glswood.eu.org

Keeping physically fit requires resolve! Nothing is more important than deciding to follow a fitness plan. Around the holidays so many of us make a New Year’s resolution to get fit and healthy, but I’m here to tell you that everyday is the time for a health and fitness resolution! Though we often blame outward circumstances for our poor health (e.g. office treats, fast food, “the holidays,”) in reality, the true barrier to preventing us from reaching our fitness goals is our own procrastination.How often have we told ourselves, “Someday I’ll fit into that dress,” or “I’ll get back to my college weight eventually”? Time and time again we delay our health a fitness resolutions until a future date. It is time to stop this incessant procrastination because all we end up doing is having a perpetual desire… endless wanting. Make the resolution to turn these dreams into a reality. The time for delay has come to an end. As Shakespeare says, “Defer no time; delays have dangerous ends.”The secret to living a healthy life is rooted in the realization that tomorrow never comes! Our tomorrow is nothing but the consequences of decisions that we make today. When we think about it, it becomes obvious that today is all that we have. The past no longer exists. The future has yet to come. The present is all that exists! The person you want to be in the future, therefore, will only come into existence when the person that you actually are resolves to do something… NOW. Again, everyday is a health and fitness resolution!To reach your long-term fitness goals requires a commitment. There are no short cuts! What this will entail is different for each person. The best way to maximize your time and efforts is to work with a personal trainer. He or she will help determine which exercises and diet is best for your physical make up and life situation. It is much easier to reach your fitness goals when you have an everyday plan directing you how to get there.Despite the numerous gimmicks, fad diets and fancy exercise plans, reaching your optimal health and fitness goals is really quite simple. It requires two ingredients; 1) an exercise plan that fits your body type and goals, 2) your determination and resolution to follow this plan, each and everyday! I’m not saying you have to train every day, it’s the mentality that you want to be on top of. Armed with this two-pronged attack, physical fitness will lose its mysterious and elusive quality. Exercise and diet plans are out there. Finding a program that works for you is very possible. The real question that you must ask yourself is this; “Do I have the resolution and determination to work towards my goals each and every day?” Do I sincerely desire everyday to be a health and fitness resolution?The great secret to happiness in life is the realization that today is all that we have. The seeds of the future you are present in the little decisions that you make today. Each and everyday is an opportunity and invitation for you to become the new and improved you. You want to be healthier? You want to increase your level of fitness? Then make the resolution today, and everyday, to do what is required! Make everyday a health and fitness resolution.You can do it! You really can be the person you desire to be. It all depends on how badly you want it. It’s this very desire, no, this resolve, that will transform your fitness goals into reality!

When looking at a new commercial or retail investment property for the first time, it is wise to have some form of checklist and system which assists you in the process. We have created this checklist to help get you on the right track.When inspecting the property is almost like having your own due diligence process underway. Do not believe everything you see and certainly investigate anything of question. Anything of importance that someone tells you about the property should be investigated.Having a keen eye for property detail and a diligent record keeping process as you walk around is the only way to inspect investment property. It is remarkable how these records have to be revisited at a later time for reassessment.So let’s consider the following as some of the basic issues to review in your property inspection process.A copy of the land title records is fundamental to your inspection before you even start. As part of this process, also seek out a copy of the survey records and any existing leases or licences. Also seek out any unregistered interests that may not appear on the title to the property. If in doubt seek a good property solicitor to help.
Take care to understand the location of the property boundaries and look for the survey pegs relevant to the survey plan. If in doubt seek a good surveyor.
Within the property land title there can be a number of easements, encumbrances, and other registered interests which need fully investigating. These interests can impact the price that the property achieves at the time of sale and can also impact of the method of lease occupancy. If any registered interests exist on the property title, a copy of the relevant documentation is the first stage of the investigation which should then be followed by questions.
Local council records may also have impact on the property. Are there any orders or notices that have been issued or are outstanding on the property, and can these things be of concern to the potential investor?

