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The time has come to get control of your life. Bouncing off the walls of everyday life has delivered too many emotional bumps and bruises and you want to change your experiences. You have several choices and you want to make the choice that makes you feel and look confident, content and relaxed. The Internet is the first place you look and right before your eyes is the answer; personal development classes. That’s your choice; you have always been able to learn something through a class. What better way to learn about yourself than by studying the different beliefs that make you bounce instead of float off those walls.

There are a plethora of personal development classes you can enroll in. Anything from Assertiveness Training to Career/Life planning can give you a new focus and adjust your thoughts and perceptions about life. Assertiveness training helps you recognize the differences between assertive and submissive behavior. It gives you the opportunity to learn to communicate in a healthy and effective way. But most of all you begin to take responsibility for your self. Career/life planning is just that. You can examine your choices, recognize your abilities, interests and the nature of your personality, so you can pick a career that compliments it.

Stress Management and Emotional Intelligence are important personal development classes. By understanding what stress is and how you create it, you change the way you think about the challenges you face. Time management, wellness exercises and relationships are all topics that are discuss in stress management. Emotional stability is essential in developing self awareness and the ability to make positive choices. The art of managing your emotions is an important factor in the way you interact with the world around you.

Personal development classes are the first steps in achieving balance in your life, the next step is to practice it.

Set in Austria, the Sound of Music is an epic film spurring dreams of a heavenly land in every child that sees the movie. In truth, they should have filmed the movie in Halstatt, Austria.

Halstatt

I had been in Salzburg for four days and was growing restless. The city was an eyeful with beautiful garden areas, architecture and plenty of sites to see. At the end of the day though, it was still a city. And an expensive city at that!

Flipping through my guidebook, a local I had made friends with suggested I take a day trip to the little town of Halstatt. As I looked under “H” in the index, he told me I wouldn’t find it in the book and I should just trust him. Off to the train station we went.

Sitting on the train, I soon met a fellow traveler heading to Halstatt. We chatted as the train puttered up into some of the most impressive mountains I’d ever seen. Soon we were running between the face of a mountain and a deep blue lake. The train stopped and he indicated this was our stop. There was a small shack, but no other buildings much less a small town. I began to suspect my buddy in Salzburg had pulled on over on me.

Out of nowhere, a small ferry pulled up to our shack. On we hopped and off we went across the lake. As we closed in on the far shore, a small town began to take shape. Swiss chalets, swans, cobble stone streets, outdoor cafes and…no cars. None.

Halstatt turned out to run about a mile along the shore of the lake. It was like something out of heaven. It is amazing how quiet things are when there are no cars, mopeds, trucks and other vehicles. Frankly, it was surreal.

I rented a room in a chalet directly on the shore of the lake. My window looked out over the lake. As the evening wound down, it was hard to imagine a more peaceful place in the world. The morning was more amazing.

Halstatt is located at a very high point in the Alps, which had a surprising effect. Lying in bed, I stared out my window into what looked like a television set gone bad. It was totally grey. Walking to the window, I was stunned to realize we were so high the clouds had settled roughly 20 feet above the lake. Words fail me, but it was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen. There was total silence, a slowly swirling cloud cover being reflected by the lake and swans floating around. Truly a site to behold.

Halstatt is a difficult one-day excursion from Salzburg? The difficulty lies in leaving. I stayed for a week!

Rick Chapo is with www.nomadjournals.com – makers of travel journals. Writing journals are the perfect travel accessories. Visit www.nomadjournaltrips.com to read more travel articles and travelogues.

With the sterling fetching only slightly more than a Euro at Travelex, one would guess there would be a few brilliant ski bargains to be booked in ski resorts this Christmas as potential snowboarders remain at home to avoid the credit crunch. Early figures just now publicised highlight that ski resorts are 81 % full across the Christmas and New Year time period. 12 % higher than the same period in 2007.

You’ll probably have better luck in early 2009 which presently has a 37 % reservation level. The only signs of a recession is across the key February ski vacation month which has 62 percent reservations, 2 % lower than last ski season. Reservation centers in the ski resorts of Samoens, Isola 2000, Avoriaz and Isola 2000 have seen strong inquiries in Dec boosted by the excellent early on winter snow fall. Tignes has stronger reservations compared to a year ago, whilst La Grave enjoyed a fine Christmas.

There is substantial requirement for a larger catered chalet, 8 to 12 spaces, as folk group-up to save money. Early evidence shows that DIY ski trips are doing well, evidence perhaps that earnest skiers will not sacrifice their ski trip. However inquiries from package holidays are down.

Here are 11 easy ways to help your kids celebrate Easter.

