Monthly Archives: May 2017

The Top Ranked Family Cars

Buying a new family car is an important decision and one that you generally have to live with for a number of years. Therefore, it is really important that you don’t take this decision lightly, as you could end up with a car that causes no end of bother and greatly cost you. When you are looking for a new car, it is always a good idea to read some reviews from car experts and people who have already bought the car. One of the great things about the Internet is that you have access to loads of review and expert websites that can help you to make your decision.

There are obviously a number of factors to take into consideration when you get your next car. Factors like how fuel-efficient the car is, whether it has a warranty; when the tax is due, how quickly it accelerates or how well it handles should all form part of the decision process.

Here are some of the best options available right now if you are looking for a new family car:

Kia Soul – This compact yet surprisingly spacious car is a popular choice for small families. Because it is one of the more affordable cars on the market, it is a great option if you are keeping to a budget. The shape of the car ensures that it offers more passenger comfort than your typical car in the compact category.

Honda Civic – The Honda Civic is also a popular choice in the compact car category. Priced a bit higher than the Kia Soul, but offering a large amount of space and the best fuel economy in its class.

Hyundai i20 – Another great car if you are looking to keep your budget low, the Hyundai i20 is turbocharged and also boasts intelligent safety systems, touch screen navigation and parking sensors. For a small car, it is surprisingly comfortable and a popular choice for small families. You can find one which is cost effective at notable dealerships such as Autotrader.

Chevrolet Malibu – Chevrolet have always provided excellent standards for family cars and the Chevrolet Malibu is largely regarded as the top midsize car available right now. This is a highly spacious car that also rides really nicely, providing a very comfortable experience for all passengers. The infotainment system is also a big selling point for this stylish, reliable car.

Remember when you are looking for a new car that there are a number of factors that you should be looking at. It can be easy to be influenced by cost alone, but sometimes opting for the lower priced vehicles can actually end up costing you much more in running costs and maintenance.

Make sure that you do your research to work out which car will suit your family the best and check out as many reviews on your choice as you possibly can. A few years with the wrong car can feel like a very long time, so set out your main priorities and don’t let them be swayed when you get into the car dealership. Make sure if you need finance that you take a look at someone like https://www.berglundcredit.com/

5 Great Ways of Giving Your Kids a Retro Treat

If the pace and stress of modern life isn’t something that you enjoy then why not take a step back. By looking at some retro ideas you can slow down your lifestyle and give your kids a real treat.

Why not try out one or more of these ideas and see how much fun it adds to family life.

Give Them Fish and Chips in a Newspaper

If you grew up in the UK then there is a good chance that you have savoured the wonderful pleasure of eating fish and chips wrapped up in a newspaper. Yet, there is also a strong possibility that your little ones have never done this, and they might not even believe you when you mention it.

Why not make them some healthy fish and chips and then wrap them up in a newspaper. The kids will love eating in this way and it may bring back some happy memories for you too.

Play a Board Game

These days, the wealth of computer games and mobile apps means that we are in danger of losing the thrill of the traditional board game. Yet, if you played the likes of Monopoly or Cluedo as a youngster then you know exactly how exciting this sort of game can be.

This is a fantastic way of spending a few hours as a family playing together. Some board games are even pretty good at help kids to learn new words, improve their memory of learn in some other way.

Get a Slush Machine

Who can forget the glorious summer days of their youth when they would slurp a slushy drink and feel as though they were in paradise? This retro pleasure might seem like something that never be re-captured for the benefit of your children.

However, you can get slush machines for home use now. This opens up exciting possibilities for making fantastic drinks that get the whole family excited.

Try Charades

The classic parlour game of charades is one of the finest ways of spending time as a family doing something that is terrific fun. If you have slipped into the habit of spending time each in their own room then this a smart way to get together as a family again.

If the children in the family have never played this game then this love discovering how much fun it is. They will soon be caught up in the excitement of this game, which usually ends in laughter and a great bonding experience.

Make Your Favourite Childhood Meal

Most of us have at least one favourite meal from our childhood that we still look back on fondly. Do you remember something that you used to eat as a kid and that you haven’t tasted in years?

