Family-Friendly Travel Ideas: Where Will Your Gang Go Next?

September 17, 2020

 Traveling is a hugely popular hobby, and many of us look forward to getting away and exploring. While it may not be possible to indulge in far-flung adventures at the moment, there’s nothing wrong with planning ahead and coming up with creative alternatives. If you’re keen to organize a vacation, or you’re thinking about booking a weekend away with the kids, here are some fantastic family-friendly ideas for your gang. 

Camping

There’s no better way to discover the great outdoors than a family camping trip. Many of us have fond memories of sitting around campfires, singing songs and toasting marshmallows. Camping isn’t everyone’s idea of a vacation, but it has so much to offer. When you choose to camp, you can experience outdoor living, enjoy incredible scenery and get away from it all. For those who aren’t quite sold on the idea of pitching a tent and rustling up a feast using a basic stove, there are alternatives to the traditional camping trip. Glamping has become extremely popular in the last few years, and it’s a great option for families and those who love the outdoors, but don’t want to sacrifice all the creature comforts. Another option worth exploring is hiring an RV or looking into buying a hybrid camper trailer if you love spontaneous adventures or you’re keen to travel frequently in the future. If you are going camping, it’s beneficial to choose a spot in advance and plan your route. Think about how you want to spend your time, how far you want to travel and the kinds of facilities and amenities you’re looking for. If you have children, and you want to try different activities and sports, look for campsites or parks that offer easy access to hiking and cycling routes and activity centers. Read reviews before you book. 

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/rv-camper-night-camping-adventure-2788677/


Beach breaks

Beach breaks are always a hit with children. On a sunny day, you can spend hours swimming, snorkeling, building sandcastles and playing games. There are endless options when it comes to planning a beach vacation with kids. Before you decide on a location, think about how far you want to go. Are you eager to stay relatively close to home and drive to your destination, or are you happy to jet off and travel to a different state or country? If you’re going abroad, try and be flexible with your dates to save on flights, and compare prices before you book. If you book a package vacation, which includes flights, hotels and transfers, you might find that it works out better value than separate flights and accommodation. Resorts in popular destinations are often geared towards children, and if you’re looking for activities, kids’ clubs and plenty of options when it comes to eating out, it’s best to focus your search on family-friendly hotels. If you’re longing to escape it all and enjoy a quieter break in a more secluded spot, you could consider options like hiring a beach house or a condo in a residential seaside suburb instead of going to a tourist hotspot. 

Picture from https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-woman-carrying-toddler-3889792/


City breaks

City breaks may not be the first type of vacation that springs to mind when you talk about traveling with kids, but they actually have a lot to offer. If you like the idea of a packed itinerary, or you’re interested in combining cultural activities and experiences with rest and relaxation, city breaks offer the best of both worlds. If you visit places like Rome, Barcelona, London or New York, for example, there’s a vast array of things to see and do and keep young travelers entertained. With any city break, it’s wise to plan ahead and draw up a rough plan of action. This will help you figure out how you’re going to get from A to B and make sure you don’t miss anything on your must-see list. Check opening times, make sure you book tickets in advance for popular attractions and design an itinerary that limits travel. Explore museums, parks, galleries, monuments and famous landmarks in the same parts of the city on the same day. This will save you time, effort and money.  It’s worth reading reviews and getting tips from other travelers if you’ve never been to a city before and getting insider information about hidden gems and places that are popular among the locals. It’s usually a good idea to book tickets for activities and tours online, as they tend to be cheaper. You can also save by purchasing ticket bundles, which include multiple attractions. 

Image by https://pixabay.com/photos/architecture-travel-city-historic-4529605/


Staycation ideas

Many families will be enjoying a staycation this year. With travel restrictions in place, it might not be possible to fulfill plans to venture further afield. The brilliant thing about staycations is that they enable us to discover what’s on our doorstep. Often, we automatically opt to jump on a plane or drive for hours when it’s time to take a vacation, and we don’t spend much time exploring the local area. You might have museums, theme parks, beaches or wildlife parks that you’ve never been to even though they are a stone’s throw from home. If this is the case, use your time off to enjoy fun-packed family days out and spend quality time together. You can hit the beach, take a picnic to the park, visit museums and galleries and get involved in local events and festivals. Check details of what’s going in your area online and join local forums or social media groups to hear about new events first. 