1.Make paper plate bunnies. Simply take one white paper
plate and cut 2 ear shapes from it and staple or glue them
to the top of another white paper plate and draw a face on
it. Glue cotton balls around the edge of the plate.

2.Cut out construction paper Easter eggs and color and paint
them to hang around the house.

3.Use rabbit, chick, cross and egg shaped cookie cutters for
toast, sandwiches, brownies, rice krispie treats and more.

4.Color your own eggs by making your own egg dye. Try beet
juice, kool aid and anything that has color.

5.Make Easter egg holders, cut empty paper towel tubes about
2 inches each and wrap in colorful paper. You can then sit
your eggs on them.

6.Cut out construction paper egg shapes and write a Bible
verse on each one about what Easter is really about.

7.Make small Easter baskets and deliver to nursing homes to
those residents that never get visitors and to your elderly
neighbors.

8. Read the Easter story in the Bible and some Easter books.

9. Have an Easter egg hunt and invite children of the
community.

10. Decorate an outside tree with plastic Easter eggs.

11. Have a special breakfast, lunch or dinner on Easter
Sunday!

Angela Billings is a stay at home wife and mother who
publishes an online newsletter Home and Family Ezine.
http://www.homeandfamilyezine.com

The time it takes to load your site can make or break a visitor’s first impression of your site. If your site takes too long to load, the visitor will click “Stop” or “Back” and leave your web site. If you are a business and offering people important information, it is critical to have a nice design, with a quick load time.

You may want to check out the load time of your page, to indeed see if your site loads quick enough for the average user. A great site tool can be found at http://www.websiteoptimization.com/services/analyze/ where you are able to enter your site and it displays a report on the time it takes to load your site on different connections, in addition to tips to decrease load time.

Upon doing a speed test, if your first page takes a great time to load in the visitor’s browser, it is in the best interest to do some redesigning to decrease load time and increase the number of visitors that will not click back on the browser. We must remember that not everyone is running on DSL or Cable modem. Many users still dial up using a 56K connection. As web designers and site maintainers, we want to ensure our site’s load quickly, as to not lose potential visitors to your site.

Images, Sounds & Animations are the major menaces to download time. While these add nicely to a site, they may take up a lot of time to load. If you may avoid large sized files, please do. Many images may be optimized to look the same, however taking up less space, and download more quickly. Many image editors such as Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro can perform these tasks.

Sounds & Videos should be avoided on your main page, as they take up most time to load. Keep these for inner pages if possible. Videos and sound files can be from 100 KB to 1 MB in size or larger. If the user needs to load a 500 KB video file on a 56 K modem, it will take upwards to 89 seconds to complete. This definitely could turn the user away from your site. So keep these files to a fairly small size, or avoid if possible.

Text can also play a significant role in the load time. If you have a large amount of HTML code and large amount of content on your main page, it will also increase the load time. Text however is not as significant, as the entire text you have on the site may not be even the same size as a couple of pictures combined.

So limit the large sized graphics on your web sites. Your visitors will appreciate the fast loading site with the information being presented that they are looking for!

Learn more web design tips at Emenki Web Solutions and Web Design Burlington Ontario area at www.emenki.com

Cape Town has emerged as a city for romantics, adventurers, explorers and families alike. The city now boasts a number of exquisite boutique hotels from where you can enjoy everything Cape Town has to offer.

Where is it?

Cape Town sits on the south west corner of South Africa, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. It has its own airport and visitors are never short of entertainment or excitement.

Where can I stay?

Cape Town’s growth into one of the most energetic cities in the world has been matched by the quality of the hotels. In particular, there has been a boom in boutique hotels – designed to catch the attention of the discerning traveller. These hotels provide well-designed and thought-out rooms and public areas and levels of service that anticipate guests’ every need. This new style of hotel includes Atlantic House, which occupies an enviable position in the trendy resort of Camps Bay, the Kensington Palace, a minimalist delight with just eight rooms, set right in the heart of the city, and The Bishops Court, which supplies spacious rooms, a pool and floodlit tennis court and fabulous views of the surrounding landscape.

What can I see?

Cape Town has something for everyone. Whether you’re looking for designer shopping, water adventure, mountain treks, wine tasting tours or even safari trips, you can find it in Cape Town. With an enviable climate and the domineering presence of Table Mountain, Cape Town manages to combine stunning landscapes with urban chic, catering to a wide range of visitors. For those who lack the energy but want the view, take a cable car to the top of Table Mountain, where you get fantastic views of the city below and the ocean beyond. Robben Island is notorious for being the home of Nelson Mandela during his years of imprisonment and is now just half an hour away by boat and has been transformed into a living museum. If you want to damage your credit card, visit the V&A Waterfront, home to designer shops, cinemas, restaurants and craft markets surrounding a working harbour.

