Parenting Healthy

Consider Living in Bellevue, Washington — Photo by Zac Gudakov on Unsplash

In March we celebrate my birthday and my favorite dinner spot is halfway between my home and my sister’s home. It is the 520 Bar & Grill in Bellevue, Washington. It is in downtown Bellevue near a few other great restaurants and just blocks from the shores of Lake Washington and Bellevue Downtown Park.

If you live near Seattle, Washington chances are you have driven into or through Bellevue. It is known for gorgeous homes on the lake, the Snowflake Lane parade at Christmas time, some of the best restaurants just outside of Seattle and soon to be a new home for Amazon. Amazon is just one of the well known companies that call Bellevue home. Other companies include Offer Up, Expedia, Coinstar, T-Mobile and more.

Besides good food and great job opportunities Bellevue,Washington is very close to Seattle and right off several major highways so you have several ways of traveling in and out of the city. Spend a day shopping and eating near Bellevue Square Mall (make sure you visit the huge Amazon Bookstore there) or take a boat onto the lake. Lake Washington runs along Bellevue and is the largest lake in King County and the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington. Living in Bellevue is for the hard worker who loves adventure on their days off because the trails and waterways around here are gorgeous any time of the year.

Finding a Place to Live in Bellevue, Washington

If you are intrigued with Bellevue, Washington by now you are probably wondering the best resources to finding apartments to rent. There is so much beauty and many great neighborhoods so it is not uncommon for new residents to rent a year or so because it gives them a chance to get to know the area, school district lines so they can find that perfect neighborhood for a permanent home. I would start with a website called Zumper.

Bellevue, Wa water — Photo by Zac Gudakov on Unsplash

I recommend Zumper because not only is it real-time listings but I see that you can do the application process including background check from their platform. This means you stay on one site to apply for your place. Zumper is available for Bellevue, Washington rentals.

When searching for apartments to rent on Zumper you can sort by any of your immediate needs such as pets allowed, number of bedrooms, area close to your work, etc. The Pacific NW is unique because you can find a home surrounded by wildlife and heading into the mountains and just across town you can be a part of city life. Being able to get to know your town before committing to buying a home or knowing what area of a city will be best for your family will guarantee you live near the surroundings that are quiet or busy according to your preference. Zumper will help make sure you get into the part of town you desire.

Bellevue, Washington has about 150,000 residents. You can easily live in Bellevue and work in Seattle. As I mentioned you are near all major highways and public transportation is easily available throughout town. To rent in Bellevue, Wa the average monthly is about $2,340. If you are looking to relocate to or move within Bellevue, Wa make sure to browse Zumper to see what is available right now. Check back often as they update with real time availability!

Education

How to Invigorate Your Nursing Career

September 9, 2020February 1, 2022 Erin Sluka

As a nurse, you have dedicated your life to helping and supporting others. This direct impact on the lives of others can be fulfilling and meaningful in a truly life-changing way; however, after years on the floor addressing the critical care and support of your patients, you may be looking to invigorate your nursing career by taking on new challenges. While directly overseeing the care of your patients can be incredibly rewarding, if you are looking for a change, here are a few ways that you can invigorate your career.

Advanced Degrees and Education

If you find that your brain could use a jumpstart, you may need an outlet for mental stimulation. Consider going back to school for additional education where you can stimulate your mind and love for learning. You can explore an advanced degree option that best suits you to take you to the next step of your nursing career. Whether you want to go back to school to refresh your brain or you want to use your degree to take your next step, education can be a great option.

Getting a higher level of education means that you expand your knowledge, learn additional techniques which help you to provide a higher quality of patient care. It can not only help you to make better healthcare decisions and optimize operational efficiency, but also advance your career at any level. You may want to explore a range of nursing job career options and find out the requirements that the position can offer.

Teaching and Learning

If you value education but don’t see yourself going back to school, you have other ways to infuse knowledge and education into your life. Instead of being the recipient of the knowledge, if you prefer to share what you have learned, educating others may be the right step for you. Exploring a professorship role and career profile can help you understand the responsibilities of the role, salary and expectations.