The zoning for the property and the zoning activity or changes in the precinct can impact a property. As part of this process, it is wise to include neighbouring properties and inspect them to ensure that they have little or no effect or impact on your subject property.
Copies of the local town plan will help you understand current planning issues. A discussion with the local planning office or planning officer can put you on the right track and explain any current issues or matters that may arise. In this process, it is wise to keep records of the discussions and the findings.
If copy of lease documentation is available for neighbouring properties then seek it out and review it. It is always good to know what the neighbouring tenants are doing and how long they will be there.
The local topography and plans across the immediate area will help you understand the fall of the land and the impact of any slopes and natural drainage. Look at the location of any water courses and flood plains. Seek out the history of any flooding in the area.
Supply of electricity into and across the area should be understood. If your property is an industrial property then the supply of energy to the property will be strategically important to any industrial tenant. If any easements or encumbrances exist across the property for electricity, then seek to understand the rights and obligations that these documents create on the property owner.
Services and amenities to the investment property will impact the future operations and interest from the business community. To the question to ask here is the nature of these services and amenities and whether they are well maintained.
Look for changes in road and transport corridors that impact the property or region. Any change in roads can dramatically shift the way in which property is used.
Look for the location of public transport and its potential to enhance your property function. Many businesses need stable and frequent public transport to help employees access their jobs.
Look at the community and business demographics of the region. The growth patterns for the last 5 to 10 years will help you understand the future of the property.
Other property valuers in the area are a good source of market intelligence. They can usually tell you the history of the area and the current business sentiment. Rental levels, incentives, and sale prices per square metre are valuable elements of market intelligence. They will all have impact on the yield that the property presents to any property investor.
Look around the area to see how many other properties are currently available for sale. Seek details of these properties and the prices being sought. If these properties have been on the market for a long time it will give you an idea of just how acceptable the regional prices and business sentiment is at the time of your inspection.
Look around the area to see how many properties are currently vacant. With reference to each particular vacant property, get details of the rental being sought and the time that the property has been on the market. You will need to form their own judgment on whether these rentals are relevant and reasonable in the current marketplace.
The supply and demand of vacant space by property category is an investigation to be undertaken in the region. What you want to know is exactly how much space is coming into the market in the future and how much space exists now for tenants to occupy.
Check out any new property developments that could be in the early stages of consideration and development approval. The key question here is the impact that these properties may have on your property.
The history of the area is always of high value to you. In commercial, industrial, and retail investment property, the history that you are after is the last five years. It is remarkable how much information you can glean from regional property sales and rental trends. Given that commercial and retail investment property works on the cycle of rise and fall, it is the history that can open up your understanding of what’s been going on and where things are headed.
With any property investigation, and particularly with properties that are complex and large, it is wise to seek out the comments of architects and engineers. What you need them to do here is comment on the structural integrity of the property and its future usable life. Also seek to identify how the property may be expanded or refurbished when times require.
Chase down the tenancy schedules for other properties in the area. Whilst these are not always easily obtained, they are of high value. They will tell you so much about the activity in other properties and buildings that may impact your future leasing strategy or property sale. What you do not want is a significantly high vacancy factor near your property when you are trying to lease it.
Review the local precinct for the larger businesses and how they operate. In doing this, you can understand who are the major business players and the major employers. Having these companies in the area is good thing, but losing them can be a major threat to the region. We call this the business stability factor. It should form part of your investment property assessment for the future.
Review the other major tenancies in the area and see how they operate. They can both stress and enhance the area depending on how they operate and the times of day that they do so. Of prime example is a transport company that has vehicle access peaks at certain times of the day. This can challenge the other businesses in the area and how they operate.
Walk around the precinct and the property taking many photographs for later investigation. It is surprising how useful photographs become for the reassessment of the property inspection. Walking through the streets in the region allows you to get a feel for the function of the streets and the neighbouring properties. It puts you in greater perspective for the services and amenities, and the function of all local surrounding businesses. A tip in the keeping of digital photographs for later evidence is the reversion of the important photos to ‘gif’ type files. This format is not easily changed and therefore more stable as court evidence of critical matters.
Knock on the doors of the other local businesses and talk to them about how things operate locally for them. Other tenants and businesses in the region will tell you so much and put you on the track of challenges and problems in the region.Inspecting the commercial investment property is very much a physical process. In only this way can you completely connect with the property function before you form an opinion of its suitability for your plans, pricing, rental, or occupancy. 

