Hello Fellow AR Members.  I'm just curious if any one out there has actually tried the Couch to 5K.. (c25k).  My daughter(Kate) was home over the weekend and suggested I should get more exercise and this would be an excellent program for me to try.  She's actually going to do it herself. 

I went on line and there's a lot of info about the program.  I printed workout schedule and have ordered my Vibram Five Finger running shoes.  Due in tomorrow. If you've never seen Vibram's shoes. Check them out at www.Vibramfivefingers.com. They look horrible but Kate highly recommends them. She gave me the whole speech on how the Kudaline's from Africa run and Vibram has engineered a set of running shoes, using the African's style.

I have a tendency to be a bit complacent, when it comes to exercise, so I'm willing to give my FiveFingers and C25K a shot.  I was just curious if any of you have tried this program.  If so, what were your results?

New Listing: 104' of Lake Nettie, one of Michigan's finest all-sport lakes. This year round home offers 3 spacious bedrooms, 1.5 baths, a balcony off the living room, overlooking the lake. The lower level provides a large family room, the utility room and extra bedroom.  The lower level walks out to a semi covered patio. This unique lake home offers an attached garage along with a detached garage with a workshop.

To view more photos, go to www.SoldByDebbie.com, Listings and type in MLS#: 272024 for a full photo gallery and details.

This morning I was so inspired by the freshly fallen snow, I had to go out for a drive.  I decided I needed more gas for my snow blower anyway, so why not head out to town and get a couple cans. So I suited up in my insulated coveralls and to thermos of coffee and headed to my local mini mart in Millersburg, Michigan.  This is the road I took and the vehicle I drove. Please note the Aladdin Thermos in the beverage holder. Coffee in the morning is an essential, the helmet is optional. 

                                                                      

Today, I woke up to another 3 inches of freshly fallen snow.  That makes 6 inches in the past 3 days.  As I sip my cup of coffee, I decided to take a peek and see exactly what Mother Nature chose to share. To my amazement, my yard was turned into a Christmas Postcard, in March.  It was so beautiful, even without the sunshine, I had to take a photo and share. Hope you enjoy.

 

Off my balcony          

                                       

Did your mom ever tell you, If you play with fire, you'll get burnt! Or, If you eat too much candy, your teeth will rot!  Well, somethings just are that obvious but for some crazy reason, we decide we can beat the odds and the "obvious" won't happen to us.

Well, please take heed:

 

If you drive this...

 

 

And you go down this...

 

You can expect this...

No problem, Right...I've got AAA. Wrong, AAA doesn't pay for Stupidity.  This little side trip looking for a piece of real estate cost me $103 in wrecker fees.  Ouch. 

The moral of this story is, Mom's always right.  If you play in the road, you might get hit! If you see a sign that is clearly posted "Seasonal Road" it's there for a reason.

 

Surviving Your Serengeti was written for all of us, especially in these trying times. 

Excuse me for paraphrasing Stefan Swanepoel, but he has some very insightful quotes:

• Endurance is what makes you get up when you've been knocked down.
• Find your inner strenght to fight, to keep moving on
• Seek ouside help
• Anything worth having, any challenge worth achieving or any goal worth reaching, will require endurance.

I would encourage everyone to read this book. Surviving Your Serengeti by Stefan Swanepoel

Having read the first two chapters and taken the quiz, I'm a Crocodile.

Surviving Your Serengeti

• Get the details here: Surviving your Serengeti: the ActiveRain Challenge 

•  AR Is offering 2500 points for members to Download and read the first 2 chapters of the book free, 

• Take a fast quiz “What Type of Animal Are You”? I really enjoyed the read and look forward to reading the book.

 

For those of us who don't have a spouse with health coverage, the cost of health insurance is our responsibility.

I was wondering if any of my real estate associates have found a "good" plan that provides major medical coverage, with out taking a second mortgage?

At 51 years of age, I'm too young for Medicaid, I make too much money for Medicare and I can't afford a premium Blue Cross/Blue Shield policy.

For 10 years I paid on a major med policy only to find out the first time I had to use it, it wasn't major med, it was supplemental.  So, out of a $60,000 medical bill, I'm now responsible to pay back $43,000...which I'm doing on monthly installments (There goes my vacation home)...

So, at this point, I'm seeking advise from my fellow Realtors, to see what policies you use and find beneficial.

Thanks in advance. DJ

8720 Log Cabin Trail, Atlanta Michigan 49709

$49,900              MLS # 271657

Clean and tidy 2 bedroom cottage located in the beautiful Canada Creek Ranch Association. This home offers a newer roof, high efficiency furnace, a drive through 12 x 40 heated attached garage, a dry basement that accesses through a trap door in the kitchen and a back up electrical heating system. Cabin is being sold furnished

Canada Creek Ranch offers it's members 13,000 acres of shared hunting and recreational lands, a campground, tennis courts, a Lodge, a Resort and Cabins for individual rentals.

The 6 Barriers to Personal Growth The 6 Barriers to Personal Growth by Ernest Smith

All of the barriers that are in place relating to personal growth are known to be caused by six different reasons that people don’t take action on all of the things that they desire to experience within their life. The six barriers to personal growth are:

1. The lack of personal growth. The majority of people simply aren’t going to take any action in order to improve their personal growth in order to greatly improve their lives by experiencing something that is new within their life.

2. The lack of knowledge concerning personal development. The majority of people don’t understand what the true meaning of personal development is really all about, so they are completed uneducated when it comes to how they can improve their own life along with all of the other people within their environment.

3. The lack of setting goals. You never hear anyone talked about the goals that they have set for themselves and that is because they haven’t taken the time to do so yet.

4. The sense of fear. The majority of people feel a sense of fear at the time that they are doing things that are going to make them feel uncomfortable and yet they still don’t go through with it, so therefore they will never know what the experience may be like.

5. Receiving negative feedback from other people. You wouldn’t believe the amount of people that walk around carrying along baggage with them relating to what has happened to them as a child. These people keep the exact same ideas, feelings and thinking so long within their lives that it just becomes a way of being for that individual.

6. Growth barriers that were acquired during the time that they were growing up as an adult within their life.

What is the main reason that several people located around the entire world have a whole lot of barriers to their personal growth today within their lives? I normally asked myself the exact same question concerning myself, and several of the other individuals that I have been privileged to learn from over the years within this life.

Now that you are aware of the reason that causes all of the barriers to personal growth, you know how to overcome them and work on those areas individually to get to where you need to be in your self-help progress. Believe me, you can’t sit around and wait for your entire life to change right before your eyes and you be a completely different person, you have to keep on going and you can’t let anything stand in your way.

If you want to overcome these barriers, you are going to have to look at each and every one of them.

For more about self growth please visit James Rick Blog

Article Source: NewAgeArticles.com

You can't beat this very affordable 3 bedroom, 1 bath home, conveniently situated in the quaint community of Alpena, on the "sunrise" Side of Northern Michigan, on Lake Huron.  This home offers a 2 1/2 car detached garage, fenced backyard, a full basement and a mud room off the kitchen.

• Lot size 66 x 148
• Natural Gas heat, F/A
• Close to Lake Huron
• Nice size backyard
• Fenced yard
• MLS # 270787