Leadership and Supervising

If you have a lot of guidance, expertise and experience to offer, you may be well suited to manage others. Providing overarching vision, supporting staff and offering your leadership to a team can be an exciting next step. If you are interested in exploring a supervisory role in nursing, talk with your manager and the leadership team to see what would be necessary to explore that path of your nursing career.

Mentorship and Coaching

Mentorship in nursing is a critical component of success in this sector of healthcare. While many skills are learned and experiences had during nursing school, nothing truly prepares you for the daily grind. Having a support system that can offer mentorship, coaching and sponsorship can prove critical and necessary for new staff. This may be a good outlet for you to embrace new challenges and energize your professional life without a formal step.

Future Paths and Possibilities for your Nursing Career

If you are a nurse who has significantly more experience, you may want to explore your executive career options. Whether you are ready to take on significantly more of a leadership role within your organization or you want to be a part of the strategic vision, you can take on more of a leadership role after pursuing executive career options. If you are someone who is a natural-born leader, this may be the perfect fit for you. You may also consider learning kore about traveling Nurse careers.

Nursing can be one of the most rewarding and enriching professions; however, that does not mean that you will want to stay in the same role forever. If you are someone who is searching for your next chapter, consider how these options can shake up your life and leave you with the results and next steps that you are searching for.

Pets Products

How to Train Your Dog to Stop Barking at the Neighbor Dog

September 1, 2020September 1, 2020 Erin Sluka

These 2 Whoodles of mine above are Maya and Leah. They are sisters and completely different personalities. Maya (chestnut color) is more laid back but also stubborn. If she does not feel like taking a command, she simply won’t and quite literally turns her nose up at us sometimes. She is a ‘diva’!

Leah (black color) is ‘Ms. Anxiety’. Sometimes she is afraid of her own shadow and when it comes to the neighbor dog, she clashes with him. Leah and the neighbor dog lose their minds barking and lunging at each other through the fence. It has been a constant battle with us and our neighbors. It’s a good thing we all get along!

At one point last fall I decided I would begin training Leah starting with the basics. I searched for articles about how to train your dog to stop barking and decided to start at ‘sit and come’. She turned 2 in March so it was OK to start with basic training. The problem? No one in my house would conform to it. They spoil these 2 and allow them to get away with anything. My training failed before I could really begin. Professional training? That would be a waste of money because no one else here is consistent. So, Leah would go crazy and bark and we thought were doing the right thing going outside and yelling at them to stop barking and come in.

Over a year later and we are still feel like the lunatic neighbors screaming at our dogs multiple times a day. We have even communicated with the neighbor such as when we remodeled the downstairs and needed them to be out all day so she can time her dog’s outside breaks and vice versa. Pathetic! It was time to find a solution and I did my research and put a few things together and we have made huge steps in their barking!

Here is what we have learned about how to train your dog to stop barking and that works! First, here is a video below I took of Maya and Leah responding to our BarxBuddy Ultrasonic Training Device…

View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Erin | Blogger (@parentinghealthy) on Sep 1, 2020 at 11:53am PDT

Identify triggers! For our dogs it is when they go out together. Maya and the neighbor dog are just fine the two of them. It is when Leah is out there that commotion starts. We also know that other dogs trigger Leah when she is confined. At a park, she loves them! Find your dog’s triggers and if you cannot eliminate them, be aware and prepared.

Don’t Bark with them! We learned ourselves through many training advice articles that for most dogs, if they are upset and barking and you yell or shout at them they get confused. They literally think you may be joining in with them and participating at this chaos.

Use tools like BarxBuddy! When your voice appears to not help or confuse them, consider a training device. We use (and love) the BarxBuddy Ultrasonic Training Device. I will tell you more about it in this post. If this type of device does not phase your dog, perhaps other tools like invisible fencing or a barrier. These tools can be so useful as you learn how to train your dog to stop barking.

Be consistent! This is obvious but I cannot leave it out. If you use a tool have it nearby and ready to go. Check batteries often if your training tool requires one. Teach everyone in the home the ‘no bark’ plan for your dog. Have training treats handy.