Picture source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/family-walking-on-path-1682497/


Taking a vacation is a highlight of the year for most of us. This year may be a little different, but you don’t have to sacrifice all plans to take a break, spend quality time with your family and explore new areas. There are plenty of family-friendly destinations on offer, and you can choose from all kinds of different vacation types and experiences. From outdoor adventures and chilled-out beach breaks to fun-filled staycations and city breaks, it’s worth considering different options, weighing up the pros and cons and thinking about how you want to spend your well-earned time off. 


*contributed post*
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my precious Ba

September 16, 2020

It is with a broken heart (for us) that I share that my precious Ba joyfully entered into the presence of her first & ultimate love & King on Saturday. We rejoice greatly with her in her homecoming but are mourning the loss of this precious one who has loved so deeply & fully.

At one point during my health journey I had just found out that one of the most well known medical hospitals in the world felt my case was to complicated & that there was no hope. My dear grandmother, one of my best friends, my "Ba" came into my room in the early hours of the morning the next day & sat on my bed & spent time praying with me and over me for hours. As she finished she got up & said, "Rebecca, I don't care how bleak it looks or the fact that they say there is no hope...God is a God of miracles & has not abandoned you." I wept & held on to her words for the hours, days, weeks, months, & years ahead....

As we have been in the process of saying a long goodbye to Ba in the past weeks & days,
I have reflected on lot of things that made her the woman that she was. This memory remains one of my most treasured memories...the wisdom of a woman who had walked with God for decades & a faith that is unwavering in the midst of circumstances that would go to the contrary....

My family & I are so incredibly grateful for your out pouring of love and kindness in the past days & for your prayers & support, specifically in the last 72 hours. We are grateful for so many amazing medical teams, the care & love of people at Meadowbrook, & the kind understanding of my school as I had to leave suddenly & quickly on Thursday morning.

We covet your prayers the days, weeks, & years ahead for our family as we are left here with a huge hole in our hearts. Thank you so much to each of you for all of the compassion you have poured out on us. We are so incredibly grateful for your love & prayers.

"The Lord will be your everlasting light..." 
// Isaiah 61:20 //

For those who are interested in funeral arrangements, there will be a funeral service in October and a private family celebration of life this coming summer. Please feel free to contact me for further details.
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How Can You Develop Good Habits?


It’s important to find a worthwhile approach to life. That can seem like a laughable statement to make, because it’s so obvious. But it’s not always something we internalize and focus on. It’s important to feel as though you’re moving forward in life, and that you have some kind of framework to help you having to invent your schedule anew every single day.

This requires the willingness to set up good habits. For instance, moderating your drinking, learning to work hard, being able to communicate your true feelings to your partner (by curating honesty), and also, keeping yourself focused and attentive towards your goals all count.

However, the presence of a good habit is not necessarily the absence of a bad one. So - how can we make this sustainable? Do you have to be painfully tyrannical against yourself? Or can you sustainably live with good habits and slight discipline in the best possible manner? 

It’s hard to consider this, and it’s also hard to fully grasp what this means and what rule sets you must apply to make it so.

So - let’s explore this question, together:


Plan Them & Set Aside Time
Plan your habits out, and set aside time to focus on them. We can think about all the good habits in the world we hope to conform to, but unless we actually write them down and make a practical schedule, it’s hard to keep that up. Even something as easy as taking Penguin CBD supplements requires this.

Of course, some good habits can be internal new directions you follow. For instance, you might wish to take the stairs up to your office instead of the elevator each day, because it helps you stay a little more active and get a little more exercise in.

Bigger habits you hope to construct, however, can take a while. You need to practice them (and discipline yourself) for a while before they become part of your lifestyle. According to behavioural literature, it takes around 60 days for a process or habit to become automatic and about four months for it to become part of your lifestyle. So, if you find that you brush your teeth and wash your face in a certain order each night, that’s because you’ve been doing it for so long that you don’t even have to think about it. This is how we should view our habits, and even the hardest habits to enact can help with that.