Do you know anything about making money online? I mean anything that is tested and proven, not just seen elsewhere. I’ve heard and read hundreds of myths about making money online. A lot of people, especially newbies, read them, take them as granted and let them ruin their online business – by either not starting it or by walking the wrong way and sticking to it no matter how long it doesn’t work.Well, I’m working online since eight years and I have tested a lot of things. I know for sure that the following 10 claims are very, very wrong. If you’ve been exposed to them or worse – you believe in them – now is the time to realize how wrong they are.1. You need loads of traffic.
If your site(s) receive a lot of traffic this can really make it easy to monetize through advertising. But quality is more important than quantity. Sites with less but quality visitors can achieve much higher profits by selling own or affiliate products than the pennies one file-hosting site earns from advertising for example. I have a small site with around 1,000 visitors monthly which earns a lot more than a site with 5,000 unique visitors monthly.2. You can achieve good results submitting your site to thousands of directories.
Directories don’t bring traffic and have no meaningful effect on your search engine rankings. Almost all the site directories are worthless and submitting to them is loss of time and/or money. There are some directories like DMOZ and some niche directories which can bring some benefit if you get listed. But don’t spend too much time even on them – using the directories as promotional method can never make your business.3. Your products must have the lowest prices.
In fact it’s quite the opposite. If your products are very cheap it’s almost sure you are not going to make much money. First, your products will be perceived as low quality and will attract mostly low quality visitors, trouble-makers and so on. Second, you will need to sell a lot of these products to make profits with thin profit margins. This will not let you use paid advertising tools like PPC for example. And finally, if you are selling products at low prices, other sellers will quickly do the same and reduce your sales. Playing the pricing game isn’t the way to succeed.Set reasonable prices for your products. You can have quality service, good site, SEO, creativity, advertising, packaging, promotions and so many more advantages instead of low prices.4. You need top search engine rankings to succeed online.
I love getting search engine visitors. In fact many of my sites rely heavily on search engines traffic. But this is not the only method to succeed online. You can make lots of money online without getting a single search engine visitor. There are so many other free and non-free options to generate traffic: social networks, advertising, PPC, affiliates, referring sites, guest posting on blogs, niche directories, RSS aggregators and many more. In some industries (for example web design) getting top search engine rankings will cost money and efforts that may be out of the reach of an individual. On the other hand, everyone can make a Facebook fan page and promote it, especially with some creativity!5. You need to have money in order to make money.
For sure! At least $10 for a domain name (although some make money even without a domain name). But that’s all that you really need. Don’t get me wrong, investing money in your web business can help a lot and can speed up the things very much. You can buy advertising, get software developed, get professional design, pay for content, buy links and so on.But you don’t have to. I have started most of my sites without investment other than domain and hosting. Later I have invested money in some of the sites and kept developing other without investing money. Both ways work and have their advantages and disadvantages.6. You can build a site, then forget about it and just enjoy the income
With very few exceptions this is simply not true. Web business is just like any other business and requires work. Of course static content sites or software services can run relatively on their own. But some kind of support is always required. And there is a lot of hard work while you get to the moment of making money. Don’t expect that you will throw some site online and the money will start flowing and never stop even if you don’t lift a finger.7. At any cost avoid the “make money online” niche
People who write about make money online love advising their “students” against doing the same. They will explain you how you will be competing with the best, how the market is over saturated and how you just won’t succeed. I’m not sure why they do it – most probably they want to avoid competition.Make money online is a huge niche and there is an enormous number of people who are interested in it. While there is also huge amount of supply, there is still a lot of money to be made in it, and there will always be. You shouldn’t be afraid of the huge competition – it only means that the market is huge.While I make more money in other niches, “make money online” is the one that brings very large profits from a single customer.8. Relying on online income is very risky.
And how is relying on offline income less riskier? Is working for a boss who can say “you are fired” tomorrow less risky? Or having a small store on the street where a powerful brand can open a new store tomorrow is not risky?At least online you can have multiple sites and enjoy multiple sources of income. And if a site or even all your sites somehow lose their income you can always try new ones armed with the knowledge and experience of the first ones. And you can do this with almost no money, too.9. The only people who make money online are those who teach others how to make money online.
That’s the opposite of myth 7. It’s not true. There are millions of small niches where you can create and expand your online business. People make money with sites about curing headache, making pots or returning ex-girlfriend. “Make money online” is only one of the millions. You can try your chances with it, but you can also make money online without ever mentioning the words “money” or “online” in your sites, even once.10. Affiliate marketing is the best way to make money online
Just like offline, there are many methods to make money online. Affiliate marketing is good, but it’s only one of them. You can make money selling only your own products for example. You can create software (if you are not a programmer you can hire someone to program it), you can sell designs, information products, music, everything.Some online marketers make money only with AdSense and other advertising without selling neither their own, nor affiliate products. This is just as vital as affiliate marketing. Your business is not tied to the way it makes money and you should try various ways.