By making a few retro meals you can let the little ones enjoy some of the food that you most enjoy and also get to savour the taste of your past at the same time.

Upgrade Your Payment Solutions

Small businesses in competitive markets – and what markets are not competitive – need to be on the ball in all areas if they are to make the most of their potential. This means offering first class service across the board. There are many areas of the day to day running of your business that you could seek to improve, and you most likely actively do so, and one of these is that of payment systems. Now, you may think that taking payments is as simple as putting money in the till, but for any business that operates a face to face service, there is far more to it if you want to be up to date.

For example: do you currently take card payments? If the answer is no, then you are likely missing out on valuable business that could be going your way. We will get back to why you really need to be taking card payments in a moment, but if the answer is yes, it could be that there are solutions available that would do a more efficient job for you. This is because point of sale solutions and card payment systems have developed greatly in the past few years, so you need to check out the latest right away.

Why Card Payments?

Put it this way: consumers like convenience, and nothing is more convenient than being able to pay for goods or services without having to rifle through a wallet or purse for the correct change. Then, there’s the fact that it has been shown that people are likely to spend more when paying by card, perhaps by as much as 20%. This is a fact you cannot afford to overlook! So, this is why we strongly recommend you check out the range of free credit card machines for small businesses that Merchant Account Solutions, a leading name in the field, currently offers, as they could change the way your business performs.

Merchant Account Solutions are experts in card payments and point of sale solutions, and they can help you find the way forward that suits you best. They already have many satisfied customers in various areas of commerce, so you could soon be up and running with a free card payment machine and the best transaction rates available. It’s worth a closer look, so don’t miss out on what is a prime opportunity.

21st Century POS

By giving your customers the ultimate in convenience, with top quality POS solutions and up to the minute card payment machines, you are encouraging them to continue shopping with you or using your services. It’s an essential part of business these days, whatever area you are operating in, and it makes sense to take a look at the available solutions.

We advise you to check out MerchantAccountSolutions.com for the very best deals and the latest technology, and with a free card reader, you will soon wonder how you managed without one!

The Apartment Amble – 6 Tips For Speeding Up the Family Move Out Process

 

So it’s time to make a big move, and this time the whole family is involved.

It sounds incredibly stressful, but the reality does not have to be as scary as it seems. There are so many things to do when it comes to making a move that sometimes it can all just become too much. Thankfully, there are bond cleaners in Brisbane who can help take that extra stress of your shoulders with ensuring that everything about your apartment or house is in perfect order once you leave.

As for the other stuff, well, if you are struggling with how to get the family to clean up, pack up, and get moving on time, then here are 6 tips you can use for speeding up the family moving process.

Go through your belongings

To minimize the amount you need to pack when the time comes, try and get everyone in the house to do a clean out of their belongings and find what they do and do not want. Help each other out where you can to speed up the process. Whatever you don’t need or want you can give to an op shop that will pass it onto somebody who will love it. By doing this big cleanout a month or a couple of weeks before you even begin packing will obviously give you less things to pack and unpack, making the process that much smoother.

Set goals

By setting goals for the whole house this will give everyone a timeline and dates to work towards. Having some structure and dates will help your family prioritize what they need to do and what can wait.

Make it a game

If you are having trouble getting the kids involved then it’s time to make it fun for the whole family. Setting the whole thing out like a game and introducing prizes will not only get everyone involved but it will get everyone motivated and will make the process a more positive experience rather than a stressful procedure.

Don’t let it pile up

When packing, a super helpful thing you can do is to not let everything pile up.

If you are able to, once you have sorted a couple of boxed, put them in your car and move them elsewhere. This will help everything not feel so crowded and busy and will make everything look less daunting.

Help each other

If you have some spare time or if you are ahead of your schedule or if you’re simply feeling generous, give someone else in your family a hand if they are struggling. Some people work better alongside others and it will help you in the end if everyone is packed, ready, and stress free by the end of the process.

Get help

If you are unable to move it yourself then it would be a good idea to hire a moving company to take things such as your furniture and appliances. You may be able to take all the boxes of things to your new home from your old one, or to a place in between so they don’t pile up, but you may have some difficulty getting the larger items. Ask a friend or family member or hire a moving company, compare prices when looking at companies, you may get your money’s worth if you leave all of the moving to them, including the boxes.