Understand Their Benefit
You should never implement a new habit just because you tangentially know it’s ‘good for you.’ Why is it good for you? Are you certain about that? For instance, many people have taken pride in switching from smoking cigarettes to vaping, which certainly seems more helpful, and actually is. But is it a perfect replacement? Does it mean that vaping continually is a-okay for your lungs? Perhaps not. Perhaps you’re willing to take that risk. But at least you’ll be under no illusions that your habit is a great one, even if it’s an acceptable one for now.

In order to orient yourself with a new habit you need to know why you’re chasing it. Why do you hope to lift weights? To look good for the beach this summer? Or is it because you’re tired of feeling weak and small and you hope to build some real functional strength? Well, then what lifts should you perform? Regular lifting with small weights at high volume, or heavier weights with less repetitions? Note - it’s the latter. Knowing the benefits of our habit help us to structure our pathway there, and this also motivates us to research our habit with care and attention.

Who knows? Before long you may find yourself loving your habitual cycle in the best possible context.

Join With A Partner
Taking the time to practice a new art, skill, hobby or habit with a friend can be very supporting, especially initially. Think about heading to the gym with a friend. Maybe you’re happy to go, but you’d like a little help. You ask your friend who has been heading to the gym for a while to come with you for your first session. This helps you both get the best out of your workout, and it also helps with safety, because you can look out for one another when lifting weights (called ‘spotting’ in the weight room). 

But more than that. Two days later, when your next gym session is booked, and you wake up a little earlier than your alarm clock feeling robbed of your sleep because of that missing ten minutes, and it’s raining outside, you may feel the need to lay in bed and snooze some more. But no, you think, you have a friend waiting for you and counting on you. Perhaps you could be that friend to someone else one day. It’s harder to let someone else down than it is to let yourself down. So - join with a partner if you can. It can really help.

Write Down Your Motivations (And Fear Of Failure)
It’s good to remind yourself of why you’re doing this from time to time. It’s not always easy to get there, or sometimes, you can forget why you’ve started to pursue this habit in the first place. 

Writing down your thoughts can help you understand them, and structure them together as sentences. That gives you the chance to more easily relate to your problems, or see what the problems are in the first place. For instance, it’s very easy to feel failure when starting a new habit. You don’t want to be back at square one, but because you’ve already been there, it’s the most familiar ground. It’s easy to say ‘I can give up now, because I can always start again and do it better this time.’ Countering that approach means writing it down, and understanding your needs in that process. That can be a real victory. If you get there - which you will, you should be proud of yourself, and this practice will have given you much more insight.

With this advice, we hope you can more easily develop a good habit. From there, perhaps you’ll develop more going forward.

*contributed post*
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This Is The Only Way That You Will Lose Body Fat!

September 8, 2020

What does it mean to lose weight?
As a term, weight loss is incredibly misleading. Most people use it when talking about dropping some pounds of fat. You want to get rid of stubborn belly fat or tighten up your flabby areas. When you say you want to lose weight, you actually want to lose fat. 

This is important because there are loads of ways to lose weight. Exercising helps you lose weight by sweating out some fluids. Weigh yourself before and after working out, and you'll see a difference on the scales. Have you lost any fat? No, not after one workout!

However, there is only one way to lose fat, and it's by entering a calorie deficit. Nothing else matters, so let's look at this in more detail. 


What is a calorie deficit?

Calories are a unit of measurement for the energy we need every single day. Our food contains calories, and our body uses them to fuel daily activities. Each individual has a specific amount of energy that you need to consume every single day. This is based on your age, weight, gender, height, and general activity levels. So, we consume enough food to ensure our bodies are fueled. 

A calorie deficit is when you consume less energy than you use. For example, let's say you eat 2,000 calories but burn 2,300. Here, you have a deficit of 300 calories because you've burned more than you've consumed. 

How does a calorie deficit make you lose body fat?

This is where things get quite technical. When you eat food, your body turns it into energy. In the previous example, your body has burned 2,300 calories, but only ingested 2,000. So, 2,000 of the calories burned come from food, but what about the remaining 300? When you don't have any food left to turn into energy, your body uses fat cells. In essence, you are literally burning fat. By contrast, if you eat more calories than you burn, the extra calories get stored in the body as fat, so you gain weight. 

