is worth the effort.
According to the research of psychologist Robert Emmons, the greatest reward for being grateful is a happier life. In several studies, Emmons asked three separate groups to keep a journal for a period of ten weeks. The first group kept track of what they were grateful for; the second group wrote down what they found irritating or bothersome; and the final group was instructed to write about something that had an impact on them.
At the conclusion of the study, the participants who focused on gratitude, by paying attention to and recording the good things that happened to them during those ten weeks, reported a higher level of well- being; they were generally happier and more optimistic, even sleeping better and exercising more. Other more objective data has shown that practicing gratitude has direct health benefits, which include lowering stress levels and moderating blood pressure.
If it makes good sense to practice gratitude, what’s the best way to do this? It doesn’t have to be a formal exercise in writing things down. It’s really about finding a way that you can acknowledge the good things in your life. At our house, this often happens at the dining room table, where we ask our children to tell us the best part of their day. Just last night, our five-year-old reported, “We got two jelly beans today. We’re really lucky kids.” It’s hard to be a cynic when I’m face-to-face with this kind of child-like thankfulness.
The next time you’re at a stoplight, resist the urge to pull out your cell phone or fiddle with the stereo. Instead, make a mental list of everything you’re thankful for. Or do the same when you’re brushing your teeth or taking a shower. However you do it, make gratitude a ritual. When you do, you’ll learn to want what you have, and you’ll be much happier for it.
CCCS/ACCE –American Center for Credit Education
Carey Denman
Friday, March 26, 2010
Limited Resources Don’t Have to Keep You from Dreams
My middle sister is a tourist at heart. She stalks travel sites, enjoys making itineraries and is the type of person who stops to read all the historic markers. If you ever want to know the most strategic way to tackle a theme park, she’s your woman. But she cares about more than the fine details of her destination. She dreams big, relishing the idea of riding an Icelandic pony or floating down a Venetian canal long before she leaves home. Traveling makes her feel fully alive.
I know this because she weaves travel talk into everyday conversation. She listens with rapt attention to other people’s travel stories and tucks destination ideas into the back of her mind. She soaks in travel magazines and reads guidebooks for fun. She is awash in wanderlust.
As much as she enjoys the process of thinking and planning, she has realized that she wants to do more actual traveling. “There are so many places I want to see, so much I want to do, and I know I can’t wait for the ideal time,” she recently declared. This means fitting travel into her life as a wife and as a mother of three homeschooled children, all while working within a slim budget.
She’s obviously serious about this. She’s leaving this week to visit a friend in Texas, thanks to a $150 ticket. After that, it’s a girlfriends’ getaway to Nevada. And this summer, it’s a road trip with her kids to the places where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived and wrote about. My sister is determined to live her dream, not just talk about it. She’s doing the best she can with the resources she has right now.
Her newfound determination reminds me of a story I read about renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman. Perlman reportedly had a string break during a concert in front of a large crowd. The story goes that he continued playing with the remaining three strings, adjusting and compensating as he went along--and ending his performance with rousing applause from the audience. When the crowd quieted, Perlman spoke. “You know, sometimes it’s the artist’s task to find out how much music you can make with what you have left.”
Limited resources don’t have to keep you from achieving a longtime dream, whether it’s large or small. First, you need to get out of the “dreaming” stage and move into the doing. In other words, decide on your destination; this is your goal. While you’re doing this, tune out the naysayers, even if you’re one of them right now.
Next, work on removing the limits that can make you feel stuck. If it’s a lack of savings, start an automatic payroll deduction or save every five dollar bill you get. If it’s debt that’s holding you back, get a handle on what you owe and create a repayment plan. If it’s an overscheduled life, look for ways to free up time.
Keep in mind that removing limits doesn’t necessarily mean making major changes. Maybe your obstacle is some as simple as having a lack of space for your own garden; you don’t have to move to do what you love. Look for a community garden plot or ask a friend if you can put in a few raised beds at his house for a share of the bounty.
Whether you reach your destination quickly or if you travel down a winding path to get there, always make it a point to do the best you can with the resources you have at your command right now. Here’s to Iceland ponies and to following your passion wherever it might lead.
