Julie really seemed to enjoy looking at the animals. She was fascinated by the big brown bear that kept pacing back and forth in its cage, and she almost started crying when we left the budgie cage, which has 200-300 budgies in it. You can actually go inside and feed the birds seed from a stick! Julie loved that.

Here are some of the pictures I took at the zoo:

The entrance to the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids, Michigan

The rose garden outside the entrance of the John Ball Zoo

The budgie aviary houses at least 200-300 budgies.

Budgies at the John Ball Zoo

Julie really got a kick out of feeding the budgies.

A Yellow and Green Budgie

Someone Feeding a Budgie

Green and Yellow Budgie

Budgies at the John Ball Zoo

Pelican

Pelicans

Reticulated Python

Komodo Dragon

Poison Dart Frogs

Blue Poison Dart Frog

Anemones at the Zoo Aquarium

More Anemones

A Bear at the John Ball Zoo

Living Wall at the John Ball Zoo

A closer look at the Living Wall

This dragon is located in the swan boat pond outside of the zoo.

Licensing Information: Feel free to use any of these photos for non-commercial purposes as long as you give me credit by linking back to this site. You may not sell any of these photos or any product made with them without purchasing a license, but it’s fine to use them for illustrative purposes on a website that earns revenue from advertising or other means.

Just look at this screenshot, and you’ll see why Thruzt is so appealing:

It looks great, right? So what’s the problem? Here it is, from the Thruzt FAQ:

Let me get this straight: By submitting content to Thruzt, I am dedicating it to the public domain? WHAT?! You have got to be kidding me. There is no way I am dedicating my content to the public domain.

In case you’re not sure just what that means, here is a screenshot of the definition of the Creative Commons Public Domain Zero license:

And that is why I won’t be posting anything on Thruzt. Unless, of course, they change their terms.

If it seems like the weather is getting warmer, it’s not your imagination. The USDA has just issued a new zone map for gardeners that reflects recent climate changes. Here are the new USDA zone maps for the US and Michigan. If you’re in another state, you can click your state on the interactive map on the USDA website to see the hardiness zone in your exact location.

The heat has been working for about three days now, and we are staying in the house at night even though the water isn’t hooked up yet so we still have to use the bathroom in the RV. The air mattress we were sleeping on developed a hole, though, and we have a regular mattress to sleep on in the house.

The toilet and the drain for the tub are hooked up now, and the city will be coming out to turn on the water on Monday. Hopefully, we can get the rest of the plumbing done before then. We still have to hook up the bathroom and kitchen sinks.

Here are some pictures to show how much has been done so far.

Entryway

Entryway Before

Entryway Today

Living Room

Living Room Before

Living Room with Insulation

Dad working in Living Room

Josh in the Living Room

The Kids’ Rooms

The kids’ rooms and bathroom started out as one open space. We put in walls to make the bathroom, a small bedroom for the two little kids, and a medium-sized bedroom for Josh.

Kids Rooms & Bathroom Before

First, the Walls

Then the Insulation

The Small Bedroom Today

The Medium Bedroom Today

Bathroom

The Bathroom Ceiling

My Brother Steve Working on the Bathroom Ceiling

Mom Working in the Tub

Our Bedroom

Our Bedroom Before

Bedroom Closet from Kitchen Before

Our Bedroom in Process

Working on Our Bedroom Today

Kitchen

Kitchen Before

Kitchen

OK, So Only Half of the Kitchen is Done!

Front Porch—This Will Be My Office

Front Porch Before

The Front Porch Still Needs a Lot of Work

I had completely forgotten about it.

The house in Grant was completely gutted by the former owners. They were going to completely remodel the interior but guess what? They never got around to it either. So we have a house that looks pretty much OK from the outside, but the inside is a completely different story.

Here are the “before” pictures:

Pretty, huh? Well, it will be!

Since these pictures were taken, we have cleaned it up, pulled out a lot of nails, and torn out what was left of the old insulation and drywall. We have framed in the interior walls and are almost done with the wiring and insulating the walls.

We still have a lot to do before we can move in, but we are getting closer.

If you want to help us get moved in sooner, check out my IndieGoGo project: Help Us Move Into Our New Home Before Winter. I’m offering some perks for those who decide to donate.

If you live in the Grant Rapids area or the thumb of Michigan—or anywhere in between—and want to donate used furniture or building materials, we can probably come pick them up. We are in need of DRYWALL, interior and exterior doors, gas lines, pipes for plumbing, a faucet and sprayer for the kitchen sink, a tub surround, a faucet and shower head for the tub, a queen bed with mattresses, a full or twin bed with mattresses, a crib mattress, kitchen chairs, a high chair, a booster seat, and a potty chair. There’s probably more, but that’s all I can think of right now.