How do you enter a calorie deficit?

Generally, it's as simple as burning more calories than you consume. However, you need to do this safely. A good rule of thumb is to aim for around a 500 calorie deficit per day. This is healthy and sustainable, ensuring you can lose fat without losing any muscle mass. To achieve this, you need an effective way to lose weight, which includes so many things. 

Going to the gym and being active will help you burn calories. Walking instead of driving, will burn loads of extra calories per day. The more active you are, the more calories you will burn. It's better to focus on burning calories as this prevents you from entering a super restricted diet. For example, if you aren't active and only burn, say, 1,800 calories a day, you'd need a diet of 1,300 calories to lose weight. This is simply unachievable for most people!

There you have it; entering a calorie deficit is the only way you will lose fat. Forget any fad diets or restrictive eating patterns; all you need to worry about is that you're burning more calories than you consume. Keep doing this, and you will lose body fat.

*contributed post*
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From Hope Valley Devotionals (Week 31): The Hope of Change

September 2, 2020

Happy Wednesday friends! As I shared several  months, I am excited to re-share some of the most popular devotional posts that I wrote in 2017-2018 (if you would like to see the complete list you can find it HERE!) and am excited to share this one this week! I hope that this continues to be a beautiful blessing even several years later!

*this was originally posted in 2017 during the week of September 11th*
Life is strange isn't it- many times we often fear and fight against change in our lives and yet there are other times, especially when we are stuck in a situation that feels that there is no end or way out we long for change to come in. In Season 3, Episode 1 of When Calls the Heart (the New Years Wish Movie Premier), there is a conversation that takes place between Elizabeth and one of her students, Laura highlighting this concept. 

 Laura and her dad had suffered immeasurable loss as they had suffered the devastating loss of her precious mama. Laura in this scene was expressing not only her sadness, but the fact that her dad believed that nothing would ever be different. Nothing would ever change in their sadness and grief. Elizabeth's simple and yet profound response, "it can if you want it to", is a catalyst for the beautiful wisdom that there is always a hope for change. 

So many times in life it seems that our circumstances through difficult times and season will never change. We look at the road before us and instead of seeing a path with light at the end of the tunnel, we only see the continued road of the same thing occurring day after day. For those of you walking through a season like this- feeling that there is no hope that anything will change, my heart breaks for you and goes out to you. 

 I have struggled with this at different painful seasons in my life, but one of the times I struggled the most was in the Fall of 2013. At that time I had been home dealing with my health situations for about a year and to be frank wasn't doing much better than when I had arrived home. I was able to walk a bit more and there was no feeding tube, but my health was in such a precarious state that I spent days upon days in bed and struggled to walk down our hallway to go the living room. When I had decided to take some time off from teaching and move home to be with my parents for help and support I never imagined that I would be bed bound for a couple of years. I longed to live a normal life. I longed to have a job. I missed teaching more than I could have expressed. I missed my friends. I missed being healthy. I missed everything and as the days and weeks turned into months and years I started to lose hope that anything could ever change. 

 It was one of the most painful and loneliest seasons of life. As I look back on it now I still have tears for that season. It was messy. It was painful. It was difficult...and I felt no hope that anything could ever change. I watched the episode and felt my heart break for all who are struggling like Laura's father. I have been there and I know how hard it is to put one foot in front of the other.. to feel that you can't imagine things changing... and sometimes where words can't even express what you are feeling because the emotions are so deep.

 In these times and days that stretch before you with no change my heart hopes that you can hear the gentle encouragement of Elizabeth from this episode. Change can happen and there is always the hope of change. Years ago I found this song and it was on repeat... played hundreds of times during that very desperate season...and is still played every single morning. I hope that it will be encouraging to you:
You are not forgotten dear friend. 
Hold on to the knowledge that change can come. 
Change will come. 

 One of my favorite people (and author) who has an incredible influence on my life is Robin Jones Gunn. Many #hearies know her from the sweet movie, Engaging Father Christmas that premiered last year on the Hallmark Channel. Robin wrote a beautiful book called, Victim of Grace, which is highlighted, underlined, and tear stained. I have read it numerous times and can't recommend it enough if you are walking through a difficult season. One day she shared on social media the following quote that is now written in my journal and up on my wall where I see it everyday... I pray it will encourage you today...