CCCS/ACCE –American Center for Credit Education
Carey Denman
I know this because she weaves travel talk into everyday conversation. She listens with rapt attention to other people’s travel stories and tucks destination ideas into the back of her mind. She soaks in travel magazines and reads guidebooks for fun. She is awash in wanderlust.
As much as she enjoys the process of thinking and planning, she has realized that she wants to do more actual traveling. “There are so many places I want to see, so much I want to do, and I know I can’t wait for the ideal time,” she recently declared. This means fitting travel into her life as a wife and as a mother of three homeschooled children, all while working within a slim budget.
She’s obviously serious about this. She’s leaving this week to visit a friend in Texas, thanks to a $150 ticket. After that, it’s a girlfriends’ getaway to Nevada. And this summer, it’s a road trip with her kids to the places where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived and wrote about. My sister is determined to live her dream, not just talk about it. She’s doing the best she can with the resources she has right now.
Her newfound determination reminds me of a story I read about renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman. Perlman reportedly had a string break during a concert in front of a large crowd. The story goes that he continued playing with the remaining three strings, adjusting and compensating as he went along--and ending his performance with rousing applause from the audience. When the crowd quieted, Perlman spoke. “You know, sometimes it’s the artist’s task to find out how much music you can make with what you have left.”
Limited resources don’t have to keep you from achieving a longtime dream, whether it’s large or small. First, you need to get out of the “dreaming” stage and move into the doing. In other words, decide on your destination; this is your goal. While you’re doing this, tune out the naysayers, even if you’re one of them right now.
Next, work on removing the limits that can make you feel stuck. If it’s a lack of savings, start an automatic payroll deduction or save every five dollar bill you get. If it’s debt that’s holding you back, get a handle on what you owe and create a repayment plan. If it’s an overscheduled life, look for ways to free up time.
Keep in mind that removing limits doesn’t necessarily mean making major changes. Maybe your obstacle is some as simple as having a lack of space for your own garden; you don’t have to move to do what you love. Look for a community garden plot or ask a friend if you can put in a few raised beds at his house for a share of the bounty.
Whether you reach your destination quickly or if you travel down a winding path to get there, always make it a point to do the best you can with the resources you have at your command right now. Here’s to Iceland ponies and to following your passion wherever it might lead.
CCCS/ACCE –American Center for Credit Education
Carey Denman
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
FTC Amends Free Credit Reports Rule To Help Consumers Steer Clear of ‘Free’ Offers that Cost Money
Starting April 2, advertising for “free credit reports” will require new disclosures to help consumers avoid confusing “free” offers – which often require consumers to spend money on credit monitoring or other products or services – with the no-strings-attached credit reports available at AnnualCreditReport.com, or 877-322-8228.
The Federal Trade Commission’s Free Credit Reports Rule will require new prominent disclosures in advertisements for “free credit reports.” For example, any Web site offering free credit reports must include a disclosure, across the top of each page that mentions free credit reports, which states:
THIS NOTICE IS REQUIRED BY LAW. Read more at FTC.GOV.
You have the right to a free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com
or 877-322-8228, the ONLY authorized source under federal law.
The Web site disclosure must include a clickable button to “Take me to the authorized source” and clickable links to AnnualCreditReport.com and FTC.GOV.
The Credit CARD Act of 2009 requires the Commission to issue a rule by February 22, 2010, to prevent deceptive marketing of “free credit reports.” Specifically, the Act requires that certain advertisements for “free credit reports” include prominent disclosures designed to prevent consumers from confusing these “free” offers with the federally mandated free annual credit reports available through the “centralized source,” which is AnnualCreditReport.com, or 877-322-8228. The Credit CARD Act of 2009 requires a slightly different disclosure between now until April 2: “Free credits reports are available under Federal law at: AnnualCreditReport.com.”
The FTC proposed amending the Rule in October 2009 and received more than one thousand comments from consumers, consumer reporting agencies, consumer report resellers, business and trade organizations, state attorneys general, consumer advocates, law firms, members of Congress, and academics.
