Kevin says that his years of experience, study, and intuition are what guides him in diagnosing a tree problem. “I can feel it in my body, pulling me or telling me what to do, or where to look, and every disease, bug, or infection has a specific sign or footprint if you know how to read it”. 

Can I do it online?
Yes, you can start the process online and even send documentation via email so you can get set up without an in-person meeting.

After the home is sold to the buyer, the owner can pay back the bank, still have money left over, and still have their good record. It's a win-win. 

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During our interview with Designer Consignment Shop Owner, Jennifer Jensen, we learned that shopping can also be for a good cause. Jennifer says, "Our consignment for a cause partner program allows for 40% of the final selling price to go to local non-profit organizations".  The consigner gets to choose which partner they want the funds to go to. 

It turns out that Thrifty Princess is more than just a shop, it's an active community with recent events such as Wine, Cheese & Shopping Night, Little Black Dress Party, and the 1 Year ANNIVERSARY PARTY. 

Our minds are more powerful than we give them credit for.  Millions of years of evolution has shaped and formed our minds into a most powerful tool, if we know how to use it properly.   We are social creatures, our own self concept is strongly influenced by our peers. Therefore, we can use the power of "personification" to deal with our most treacherous addictions. 

Below I demonstrate how I personified my sugar addition as "Mister Sweet", writing a letter to him explaining my gratitude and reasons for saying goodbye.  

My Letter to "Mister Sweet" shown below:

None of us think it can happen to us....until it does. Soaking wet in the freezing cold. Once we are out of the water, hypothermia is eminent. 

Terrifying thoughts of our loved ones having to go on without us may enter our minds. 

That's why Ralph DiMeo is willing to get into freezing cold water on a Jersey winter's day to test his product. 

Ralph has what he calls, "Advisors" on his website: a collection of outdoorsmen who swear by his products, and are available for consultations on outerwear gear. 

Ralph has spent years perfecting his wool. Prices range from $300 - 600 and up. He has a full product line of Jackets, Pants, Vests, Hats and Accessories.

Ralph's Wool is tested over 20 pa​rameters including  length of fiber, thickness of fiber, tensile strength, presence and placement of weak spots, crimp, presence of paint, presence of polypropylene, and color.

Ralph's WeatherWool graded out the highest!

What does this mean? A tougher, stronger, weather resistant material that still feels great on the skin and has an amazing 50 degree range of comfort from 20F - 70F (7 - 21C).

After 30 years of tending to trees, Arborist Kevin Lee has earned the title, The Tree Whisperer.

After only a few minutes of speaking to Kevin, his expertise and personal connection with trees becomes immediately apparent.

During our conversation I discovered that Kevin may be the only Arborist in Calgary who doesn't remove or kill trees. Kevin says, "My clients come to me after everyone else has recommended the tree be removed or topped. Most of the time, with careful pruning and educating the owner about watering,  I am able to restore the tree to health".

Kevin's clients are mostly gardeners, "They have created a special place, surrounding themselves with flowers, plants and trees". He talks about the grounding power of a backyard garden. 

He warns that sometimes people make the mistake of not doing their research, trusting a big company, or a referral from a friend. " They don't know, make the wrong call, and the trees get butchered. The tree pays the price. They get home, look at the trees and start crying. They can tell the trees are not happy".

Kevin says that his years of experience, study, and intuition are what guides him in diagnosing a tree problem. “I can feel it in my body, pulling me or telling me what to do, or where to look, and every disease, bug, or infection has a specific sign or footprint if you know how to read it”. 

Let's face it, sometimes our willpower just isn't enough. Okay, most of the time it really sucks and fails us. And we try over and over to stop those bad habits. 

We try to out power ourselves. Our habits that we have developed over may years. 

What if there was a way to snap ourselves out of these bad habits practically in an instant. 

I promise you if you try what I recommend in the next few paragraphs, you will be surprised at your own reaction. Even though you think you know how you will respond. 

So how do you begin stopping a bad habit?

You use your body to make yourself do something you wouldn't normally do. 

It is much easier for us to control our bodies than our minds. But what we don't always realize is the powerful influence our bodies have over our minds, and therefor, our feelings too. 

I dare you to try this pose and see if you don't feel great after!

I'm a stay at home dad with a one year old and a three year old. Needless to say, I do a lot of lifting. Mostly of my kids. But I'm on my feet for at least 12 hours each day, running around tending to these little guys, and trying to keep the house in order.

So when a back spasm hits, I start to panic! Oh crap, how will I be able to do anything. Will my wife need to miss work because I'm stuck in bed. The fear kicks in and I need a solution fast.

Luckily I've discovered this sweet little trick to help my muscles relax before things get really bad.

I just use a simple household item that most people have. And if you don't you can buy one for less than $4.

It's really a life saver if you know how to use it.

My muscles, hard as ropes, sometimes taking on a life of their own, deciding to contract and start pulling my ribs out of place, leaving me a mess. Luckily I can do self-massage with a baseball.

I typically do it against a wall, starting with the hardest muscles. I like to lean against the wall, pressing on one spot for at least 10 seconds before moving on. Taking a few deep breaths to "let the ball in".

Then I move the ball around, while still against the wall, searching for tender spots, or really hard spots.

I have actually massaged every day for months with no permanent changes. But then I figured out how to get rid of the pain inducing tension for good. (I'll talk more about this at the end).

Where to massage?

I like to massage what they call trigger points. These are tender spots of balled up muscle or knots that cause referred pain. Pain coming from a different place than you are feeling it. 

For example, if you think your knee is hurting, the pain could be coming from a trigger point muscle in your thigh. 

Check out these common lower back pain trigger point locations and their referred pain areas. 

What I needed was a good stretching program. Stretching is the long game. It takes longer to see any results (6 weeks), but the results are much better.

Luckily, I discovered that you don't need to hold a stretch much longer than 30 seconds. So I could stretch several muscles a day for 30 seconds each, rather than 1 muscle for 2-3 mins hoping for a result. 

The trick is to do the stretches every day for 6 weeks, to see a cumulative effect. It's about daily stretching, not long holds of stretches. 

With this knowledge, I was armed and ready to take on the day using massage for short term pain relief, and then stretching afterwards as an investment for a better back in the future.

If you are looking for a good stretching routine, I would recommend Emily Larks Program. Click to see a Video of her Story and how she discovered how to heal her back pain.