"Have you ever counted how many of your dreams were dropped and shattered into pieces? It's not a good exercise for your spirit on most days. On some days, like today, you might wake up and discover that the broken pieces of your dreams have become something complex and beautiful. Their irregular edges had to be reshaped through the breaking in order for them to fit perfectly with other pieces in your life. You are a stained glass window in the making. And so am I. (The) mysterious handiwork of God is so beautiful and complex that when His light shines through the fragments of my many shattered wishes, I see Him. I see His glory. I am a stained glass window. And so are you. May you see the beauty today that God is crafting from your shattered dreams."

Today dear friends, let's live fully in the beautiful hope of change, believing that out of the shattered dreams change is coming. God is at work. And perhaps if you aren't going through a rough time... or if you have previously walked through a season of discouragement can I encourage you today to look around... say a kind word.. love big on those who are struggling... give a call... send a text... send a card... and just be there and "hold space" (as my dear friend Blythe shares about). 

"And I will restore to you the years that were stolen..."
-Joel 2:25-


*original post written in September 2017 prior to Lori Loughlin's departure from the show*

Looking for past From Hope Valley Devotionals? You can click HERE to find a complete listing of all of the devotionals! 

I have received several emails asking me about the books by Janette Oke that the series is based on. You may remember that I mentioned in my very first From Hope Valley Devotional post that I had read Janette Oke's series back when I was a teenager. The original book series, "The Canadian West Series" was based on Elizabeth's aunt and her adventures (she also married a Mountie). Here are the listing of the books from that series (there are six) in order:

When Calls the Heart (Book 1)
When Comes the Spring (Book 2)
When Breaks the Dawn (Book 3)
When Hope Springs New (Book 4)
Beyond the Gathering Storm (Book 5)
When Tomorrow Comes (Book 6)

In the last several years Janette Oke released a new series entitled, "Return to the Canadian West" which you can find listed below in order:

Where Courage Calls (Book 1)
Where Trust Lies (Book 2)
Where Hope Prevails (Book 3)

I receive several emails a week asking where you can watch older episodes of "When Calls the Heart". If you have a Netflix account you can find seasons 1-3 there or you can purchase them on Amazon. You can purchase and watch all of the seasons and episodes by clicking on the links below:
When Calls the Heart, Season 1
When Calls the Heart, Season 2
When Calls the Heart, Season 3
When Calls the Heart, Season 4
When Calls the Heart, Season 5
When Calls the Heart, Season 6
When Calls the Heart, Season 7

*Please note that the quotes used in these weekly devotionals are the sole intellectual property of Hallmark Channel, WCTH, & Crown Media, LLC. These on-line posts are in no way supported, endorsed or affiliated with WCTH, Hallmark Channel, or Crown Media. They are simply encouragement inspired by Janette Oke and this precious show.*
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The best ways to renovate your home

September 1, 2020


No matter how great your home is, from time to time, it’s nice to do a little renovation work to
breathe new life into it. Every home looks better for a minor revamp once in a while, and
even just some simple touch-up work can make a massive difference to the appearance of
your home.

As with most things in life, the key is to start with good planning. Decide how you want to
improve your home, think about the potential outcome, and formulate a route for how you’re
going to complete the work.

Renovation projects can be as simple as a small repaint job or scale right up to adding extra
rooms or an extension. Take some time to decide what you want to achieve and try to
formulate a budget and schedule to complete the job. Remember always to include
contingency funds for unexpected over-runs or expenses.

Depending on the scope and complexity of the work you intend to do, there are three main
options when it comes to completing the job: doing it yourself, hiring an architect/builder or
working with a design build remodeling company. Each has its advantages, both from an
ease of work point of view and also the cost.

The DIY route
In most cases, it will be immediately apparent whether you can complete the work yourself –
though, often, you may decide to hire skilled professionals anyway. For example, simple
painting or wallpapering is well within the scope of most people – although you may prefer to
use a professional anyway to save time.

Replacing cupboards, plastering, laying carpet/floor tiles, or basic furniture refits are also
relatively easy tasks, but, again, many people opt to call in the professionals rather than
undertaking to do the work themselves.