Whether you’re in the market for a major interior overhaul or you’re simply looking to give your home a quick and easy update, chances are you’ve spent some time online hunting for ideas and inspiration. That said, it can be pretty deflating to stumble upon a look you love only to discover the price to achieve it is well above your budget.

Fortunately, there are some killer home decorating blogs that show you how to refresh, revive, and fall in love with your home anew without breaking the bank. For a home that looks far more expensive than it costs to create, check out the following blogs for all of the interior inspiration and DIY tutorials you’ll ever need.

Welcome back to the week 5 update for the One Room Challenge. Check out the blog posts and updates for week 1, week 2, week 3, and week 4 if you missed them. It’s crunch time now and I’ll be honest… I don’t know that this project will be completely wrapped up for the reveal date. The great thing is the reveal and hitting a deadline is not the only goal of reason for this challenge. Ultimately having a fully functional and hopefully beautiful bathroom is where we want to end up even it things are a bit delayed.

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links.

When we left off last time the countertops had been templated, the trim was freshly painted and the hardware had been ordered. The hardware took about 1 week to arrive. We chose the Menlo Park 4″ pull from Schlub in chrome because I think the pull has the perfect mix of square and some rounded elements that make it a great transitional hardware option. We went with all pulls for the drawers and doors since the knob option in that line weren’t our favorite.

Guest Bathroom Reno: Quartz Countertops and Grout – One Room Challenge Week 5

The quartz countertops are now installed and things can be put back together. Rectangle, undercount sinks were also purchased through the fabricator. The Marble look quartz from Pental and it is gorgeous with the warm gray veins running throughout. For the edge went for a flat polish eased edge for a clean, simple look.

Guest Bathroom Reno: Quartz Countertops and Grout – One Room Challenge Week 5

Two days after the quartz countertops were installed the tile installer came back to finish up tiling the niches, installing the tile base and grout everything.

Guest Bathroom Reno: Quartz Countertops and Grout – One Room Challenge Week 5

The electoral is being relocated for the new lights. There are some drywall and painting touch ups to do and plumbing fixtures to be hooked up. Plus adding all the finishing touches ???? All those little things like towel hooks, curtain rod, and accessories will bring this whole thing together.