What Is a Mind Diet?

A mind diet is the practice of paying attention to—and controlling—what goes into your mind. It’s about watching, reading, and listening to positive things and avoiding things that are negative, such as violent TV shows, video games, and news articles. It goes beyond simply avoiding the negative, though. You also need to avoid things that are merely useless. There may not be anything negative about playing FarmVille or whatever the latest addictive Facebook game is, but these things keep you from thinking about and doing things that are positive.

I have done well by eliminating mindless games from my life. I have been guilty of wasting countless hours in the past playing Farmville, Zoo World, Kingdoms of Camelot, and other addictive games. What could I have accomplished if I had used those hours for more productive purposes? I’ll never know.

However, even though I’ve stopped playing these games, I have not eliminated all of the negatives from my thought diet. I still get caught up in reading negative news stories now and then, for one thing. But the worst of the negatives come from my memories. Do you ever beat yourself up for the mistakes you’ve made in the past? I sure do! The thing is, as Tim points out in Today We Are Rich, there is no point in going over and over the mistakes you have made. What’s done is done. Learn what you can from them, and then let them go.

Keeping a Mind Diet Journal

The key, of course, is to catch yourself thinking negative thoughts and then do something to switch your thinking to something more positive. You can’t think about two things at once, so you do this by remembering and reliving the successes you have experienced instead of the failures. This will do you a lot more good. By reliving the successes, you will create the confidence you need to succeed over and over again.

Tim recommends keeping a journal of everything you read, watch, or listen to so that you can see what you are putting into your mind. I think it would also be a good idea to use a section of that journal to write down your successes so you don’t have to rely on your memory when you are trying to think of something positive to push the bad memories away. All you need is a little notebook and you’re ready to go with your mind diet journal. You don’t need anything fancy.

Tim’s Book Is More than Just a Mind Diet

The mind diet is a good start, but there is much more to Tim’s book. The mind diet is just one of the seven principles he teaches in Today We Are Rich. Tim believes that these principles are the keys to confidence, which in turn is the key to success. Here is a look at the contents to give you an idea of what you can find in this book.

Today We Are Rich: Table of Contents

Prologue: Billye’s Lesson I Never Forgot

Part 1: The Case for Confidence

Chapter 1: Sideways Years
Chapter 2: The Awakening
Chapter 3: The Good Loop

Part 2: The Principles of Total Confidence

Chapter 4: Principle 1: Feed Your Mind Good Stuff
Chapter 5: Principle 2: Move the Conversation Forward
Chapter 6: Principle 3: Exercise Your Gratitude Muscle
Chapter 7: Principle 4: Give to Be Rich
Chapter 8: Principle 5: Prepare Yourself
Chapter 9: Principle 6: Balance Your Confidence
Chapter 10: Principle 7: Promise Made, Promise Kept

Epilogue: A First Step into the Good Loop

Other Books by Tim Sanders

Well, it was fun while it lasted, but this no longer works. Pinterest now strips the affiliate code out of Amazon.com links.

When people ask me how to make money online, I usually say something completely unhelpful like, “I write a lot of articles.”  I have spent years learning about Internet marketing and I couldn’t possibly teach you everything I know in an hour or two. However, sometimes we simply overthink things, and that is definitely true when it comes to making money online. You don’t need to know everything to get started—you just need to know a little bit and take some action. With that in mind, here is the easiest way to make money online that I know of—or at least the most fun way.  

This online money-making method is so easy that anyone can do it. Even my kids, who couldn’t write an article to save their lives (love you guys!), could do this. If you are the type to get addicted to Facebook games and other useless Internet time wasters, this is the perfect way for you to make a little extra money online.

Step 1: Get an Amazon Affiliate Account

If you already have an Amazon affilate account, that’s great. If not, go to Amazon.com (it’s an affiliate line—a girl’s gotta live!) and log in, then scroll to the bottom and click the link that says, “Become an Affiliate.” Check out the handy dandy illustration above if you can’t find it.

Can you do this with other affiliate programs? Yes. Am I going to show you how? No! Stop overthinking things and just do what you’re told for now. You can experiment all you want once you’ve got the basics down.

Step 2: Join Pinterest

Pinterest is fun! Pinterest is addictive! Pinterest is profitable! At least it can be if you know how to use it as a way to make money. Go there and try to sign up. You might have to join the waiting list. It took me about an hour to get my invitation after I applied. So go sign up, or request an invite if you can’t sign up yet, and then come back here to learn how this works so you’re ready to go once you get your invitation.

Step 3: Add the “Pin It” Button to Your Browser

After you get into Pinterest, go to the Goodies page and follow the instructions to set up a “Pin It” bookmarklet in your browser. This will make it really easy to pin things.