The amended Rule also restricts practices that might confuse or mislead consumers as they try to get their federally mandated free annual credit reports. For example, the amended Rule requires nationwide consumer reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – to delay any advertising for products or services on AnnualCreditReport.com until after consumers get their free credit reports.
The amended Rule is effective April 2, 2010, except for the wording of the disclosures for television and radio advertisements, which takes effect on September 1, 2010. The FTC will monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the amended Rule and the required disclosures, and will consider additional changes as necessary.
The amended Rule can be found on the Commission’s Web site as a link to this press release and will soon be published in the Federal Register. The Commission vote authorizing the publication of the Federal Register notice was 4-0.
Information in credit reports may affect whether consumers can get a loan or a job, so it is important that consumers check their credit reports and correct any information that is inaccurate. Each of the nationwide credit reporting companies is required to provide consumers with a free copy of their credit reports once every 12 months upon request. Consumers can learn more about their right to a free credit report under federal law at http://www.ftc.gov/freereports.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Frank Dorman,
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2674
STAFF CONTACT:
Katherine Armstrong,
Bureau of Consumer Protection
202-326-2252
(FACTA - Free Credit Reports)
(FTC File No. R411004)
Reprinted from the Federal Trade Commissions website at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/02/facta.shtm
The Federal Trade Commission’s Free Credit Reports Rule will require new prominent disclosures in advertisements for “free credit reports.” For example, any Web site offering free credit reports must include a disclosure, across the top of each page that mentions free credit reports, which states:
THIS NOTICE IS REQUIRED BY LAW. Read more at FTC.GOV.
You have the right to a free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com
or 877-322-8228, the ONLY authorized source under federal law.
The Web site disclosure must include a clickable button to “Take me to the authorized source” and clickable links to AnnualCreditReport.com and FTC.GOV.
The Credit CARD Act of 2009 requires the Commission to issue a rule by February 22, 2010, to prevent deceptive marketing of “free credit reports.” Specifically, the Act requires that certain advertisements for “free credit reports” include prominent disclosures designed to prevent consumers from confusing these “free” offers with the federally mandated free annual credit reports available through the “centralized source,” which is AnnualCreditReport.com, or 877-322-8228. The Credit CARD Act of 2009 requires a slightly different disclosure between now until April 2: “Free credits reports are available under Federal law at: AnnualCreditReport.com.”
The FTC proposed amending the Rule in October 2009 and received more than one thousand comments from consumers, consumer reporting agencies, consumer report resellers, business and trade organizations, state attorneys general, consumer advocates, law firms, members of Congress, and academics.
The amended Rule also restricts practices that might confuse or mislead consumers as they try to get their federally mandated free annual credit reports. For example, the amended Rule requires nationwide consumer reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – to delay any advertising for products or services on AnnualCreditReport.com until after consumers get their free credit reports.
The amended Rule is effective April 2, 2010, except for the wording of the disclosures for television and radio advertisements, which takes effect on September 1, 2010. The FTC will monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the amended Rule and the required disclosures, and will consider additional changes as necessary.
The amended Rule can be found on the Commission’s Web site as a link to this press release and will soon be published in the Federal Register. The Commission vote authorizing the publication of the Federal Register notice was 4-0.
Information in credit reports may affect whether consumers can get a loan or a job, so it is important that consumers check their credit reports and correct any information that is inaccurate. Each of the nationwide credit reporting companies is required to provide consumers with a free copy of their credit reports once every 12 months upon request. Consumers can learn more about their right to a free credit report under federal law at http://www.ftc.gov/freereports.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Frank Dorman,
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2674
STAFF CONTACT:
Katherine Armstrong,
Bureau of Consumer Protection
202-326-2252
(FACTA - Free Credit Reports)
(FTC File No. R411004)
Reprinted from the Federal Trade Commissions website at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/02/facta.shtm
Friday, March 19, 2010
Find and Use Your “Free Square”
I was just a kid the first time I stepped into a bingo hall. I had come with a friend, expecting an evening of light-hearted fun. Instead, I quickly realized that the tension in the room was palpable. Under glaring fluorescent lights, the most serious players hovered over a dozen or more cards, furiously, scanning the numbers, never even glancing up at the caller. This was clearly no place for goofing around.
