Julia K Cole

As we move on from the holidays and settle into 2014, it’s common practice to set goals and resolutions for the new year. However, as many of us can attest to, many of these goals, especially long term ones, will fall by the wayside as the weeks and months pass by. This week we’ll be examining 7 simple tips for sticking to your goals and accomplishing them. #1  Live up to your own expectations. Set your own goals, not those someone else’s. By setting the bar yourself, you will be more motivated to reach your goals and push yourself beyond your initial expectations. #2  Write your goal down. Be specific and always keep it visible as a reminder. #3  Reward yourself to celebrate achieving small milestones. Motivate yourself with a small reward for each step you accomplish toward achieving your goal. This can be something as simple as taking yourself out to lunch, taking a break to do something you enjoy, spending time with fr...

The feisty felines found their way into the Great Meadow Correctional Facility and there they have stayed.    The reason they haven’t been kicked out may seem unlikely. It turns out the inmates like them.  And the feeling seems to be mutual. The kittens were in poor physical shape when they first “broke in to the prison. But one prisoner quickly built them a “kitty condo” from scraps and began to care for them. Now Bruce Porter, the electrician for the pen, takes care of the animals during the week. Porter told The PostStar.com, “I’ve got a soft heart for any sort of animal. I don’t mind helping them out a bit.” On weekends when Porter is not there,  an inmate known as the cat whisperer watches after them.  But Doc, Meadow, Annie, and Comstock -- as they have been named -- won’t have a life sentence in the big house. The kittens will soon be adopted and have homes of their own. Source: KRMG Talk Radio   Story by Ri...

Between 2002 and 2012, federal agencies spent more than half a trillion dollars ($688 billion) on payments that should never have been made.  Every year, according to their own record-keeping, the agencies that administer major federal programs are now paying out more than $100 billion improperly, and even though they're aware of the problem, they recover only a tiny fraction for taxpayers. This adds up to huge losses for the U.S. Treasury. In 2012 alone, the Office of Management and Budget gathered data on just 13 high-error programs in the federal government, and determined that they made a combined $101.3 billion in improper payments. To put that in perspective, that's almost $16 billion more than the highly controversial budget sequester wound up cutting from government spending in 2013. The government doesn't get a whole lot of that money back. In July, then-Controller of the Office of Management and Budget Daniel Werfel testified in a Senate hearing that ...

I love sharing stories where people are kind to one another.   Please share this with all your networks!   *~*~*~* When Shanell Mouland boarded a Philadelphia-bound plane out of Orlando early this month with her family, she was bracing for the worst. Mouland was headed home to New Brunswick, Canada, Jan. 5 with her husband and daughters Grace, 5, and Kate, 3, who has autism and doesn’t like to sit for long. They were returning from a week spent at Walt Disney World. “We knew that flights were difficult for her,” Mouland said. “And we knew this was going to be a tough one.” To Read the Entire Story and Watch the Video, Please Click HERE

This is a wonderful story that should be passed around as much as possible.   SheKnows Home & Living Editor Kelli Uhrich shares her moving experience with a stranger who offered her kindness. Please share and cross post on all your Social Networks!   *~*~*~*~* Dear Stranger, Today we stood next to one another in line at the Phoenix Sky Harbor airport, waiting to move through the security checkpoint. You probably don't remember me, but I will never forget you. I was the woman with the frazzled hair, the sweat-dripping brow and the large plastic bag — the latter of which was clearly unplanned. I was the woman in the back of the line who thought she had adequately prepared for her business trip but quickly discovered she hadn't. You, on the other hand, were composed, collected and early  for your flight. You owed me nothing. You didn't have to help me, but you did — and I don't know how else to say  thank-you . You see, this all began l...

My sister, Jewlyes Gutierrez, is a 16 year old teenager, who identifies as a transgender female. Her gender identity has caused her to be a victim of taunting, harassment, and bullying by her peers.  On November 13, 2013, Jewlyes defended herself against three girls who were tormenting and then physically attacked her. This was captured on video and you can see Jewlyes trying to run away. The students involved were suspended but to our disbelief, District Attorney Daniel Cabral then filed charges against Jewlyes for battery - she's the only one charged. Jewlyes should not be charged criminally. Rather, this altercation should be the responsibility of the school district, who should take proper action and implement the necessary resources to prevent incidents like these from happening again.   One of the girls who attacked Jewlyes had repeated bullied her - even spitting gum in her face. Jewlyes sought help from the assistant principal in fear of her physical safety but th...

A little over 10 years ago, before all this texting nonsense began, just before having a cell phone became the "in thing," I made a prediction.  I predicted that before 2020, cell phones would be the cause of more deaths than alcohol and drugs! Sadly, it looks as if my prediction a decade ago is slowly but surely coming true. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* It started with a father sending text messages to his daughter during the previews of a movie. It ended with the 43-year-old man shot dead amid the theater seats, and a 71-year-old retired police officer in custody. The shooting Monday during a 1:20 p.m. showing of "Lone Survivor" at a Wesley Chapel, Florida, movie theater escalated from an objection to cell phone use, to a series of arguments, to the sudden and deadly shooting, according to police and witnesses. As a male moviegoer texted, the man seated behind him objected, and asked the texter to put his phone away. Read Entire Story HERE