Step 4: Find Something Cool to Pin

Now it’s time to go shopping! But first, pick a theme. Maybe you’ll pin clothes you’d like to buy for your toddler, photography equipment, or stuff you’d like for your garden. It doesn’t matter. You can have as many boards as you want on Pinterest with as many themes as you’d like, but just pick one to get started. Now go to Amazon.com and find a product you like.

Step 5: Get the Link

You can’t just pin the Amazon product as-is. You have to get your affiliate link first.

Look at the upper right corner of the image above. Do you see the part that’s selected? That’s the Amazon product ID. Go to the page for the product you want to pin and locate the product ID. Now select it and copy it to the clipboard.

Now go here: Clean HubPages Amazon Link Tool. Enter your product ID in the top left box and your Amazon affiliate ID in the bottom left box. Click “Create Clean Product Link.” Your affiliate URL will magically appear in the box below.

Step 6: Pin It

Copy it and paste the Amazon affiliate URL that you created in step 5 into a browser window. Hit enter and wait for it to load. Now select the name of the product with your mouse. Then click the “Pin It” bookmarklet you created in step 3. Hover over the product picture and you will see a “Pin It” button appear. Click it.

Now a popup box will appear. Since this is your first pin, you’ll need to create a new board. Give it a catchy name if you can think of one. Keep it focused on a certain category of products, such as “Fabulous Footwear” so more people are likely to follow it.

The product name that you selected will be in the description area. Edit it if you want to, then click “Pin It.” In a second or two, you’ll see a success message. Congratulations! You’ve just entered the online marketing game.

Now Go Pin More Stuff!

So there you have it—the easiest way to make money online. Now don’t just pin one item and go checking your stats every day getting bummed because you didn’t make any money. Go crazy and pin lots of stuff. Have fun with it. Pinterest is addictive anyhow, so it shouldn’t be hard. Just go window shopping and add the items you want to Pinterest instead of adding them to your Amazon.com wish list. You can’t afford to buy them all anyhow. (If you can, why the heck are you reading this?)

Don’t Forget to Follow People

The best way to find people to follow is to search Pinterest for pins related to your category and following the people who are pinning them. If you are pinning camping stuff and you follow a bunch of people posting camping stuff and re-pin the stuff they pin that interests you, they may take notice and follow you back. Then they’ll start seeing your Amazon stuff in their streams. You won’t make a cent if no one is following you.

And while you’re at it, why not look me up and follow me on Pinterest too? Maybe I’ll follow you back.

Will this Make Me Rich?

Of course! Not. Let’s put it this way, I’ve probably spent more time on this post than I’ve spent on Pinterest, and I’ve made about 4 bucks so far. Not bad, considering that most of the things I’ve pinned were not Amazon items. I have been pinning recipes I’d like to try, craft projects that look like they would be fun to make, and other stuff as well as Amazon items. In other words, wasting time.

But don’t expect to get rich on Pinterest. It has the potential to give you a bit of extra pocket money. Just remember that Amazon won’t pay you for about two months.

But hey, Christmas is coming and money is tight, right? So pin away during the month of September and see what happens. If you do well, you’ll be getting paid at the end of November—just in time for Christmas shopping. Be sure to leave a comment and let me know how it goes.

Well, it was fun while it lasted, but this no longer works. Pinterest now strips the affiliate code out of Amazon.com links.

Why I Stopped Believing in God

It was my first marriage that caused me to turn from God, or more accurately, it was my desire to get a divorce. When my then-husband and I went to marriage counseling with the pastor of a local church, I was told in no uncertain terms that I had no choice but to stay married. The Bible did not allow for divorce at all.

Instead of searching the Scriptures for the truth, I took the pastor’s word for it and turned away from God. How could a God who would require me to remain with an abusive husband possibly love me? It didn’t add up, and it broke my heart—causing actual physical pain. I decided I could no longer believe.

Reading the Scriptures to Find the Truth

It took me eight years to realize that God does indeed love me. I hope it doesn’t take you that long. It took hitting rock bottom before I realized that I was missing something and started searching again. This time, I turned to the Scriptures, which is what I should have done to begin with.

I decided that I would read the entire Bible all the way through with an open mind, and I did. I learned a lot along the way. I learned that when you read the Bible looking for a reason not to believe, that is exactly what you’ll find, but when you read it with a heart to learn the truth, your eyes will be opened to see things in a different light.

Maybe that sounds corny, but it’s true. And when you read the same Scriptures again, you can get something completely different out of them the second time that you completely missed the first time you read them. It’s not that the message has changed, but rather that your life circumstances are different now and something that didn’t jump out at you the first time around might be exactly what you need the second time, so your mind zeroes in on it.