How do I get around?

Cape Town is fairly easy to drive around – cars drive on the left here – and car hire is reasonable. If you want to explore the Western Cape then it’s a good idea to hire a car so that you are in control of your day. Trains and buses link all the major cities in South Africa and there are long-haul bus services as well if you’re planning a few days somewhere different. You can also rent a bike to travel round the city or use local taxis.

Chic Retreats is a collection of small, sophisticated hotels around the world that are designed to give the traveller a real taste of luxury and service. Visit their website by clicking Boutique Hotels

Mother’s Day is coming nearer. We all will be trying to make this day a memorable day for our Mothers. Giving her gifts, taking her out for dinner and making her happy in all the possible ways. It is also the time to send the right ecard to Mother. This is a day to thank Mother for bringing us up. Only the Mother knows how many nights she stayed awake to feed us and pamper us when we were infants. After that it was school, helping in home work, getting the right dresses and most of all giving us a sense of total care and protection.

What kind of ecard should be sent to Mother to make her feel good? Any ecard essentially has three components- design, colors and text. If all of these combine properly, the greeting card can make a big impact on your Mother and make her happy. You will find Mother’s day ecards on most of the ecard websites. Some of them are paid and some come totally free. Why not to chose free if the quality is equally good? Look around for free ecard sites and select the ecard for your Mother.

Talking of the card design, avoid using animated cartoons. Younger people may like those designs. But they don’t evoke the feeling of warmth, love and gratitude. Try cards with video shots of nature – flowers, birds, lakes, waterfalls, mountains, clouds etc. These will make your Mother feel good. Next is the choice of colors on the Mothers Day ecards. Select the ones with muted colors. Colors that are warm and soothing. You know the choice of your Mother. Try to get one in the colors she loves. A Mother’s Day ecard with the right text can make your Mother very happy. Chose one with text that is full of memories, warmth and thanks to express gratitude.

Getting the right ecard for your Mother is very important. She is the one mostly responsible for bringing you up. You are here largely because of her. Invest enough time and select the right Mother’s Day ecard to make your Mother happy on Mothers day.

CD Mohatta writes for mother’s day greeting cards and fun tests and fun quizzes. The topics of his writings include love, inspiration, holidays, birthdays, nature, religion and spirituality, success etc. You can have his writings on your desktop with free screensavers. These are video screensavers with beautiful background music. Read the messages and get inspired all day.

You have good traffic, but low client sign ups and other sales. Web sites are only as good as their copy. If your Web sales are down, check your copywriting.

Next time you think Web site–either putting up a new one, or wanting to improve yours for more contacts and sales–use this checklist:

1. Replace long paragraphs of copy with short benefit-driven headlines.

Incorporate sound bites or questions your visitor will feel compelled to respond to such as “Follow up or Foul Up?”

2. Make your copy beneath the headlines short and snappy.

Your potential clients come for easy-to-read material. Like you, they are in a hurry, and want free information fast.

3. Put yourself in your targeted visitors’ shoes.

Think, “why are they at my site?” They want two things: 1) free content such as articles or tips about your service or product and 2) how you can solve their problem or challenge–the top benefits you offer.

4. Give your web visitors a lot of free information.

That’s why they come to your site. After visiting you 5-10 times, they are more likely to buy from you. Place a command like “Please book mark this site. We put up new information each two weeks.” Add a new link called “free articles.”

5. Aim your copy at your targeted market.

The biggest mistake we make is not defining our target audience before we write Web copy. When we use shotgun promotion aimed at many groups, we don’t get well known as the savvy expert in our field, and lose visitor’s attention and loyalty.

Choose one audience first and aim your copy at them. You can later add special links for other audiences.

6. Give your visitors a variety of articles, such as an interview or you solving a client’s problem, to post in your “free articles” link.

Put a new one up every 2-3 weeks. Put “NEW!” beside each new article to draw attention to it.

7. Categorize the types of articles you post on your site.

Think about “under 500 words,” “how-to tips,” or “top ten lists.” Help your visitors get to the articles they want and need. Offer your articles by autoresponders too.

8. Present your copy to inform, convince, and compel your visitor to click and buy.

For your coaching services, place links such as “Why Choose your name?” or “On Book Coaching.” or “Coaching Packages.” Include proper headlines on your home page.

9. Keep your language simple.

Even if your audience is a rocket scientist, keep your copy at 10th grade level or lower. Online visitors want short sentences, short paragraphs no more than 4-5 lines. When visitors see a long paragraph, it may look too hard to read and digest. They just click away. Remember they want their information easy and fast.