While it’s easier and less stressful hiring experienced workers, by doing things yourself, you’ll
likely feel a greater sense of pride and satisfaction at completing the work, and you’ll also be
able to add your own personal touches along the way.

Hiring an architect and builder
For larger, more complex projects, it’s almost always a better idea to bring in the services of
skilled professionals. Extensions, structural alterations, or other larger-scale projects will
almost always be completed quicker by qualified companies.

Working with an architect, you can draw on their considerable expertise while also offering
your own input to the layout, materials, and finishes. A skilled builder will then take over the
project, sourcing everything required for the job. While the process might not be quite as
rewarding as doing the work yourself, it will be considerably quicker – and, in many cases,
can even work out cheaper.

Taking the design build route
Working with a single company for the design and build of your alterations is often the most
streamlined way of renovating your home. By employing the services of just one company,
you’re likely to reduce potential complications or misunderstandings between architects,
designers, and builders. Also, you’ll only have to deal with sourcing one quote for the work,
from start to end.

It’s also worth remembering, working with two separate companies usually means coordinating two different project managers as it’s unlikely your architect will manage your
builder – and vice versa.

Design build companies are becoming an increasingly popular option for home renovations,
putting you in complete control of the job while bringing a coordinated methodology to the
project.

Add Outdoor Space

Everyone wants some more space to use in their home, but not all of this has to actually be inside your home. Instead, it could be worth upgrading your outdoor space to something much more usable. Custom porches, patios, and similar structures can all be recommended with this.

These can all let you enjoy the outdoors around your home while staying protected from the weather. Add in the fact you’ll have more home to enjoy, there’s no reason not to consider them. They can even improve your home value if you’re considering selling in the future, making them even more appealing.


*contributed post*
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What To Wear While At The Gym: 7 Tips

Want to get the best out of your gym workouts? Wearing the right clothing can help to make exercise
safer, more comfortable, and more productive. Here are just 7 tips for choosing gymwear.
Invest in the right footwear
Whether you’re running or lifting or jumping, you’re likely to be putting strain on your feet.
This strain could lead everything from rashes and blisters to painful fractures and impact injuries.
By wearing a decent pair of workout sneakers, you can protect your feet and prevent these common
injuries and ailments. Shop online to find discounts on these sneakers.
Find a sports bra that fits
Sports bras are necessary for offering support and preventing breast tissue damage when doing
exercises like running and jumping. However, it’s important that you get a sports bra that fits
snugly - otherwise you could cause yourself further pain and injury. This guide to sports bras could
be worth a read if you’re struggling to find a bra that’s comfortable. Sports bras can fit very differently
to normal bras, so don’t be alarmed if you have to go up or down a size to get the right fit.
Opt for breathable fabrics
Regular casual clothing is often made of materials like cotton and polyester, which aren’t very
breathable. When you opt for specialist sports clothing, the fabric is much more likely to offer
ventilation and insulation. This can stop you getting too hot or too cold while working out, while
also catching sweat to prevent odour and chafing. Breathable materials include nylon, spandex,
merino wool and bamboo.
Wear styles that make you confident
It’s important that you wear a style of clothing that makes you feel confident. If you don’t feel
confident in your workout clothes, you’re less likely to be motivated to exercise properly. Some
people are likely to prefer colourful clothing that shows off their physique such as these
rainbow leggings. Others may prefer the slimming properties and lack of showiness that plain
black leggings can bring.
Bring a hair band/hair clip
Some of us love to keep our hair down. However, you could find that it gets in the way and
becomes messy during a workout. Using a hair band or hair clip to keep your hair up is more
practical when doing any kind of exercise.
Try some smart gadgets
There are all kinds of wearable tech on the market nowadays for helping to monitor your workout
performance. Some of these gadgets could be worth investing in. Smart watches are the most
popular choice – they could be perfect for recording your heart rate and steps.
Keep your clothing clean
You don’t want to be turning up to the gym in unwashed clothing. Not only is it likely to smell and
look grubby, but the bacteria growing on it could be bad for your skin. Get into a habit of washing
your kit after every workout – including your gym bag. You’ll feel much more motivated in fresh gym
clothing. 
*contributed post*
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