It’s been too long since I’ve updated and even longer since this work has been started. This is me sharing remodel updates, mostly for myself (but also for my nagging family members). I’m sharing photos of the progress that has been made while also document the craziness that has gone on. This is just the beginning of the remodel.

Prior to moving in I had 3-4 weeks where my apartment lease overlapped with the possession of my townhome. This allowed me, with the amazing help of my family, to paint, tear-out carpet and somewhat put back together the upstairs portion of my place so that I could have a clean room to put a bed. At least one that wasn’t completely torn apart. One area that felt more livable that the rest. If you haven’t seen or don’t remember these are the before photos from when I took possession. To list it out here are the main things that I was tacking during those week prior to me moving in.

Phase 1 Remodel Projects
ripping out baseboard, carpet and tack strips upstairs and preparing for new hard surface flooring. (this flooring will go throughout minus the stairs and bathrooms/laundry)
installing flooring upstairs (one of my installers did this)
mostly gutting the master bathroom
installing a new tub and rough in plumbing for the master and powder bath
ordering and installing a rift white oak vanity for the master
Painting (and priming where needed) the ceilings and walls of the bedrooms. Caulking and painting the crown molding in the master
replacing and upgrading the baseboard heater in the master and patch the drywall
painting the hallway and down through the stairwell
adding skirt board to the stairs
installing new carpet and pad on the stairs (my carpet installer from work did this)
removing upper cabinets on the fridge side in the kitchen
partially demoing the wall diving the kitchen (prepare to move switches, outlets, heater and thermostat)
removing drywall on wall next to bar in dining area
painting the downstairs powder bath and removing vanity to prepare for a new floating vanity
Those were the main projects that took place and then I moved in the day after Thanksgiving. Getting rid of the original, nasty cat carpet and new flooring made a huge difference to the upstairs. Also neutralizing and lightening the paint made things feel so much more fresh. I still have no baseboards but I’ll get on that one day! For now here are some photos that I snapped along the way.

It’s been a while since been posting on here but I have some new updates and projects that I have been working on. Last summer into fall I was house hunting while knowing the lease on my apartment would be expiring end of the 2019. It felt a little crazy but was a fun process for me. After a bunch of searching I found and closed on a new home!

I was lucky enough to have a few weeks of overlap with my apartment (I ended up moving out 1 month early) so I was able to get started on projects and updates prior to moving in. I’ll share more about those in the coming weeks (there are still so many unfinished things!) but for now I think it’s best to start with some before photos. Also, follow along on Instagram where I post current project updates more often. The pictures show it in the state I bought it in. It’s a great first place to me and was functional as-is but as you might expect I’m here to make things my own by doing updates that I will enjoy while living here and that will also add value and functionality to the space down the line when I sell… or maybe even keep it as a rental. My dog, Nova, has been enjoying the space as well ???? There are a couple of things to miss about my Bothell apartment but I am very ready to have my own place and space.

In 2017 the guest bathroom was remodeled. You can see more photos and read about that here. Almost everything came out and all new things went back in. From emails and comments people have been asking for sources so I have rounded up what I could in this post to share paint colors, products and links that I could find for the bathroom.

Bathroom Sources and Details:
Wall color: BM Balboa Mist
Trim and door color: BM Chantilly Lace
Floor Tile: Pental Mark Chrome 12×24 matte
Shower tile: Jeffrey Court Weather Gray 4×12 gloss subway
Niche tile: Daltile clio mosaic
Bathtub: Maax Rubix tub
Cabinet: Spencer Cabinets – painted BM Cape May Cobblestone
Countertop: Pental Quartz Misterio polished 3cm
Cabinet hardware: Schaub Menlo Park Pull in chrome
Faucets: Hansgrohe Metris single handle in chrome
Shower trims: Kohler slide bar kit, wall mount supply and Hansgrohe tub spout in chrome
Mirrors: Homegoods
Towel Hooks: Delta Tolva robe hook in chrome