10. Write a list of 5-10 benefits of your service.

Transfer this into your coaching sales piece on your Web site. You’ll need to include coaching outcomes, their needs, the value they receive, and the main area of focuses you can give them.

Stop long descriptions of you and your mission. Focus more on your Web visitor who came to learn about how she can benefit from your service. Make your reader say, “This is amazing. I want this!”

Judy Cullins, 20-year book and Internet Marketing Coach, Author of 10 eBooks including “Write your eBook Fast,” and “How to Market your Business on the Internet,” she offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, The Book Coach Says…and Business Tip of the Month at http://www.bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml and over 140 free articles. Email her at mailto:Judy@bookcoaching.com

Eastbourne is a traditional seaside resort, boasting five miles of unspoilt beaches, palm tree lined promenades, four golf courses and Seaside Award clean sea. It offers fun for all of the family, from a skate festival to the annual air show, a visit to Eastbourne Pier or a chance to dance the night away to live music at the bandstand.

Places of interest:

Eastbourne is a natural gateway to the South Downs including national beauty spot Beachy Head. Being close to 1066 Country, Eastbourne is an ideal base for visiting castles, stately homes, vineyards, transport museums and exotic gardens across Sussex.

Beachy Head, with its dramatic white cliffs and gently undulating downs, is an area of outstanding natural beauty and tranquillity which belies its proximity to the busy south eastern towns of England. It is a haven for those who like to walk or cycle. It’s also a great place for hang-gliding, mountain boarding, or for the rather less extreme sport of flying a kite.
Battle is a busy market town situated close to the site of the famous Battle of Hastings. The actual site of the battle was the Senlac field to the north of the seaside town of Hastings. Here you can experience the most famous date in English history, find out how the nation changed forever in October 1066 and discover the facts of the Norman Conquest in the very place it happened.
Herstmonceaux Castle is a magnificent moated castle, set in beautiful parkland and superb Elizabethan gardens. Here you can experience the peace and tranquillity of this 15th century castle set among carefully maintained gardens and parkland. The castle is not open to the public; however guided tours are conducted from Sunday to Friday. Other facilities include a gift shop, visitor’s centre, tea room, nature trail and children’s woodland play area.

Things to do:

Get your skates on and join the locals in their favourite pastime of roller-blading along the five mile stretch of promenade, from the peaceful Falling Sands to the bustling Sovereign Harbour Marina. Browse around the waterfront shops or relax in one of the continental style restaurants, cafes or bars at the harbour. Eastbourne has a thriving sailing and water sports scene. Have a splash at windsurfing and canoeing, or take a pleasure boat trip along the coast.

Eastbourne Pier is the perfect family attraction. The pier is the hub of all activity on the seafront with visitors from all over the country making the pier their first port of call. Tens of thousands of people visit the pier during the day in the height of summer – and it’s no wonder with so much to enjoy. We have activities for all the family. Enjoy the stunning views of the seafront from the Camera Obscura, take a leisurely stroll around the shops, have lunch in the newly refurbished family bar. If that isn’t enough, the pier lights up at night with the town’s very best night club and bars. Even in the height of summer, the club’s air conditioning keeps the full house nice and cool.
Sovereign Harbour Marina nestles peacefully in the beautiful South Downs at Eastbourne. Along with the excellent location, a range of first-class, 24 hour facilities and an unbeatable level of professional and helpful service are provided. The Waterfront, the superb harbour-side development of cafés, bars, restaurants and shops, provides a haven where boat-owners can relax.
Eastbourne Miniature Steam Railway Park, Travel behind the famous one-eighth scale miniature locomotives as they meander for nearly a mile around the beautiful country park. Enjoy a pleasant stroll around the five-acre lake where nature and wildlife may be seen in their natural habitats or relax in the prize-winning tea gardens with a beverage, lunch or Cream Tea from the railway style cafe.
Drusillas Zoo in Alfriston has hundreds of fascinating and entertaining creatures you can be certain there will be plenty of animal magic to enthral and excite everyone from the youngest to the oldest visitor! But animals are only half the fun at Drusillas Playland is paradise for anyone who needs to let off steam, packed with slides and swings, ropes and climbable things.

Food & Drink:

Eastbourne, home of the Banoffi Pie, offers everything from 5 star dining and multi-cultural cuisine to the traditional seaside staple of Fish ‘n’ Chips and delicious ice cream. Even enjoy some more gastronomic delights with wine tasting at nearby vineyards, visit a cider farm, indulge in a Sussex cream tea, pop into a traditional country pub or visit a farm shop and stock up on fresh Sussex produce.