How to Handle an Abusive Spouse the Biblical Way

As I was reading through the Scriptures, I came across a passage in Matthew that helped me understand how to handle the situation of an abusive spouse. This is something that most churches don’t teach. In fact, the passage I am about to quote is not specifically about marriage, but about sin in general:

15) If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16) But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17) If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

Matthew 18:15-17

So what should I have done differently? I should have confronted my husband privately first and given him an opportunity to repent. If he continued to abuse me, I should have taken it before a couple of witnesses. And finally, if that didn’t work, I should have taken it to the church elders.

And if none of that worked? Then I should have treated him as a pagan or tax collector, not as a husband. What that means is that our relationship would change. I would still be expected to love him, but not as a wife loves a husband but rather in a “love your neighbor as yourself” sort of way—the way we are to love everyone.

Now, since we are treating the unrepentant husband as an unbeliever (pagan), this passage would seem to apply:

10)To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. 11) But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.

1 Corinthians 7:10-11

In the above passage, we are hearing from the Lord. Paul goes out of his way to mention that. The first part would seem to be a hard-and-fast rule: wives cannot separate from their husband. However, in the very next sentence, our Lord acknowledges that there are circumstances in which a wife will feel that she needs to leave even though she knows it is not the optimal choice. In such a case, the wife must remain unmarried so that there is some hope that the marriage can be reconciled if the husband repents.

The next section is about husbands and wives that are unevenly yoked:

12) To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13) And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him.

1 Corinthians 7:10-15

Paul again goes out of his way to say who is giving this command. This time, it is Paul, not the Lord. That is worth noting. This is not a command that comes from the Lord, but rather an instruction given to the Corinthian church, which may or may not be meant to apply to other circumstances. In the early church, when Christianity was brand new, it is likely that there were a lot of mismatched couples. Paul didn’t want them to divorce one another just because one had gotten saved and the other hadn’t yet. Paul’s instruction in this passage was given in a completely different context than that of a wife who is being mistreated by her husband.

Why I Believe in God Now

As I read through the Scriptures trying to discern the truth, rather than looking for ammunition to back up my decision not to believe in God, I constantly came across passages that made me realize I had been wrong about God. I can’t list them all here because it was a long time ago and I didn’t take notes. But eventually, I came to the point where I realized that I had been wrong and I repented and turned to God.

Since I started trusting God, my life has turned around. It’s not perfect, mind you, but it is very different and much, much better. Remember how I said that I hit rock bottom before I got to the point where I was ready to seek God again? I had lost everything chasing some get-rich-quick scheme. Maybe I’ll tell you that story later, maybe not, but my point is that I really couldn’t get much lower. I had lost my house and spent a month living in a tent before moving in with relatives. I know what it is like to be destitute and feel like you have nowhere to turn. I also know that it doesn’t have to be that way, even when things are bad.

I am now remarried and my husband was recently unemployed for over a year. It was tough, but we trusted God and He came through for us in miraculous ways. Around the time the 401(k) money was running out, we got about six checks in the mail that were completely unexpected. That was God. I found ways to make more money from my articles than I had previously been making. That was God too.

I have seen God working in big ways and small in our lives. I am an absent-minded person who tends to lose things. I can spend hours looking for something on my own and not find it, but when I pray and ask God to help me, I usually find what I am looking for within minutes. I am not saying that if you turn to God, He will help you find things. But for me, it is one way He shows me that He is here for me, even in the little things.

Are You Ready to Trust God with Your Life?

Maybe you are ready to turn your life over God but you’re not quite sure how to do it. I have broken it down into three steps for you here. These are the ABCs of salvation.

A: Admit that You’re a Sinner

23) …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…

Romans 3:23

You first need to admit that you are not perfect. You have done things in your life that were wrong and therefore you are not right with God. You can’t be saved if you do not believe you have done anything that would keep you separated from God.

B: Believe that God Sent His Son to Save You

16) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

23) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

Next, you must believe that the punishment for sin is death, and that God loved you so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to earth to die in your place. Jesus took your place by dying on the cross even though He lived a perfect, sinless life. He died so that you could live.

C: Confess Your Sins

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

Now you need to confess your sins and accept God’s gift of salvation, which He gives through His Son. To do this, you just say a little prayer. You can say it out loud or in your head. If you don’t know how to pray, that’s OK. It’s just like talking to anyone else, but you are talking to God instead. He doesn’t expect your prayer to be perfect, so don’t stress over it. Just tell Him that you know you are a sinner and that you believe He sent His Son to save you. Tell Him that you accept His gift of salvation. Confess your sins and resolve to change your ways.

That’s all there is to it, but if you’re not quite ready yet or you need to talk to someone first, you can e-mail me at beth.parker.writes@gmail.com.