Moving is a stressful process, but we can do everything we can to lessen the load and make it less daunting. Try not to hate the whole thing as it often means new beginnings and a chance to start fresh.

Mama, Me? A Donor Egg IVF Success Story

 

 

I remember playing dolls as a little girl. I would rock my babies to sleep, and dream of a time when playing mommy would no longer be a game.

If I’d known then what I know now, I would tell my younger self one thing – having a baby is not always a fairytale. Sometimes it takes many, many tries to conceive a child. Sometimes a woman’s eggs simply will not work. Sometimes, you have to look at other options.

My journey to motherhood was filled with unexpected road blocks, but DonorEggBankUSA.com cleared the path when I thought all hope was lost.

Egg Viability…or Lack Thereof

After my husband and I were married in 2011, we settled into newlywed life with ease. We survived home-buying, career changes, and even in-laws with nothing but grace. If the first year of marriage is the hardest, we were set for life.

In July of 2013 we decided to try and have a baby. Little did we know, our blissful marital bubble was about to pop. We tried for months without even the inkling of a pregnancy. A sense of nervousness began to set in. I tried to maintain my calm, but when we reached July of 2014 and still weren’t pregnant, I decided we needed help.

Imagine my dismay when our fertility doctor told me that my eggs weren’t viable for pregnancy.

There did not seem to be any rhyme or reason to the diagnosis. I was a healthy 26-year old woman. I’d never smoked, I exercised, ate right, and was an overall happy, calm person. How did this happen to me?

But whether it was genetics or a random occurrence, the fact of the matter was that my eggs were unusable for pregnancy. We would need to find another option.

An Emotional Battle with My Diagnosis

To say I was crushed would be an understatement. I felt abandoned by my own body.

I tried to keep a level-head about the diagnosis and approach our next steps with logic instead of emotion, but it was impossible. I would be fine one moment, and then suddenly find myself wracked by a multitude of feelings. Depression, check. Anger, check. Anxiety, check, check, check.

My husband was an amazing support, but even he couldn’t relate to what I was feeling.

Over time, and with the help of an infertility counselor, I began to feel more normal… hopeful even. While I still had bouts of sadness from time to time, I remembered that what I really wanted was to be a mother. Not having a genetic link to my future child did not have to hinder that dream.

We started looking for a frozen egg donor.

Finding the “Right” Egg Donor

What a strange sensation to choose your child’s biological mother. With the help of a wonderful company called Donor Egg Bank USA, we were presented with a database of potential candidates. Each of their donors had been thoroughly screened and we were able to look through medical histories, background information, and professional and educational achievements.

But what were we actually looking for? Physical resemblance? Ethnic similarities? Overachievers that had done well in school?

It took some time, but we finally found the perfect donor. Since the eggs were already frozen, within two weeks they had been shipped to my clinic, and were ready to start our IVF cycle.

Our Donor Egg IVF Cycle

My cycle began with a series of lab work and tests to screen my current reproductive health. When this testing was finished, I began a regimen of medications, primarily estrogen and progesterone, to prepare my body for implantation.

Once my body was ready, our selected donor eggs were thawed and fertilized with my husband’s sperm. The doctor monitored the development of the embryos over a few days, and then we were ready for our embryo transfer.

Nothing can describe the moment we watched our doctor place this sweet, little embryo into my uterus on an ultrasound machine. Walking out of the clinic, I felt renewed with possibilities and grateful for this experience. Genetic connection or not, this was our baby.

Two weeks later, we received the best phone call of our lives. The transfer had worked. In nine months, we would become parents.

My Fairytale Ending

At night, when I sit rocking my newborn daughter to sleep, I think back to my childhood self. I wish I could warn her of what was to come so it could have been less of a shock. I would have told her that she had other options. But I would never give away the ending. Holding this sweet girl in my arms is the most incredible gift I’d even been given.

When I found out my eggs weren’t useable, I was lost in sadness and thought I was out of options. Thanks to a selfless, beautiful donor, however, I received the greatest blessing of my life. My husband and I will forever be thankful for our journey.