The Counting House is a beautiful pub dating back to the 17th century and as such you can find cosy open fires to settle yourself down in front of to enjoy a pint or two, or perhaps a glass of wine. They also serve up excellent classic pub food and host regular film and quiz nights.
Taboo is a modern style café bar aimed at the younger generation. As such you can enjoy a brightly coloured décor and dark wooden furniture. There are a good variety of drinks on offer at the bar and well as some tasty tapas dishes too.
Slater’s Wine Bar is the place for a decent bottle of wine and plenty of choice of different wines available by the glass. Here you’ll find a convivial atmosphere in which to enjoy quality wine at reasonable prices.
Bibendum is a restaurant with a separate and equally popular bar area. You can expect plenty of comfortable seating, modern décor and a great range of drinks. Food includes gourmet style dishes such as mussels in a fragrant coconut and lemongrass broth.

Eastbourne Hotels & Accommodation:

Eastbourne offers a range of accommodation from 5 star luxury to small and friendly guest houses. A natural gateway to the South Downs countryside, Eastbourne is also the ideal location to stay overnight when exploring Sussex villages, country parks, forests, vineyards, historic buildings and of course national beauty spot Beachy Head.

Bay Lodge Hotel
Chatsworth Hotel
Best Western York House Hotel
Marine Parade Hotel
Hydro Hotel
New Wilmington Hotel
Cherry Tree Hotel
The Sheldon Hotel
The Cumberland Hotel
Atlanta Hotel
Quality Hotel Eastbourne
Best Western Lansdowne Hotel
The Grand Hotel
Albert & Victoria
Weyanoke Hotel

Entertainment

Eastbourne by night offers the perfect place to either relax after a busy day of sightseeing or kick up your heels and dance the night away. Take in a West End musical or enjoy a Bandstand concert, everything from Rock n Roll to the Proms or a Classical 1812 with fireworks is available in Eastbourne.

The Congress Theatre is a purpose built modern theatre and conference venue with a seating capacity of 1689. It has a licensed bar, and facilities for the disabled.
The Winter Garden is a Grade II listed building, designed by architect Henry Currey and built in 1875. It consists of two main parts – the Floral Hall, originally used as a skating rink in winter and concert hall in summer, and the Gold Room.
The Royal Hippodrome opened in 1883 as the New Theatre Royal and Opera House. It changed to the Royal Hippodrome in 1904 following refurbishment. The Royal Hippodrome was the home of Music Hall in Eastbourne for many years and has the longest running summer show in Britain.

Eastbourne can be whatever you want it to be, if you want peace and tranquillity you can find it there but if you want the sea, sport and adventure that is there as well. Eastbourne is the ideal place to watch the world go by one minute and explore the area the next.

Biography
Name: Maria Williams
Website: www.sleepuk.com
Biography: Maria writes for Sleep UK
providers of discounted uk hotels

Sportswear equipment has a significant interest at the moment as a result of how universal an effect sports has on the world. Individuals obtain sporting kit of all kinds including sportswear outfits, team outfits & sportswear goods. The best way to narrow down where to discover your sports supplies is to make sure you know what you are searching for.

The World Wide Web is the most fitting place to rummage around for the sporting items you want. You can find plenty of first-rate sporting retail stores on the Web that trade anything & everything associated to sports. Even though you do have to pay for delivery and wait for your gear to be sent to you, the choice of equipment you will have will be far more than those in the proper shops.

So where do you even embark on looking you may well say. If you require sporting gear, there are several nationwide sporting retail shops that sell a selection of sportswear items. These retail shops are ideal because you can find gear for all forms of sports in one place in addition to shoes sports clothes, outdoor apparel & netball items.

The downside to procure sportswear equipment at a traditional retail outlet like these is that you might not find the highest quality stuff on the market presently. Of course you can get quality gear, but just not always the top of the line. In order to obtain the top of the line sportswear kit you will want to go to a shop that specifically sells what you are seeking. If you demand football gear, then go to a retail store that focuses on football. If you need a particular baseball bat, going to a baseball only retail shop will allow you a greater possibility of discovering it. Find superb deals at the online sports equipment shop.

Another type of sportswear merchandise that brings in a great deal of interest is team sporting supplies. The greatest way to show you enthusiasm for your preferred cricket team or rugby team is to obtain their attire. Whether you desire a team’s hat or a favourite sportsperson’s jersey, there are many retail shops on the Internet and high-street stores you can look at to get what you’re searching for. One of the favourite outlets for sports items on the Internet is www.Sportswear-Equipment.com.