Treats! If your dog’s are motivated by treats this can work great for the beginning of training. Make sure they are small and not too fatty. Make sure you are rewarding them AFTER they get quiet for a few seconds. If you reward right after the bark then they could think that treat was for the barking. Reward their quiet and calm.

I mentioned that we are using the BarxBuddy Ultrasonic Training Device with Leah’s barking. I was given a training collar last year that did vibration and sound but the collar was very irritating to her and I needed her to keep on her reflective collars and tags so it was too much. I love that there is no collar or yard adjustments needed for using this device. The flashlight on the device is handy also.

Our BarxBuddy is immediately effective but does not completely startle her. I would not have used it on her as a young puppy. It is recommended for ages 6 months and older so it doesn’t act like a scare tactic. With Leah at 2 years old it is surely a training tool that gets her to stop barking due to the distraction of the sound so she can hear and respond to my commands. To us that was so hard to accomplish by shouting all the time. Quick, painless and effective so for Leah, it is our favorite training tool.

If you think this ultrasonic training device can be useful for your dog’s barking, you can find it at the BarxBuddy website along with more tips and useful resources about how to train your dog to stop barking.

For more pet product reviews, visit our Pets pages

2020 Holidays, Food, Natural Foods, Recipes

Healthy On You Vegan Spices have Edible Playlists – Smoked Pork Shoulder

September 1, 2020August 30, 2020 Erin Sluka

Healthy On You Vegan Spices Combine Culture, Flavor & Music

If you are like me you have been cooking at home much more and with some extra time have wanted to get more creative in the kitchen. I recently upgraded our smoker and have been practicing my meat and meal skills on this new grill. I even took an entire day recently and renovated my spice cabinet because I spend so much time in it I need it more organized. Then I went on to find more spice combinations to have on hand.

Healthy on You is a spice brand I have been introduced to and they have a unique line of organic, non-GMO, vegan spices combining flavor, culture, and music. You can now shake things up with these vegan spices for a fun cooking experience from home. Cooking just became more fun!

You will love the names of these spices from Healthy On You…playlists for your meals! Let the Good Thymes Roll”, “Hit the Roast Jack”, “No Woman, No Spice”.

Healthy On You is a black woman-owned business created by certified health coach, Samantha Binkley, who took her passion for pursuing a healthy lifestyle and cooking to create her vegan, 100% USDA organic spice and salt blend line. You won’t want to lock these up in a cabinet – they are fun kitchen conversation starters.

The first thing I smoked the day these vegan spices arrived were 2 pork shoulders. I used the Hit the Roast Jack blend on the pork and it came out amazing! The bark was so delicious! I dry brined with this rub overnight. Then slow cooked all day. At wrap time I used a layer of pink butcher paper and then a layer of foil. Pulled it at 200 degrees, rested it for 45 minutes still in its wrap. Once I finally opened it up I had a beautiful spiced bark and the most tender meat inside. It was my best pork smoke yet!

Look at the bark and smoke ring! The Hit the Roast Jack rub I used from the Healthy on You spice blends is actually a spice and coffee rub. Typically fantastic for a beef roast I wanted to try it on pork and am so glad I did. This blend is made up of allspice, cayenne, cinnamon, coconut sugar, coffee, garlic, ground porcini mushrooms, kosher salt and smoked paprika. Doesn’t that sound amazing?

What I am really excited for is my Spice Up the Holidays Build Your Own Collection from the edible playlists! I am hosting the family Thanksgiving this year and have a large turkey and roast to cook and this collection will be my best friend come November. I can’t wait to use the I’m Still Brining turkey brine blend for fantastic flavor. The fennel countdown is best for seafood but I may try it on hearty green veggies like brussel sprouts. This collection also comes with a Hit the Roast Jack for that holiday roast and I already know how fantastic that will turn out.

The Build Your Own Edible Playlist is the best way to customize your experience. This beautifully designed, sustainable keepsake bamboo box comes with three spice blends accompanied by three delicious, healthy recipes, an olive wood spoon, and various loose organic spices. Choose three spices and get your spice groove on in the kitchen. Visit Healthy on You to get your organic, vegan spices in time for the fall holidays!