As a bingo newbie, I sat with my lone card in front me, feeling slightly more at ease when I slid the little red shutter across my “free square” space. All through the night, I would clear my entire card between rounds, and then wait to pull the free square shutter until play began again. I liked the notion that one small part of the game wasn’t left to chance.
I couldn’t predict what numbers would be drawn, but I could know for certain that the center square of my card held the promise of moving me closer to a win. It was a valuable space, just as valuable as any of the numbers that were called all throughout the evening.
Author Victoria Moran argues that you have a free square in your life too, that place where you have a gift or a forte, the thing that comes easily to you, when it might seem difficult or even impossible to someone else. She contends that you probably tend to undervalue this free square, the very thing that might be your most practical asset. This is often because you haven’t paid close attention to it and because it doesn’t necessarily fit into the mold of “talent.”
Take my husband, for example. He has a mathematical mind, the kind that can quickly calculate the price per ounce when we’re at the grocery store or figure our gas mileage when we’re filling up at the pump. He can do fractions like a whiz and can compute large numbers faster than I whip out a calculator. He catches mistakes on financial documents, is a master at working a budget, and has actually been known to do algebra for fun. His mathematical mind is his free square.
I, on the other hand, do not have a mathematical mind, but I do have an aptitude for cooking. I’m at home in the kitchen, knowing when a dash of Worcestershire would give a dish the kick it needs or when the banana muffins are done because of the way they smell. I cook for people when they have new babies or experience a death in the family. I cook to share time with people I care about. And I have been known to cook for fun.
Your free square could be small engine repair, wine making, knitting, taping and texturing walls, cleaning, building, sewing, meeting people, or organizing, among hundreds of other things. The key is learning to recognize and use your free square, in whatever way brings you the best results. This might mean you use it for recreation, to help someone else, to make money, or just for the sheer pleasure of doing something that comes easily to you (even if it’s algebra).
CCCS/ACCE –American Center for Credit Education
Carey Denman
As a bingo newbie, I sat with my lone card in front me, feeling slightly more at ease when I slid the little red shutter across my “free square” space. All through the night, I would clear my entire card between rounds, and then wait to pull the free square shutter until play began again. I liked the notion that one small part of the game wasn’t left to chance.
I couldn’t predict what numbers would be drawn, but I could know for certain that the center square of my card held the promise of moving me closer to a win. It was a valuable space, just as valuable as any of the numbers that were called all throughout the evening.
Author Victoria Moran argues that you have a free square in your life too, that place where you have a gift or a forte, the thing that comes easily to you, when it might seem difficult or even impossible to someone else. She contends that you probably tend to undervalue this free square, the very thing that might be your most practical asset. This is often because you haven’t paid close attention to it and because it doesn’t necessarily fit into the mold of “talent.”
Take my husband, for example. He has a mathematical mind, the kind that can quickly calculate the price per ounce when we’re at the grocery store or figure our gas mileage when we’re filling up at the pump. He can do fractions like a whiz and can compute large numbers faster than I whip out a calculator. He catches mistakes on financial documents, is a master at working a budget, and has actually been known to do algebra for fun. His mathematical mind is his free square.
I, on the other hand, do not have a mathematical mind, but I do have an aptitude for cooking. I’m at home in the kitchen, knowing when a dash of Worcestershire would give a dish the kick it needs or when the banana muffins are done because of the way they smell. I cook for people when they have new babies or experience a death in the family. I cook to share time with people I care about. And I have been known to cook for fun.
Your free square could be small engine repair, wine making, knitting, taping and texturing walls, cleaning, building, sewing, meeting people, or organizing, among hundreds of other things. The key is learning to recognize and use your free square, in whatever way brings you the best results. This might mean you use it for recreation, to help someone else, to make money, or just for the sheer pleasure of doing something that comes easily to you (even if it’s algebra).
CCCS/ACCE –American Center for Credit Education
Carey Denman
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