Why Down Books

Although I’m a DIY type of person, mainly because of my frugal nature, the holidays are the one time when I would rather have someone else do tasks for me. For instance, I’d rather buy a holiday card than make it during this busy time of year.

Although I enjoy cooking, I hire a fabulous Salt Lake City catering company to bring the food for my annual Christmas party with family and friends.

I delegate tasks to my husband and children, such as putting up and decorating the tree and house if I don’t have time to do it all myself. They have fun together, and it makes less work for me.

Unfortunately, since no one can go shopping for me, I do have to do that myself.

Try this type of delegation for the holidays to save you time during this busy, festive time of year.

Around Halloween I love to get my fill of scary movies and stories. I remember reading as a kid a book of scary ghost stories that always gave me the shivers. This year I decided to go back to that tradition and pick up a book of real ghost stories.

Based on positive reviews, I bought Haunted Heritage: A Definitive Collection of North American Ghost Stories. It had a good variety of stories, including stories ranging from creepy to the outrageous. I particularly enjoyed that he went over a wide range of time periods and areas, all the way back to the 1600s. He was very detailed and provided plenty of history as well, which I love to learn and found fascinating.

Besides reading ghost stories, I’m going to see Saw IV and go to a haunted house this Denver Halloween. If you’re in the area, I would recommend you see some of the best Halloween has to offer in Denver, Colorado. Just make sure to get your fill of the spooky before October ends!

Halloween is rapidly approaching and I am excitedly finalizing all the plans.  My husband and I will visit nearly every Colorado haunted house we possibly can, watch our top scary movies, and most importantly, host our annual Halloween bash.   Martha Stewart, domestic queen and homemaker extraordinaire, has the best Halloween guide I have ever come across.  Her ideas are elegantly spooky laced with opulent eeriness and really capture the essence and spirit of the Halloween holiday.   

I came across an article the other day that I found rather interesting: “Legal Issues and Concerns with Music on Hold.” Ha, I know it sounds kind of boring, but it was interesting to read about the legality of on hold recordings. How often do you call a customer service line and are put on hold? Chances are it is music you recognize (or if you are lucky creative hold music). Either way, the company using the music had to pay licensing fees in order to play the music. Read the article; it’s a lot more interesting and my lame post can’t do it justice.

You should definetely read 101 Ways to Advertise Your Business before you start spending money on an advertising campaign. The author, Andrew Griffiths, has 20 years of experience in business marketing and can provide tips to make your advertising more effective.

It’s an easy read, with step-by-step advice about how to advertise. I enjoyed that he covers all types of advertising, including outdoor signs, magazines, radio, newpapers, television, and the internet.

Since advertising can make or break your business, one easy tip I picked up from his book is utilizing a custom on hold message. Your on hold message can offer information about your business and products in a non-confrontational way, so that your customers don’t hang up, are entertained, and may even decide to try a new product during their time on hold. What more could you ask for?

When I met my husband about five years ago, he introduced me to Utah mountain biking. He patiently taught me how to bike and do jumps, and soon I was biking a 100 mile loop with him.

In our free time we like to practice jumps and travel around looking for new places to bike. We have picked up trail tips from friends and numerous books. We really like Mountain Biking Moab for its guide to off the road paths. It provides more trails than just Slickrock Bike Trail, plus it has very detailed maps and information on uncommon trails.

We also like picking up trails and gear from a Utah guide website. It provides articles and information about biking throughout the state, as well as other recreation activities. It even provides a guide to lodging, gear, and restaurants along the way.

Since moving to Utah a few years ago, I love finding new hikes throughout the mountain regions of the state. Of course this is just one Utah recreation activity that I enjoy, but it is the easiest to do because it only requires a pair of shoes and a quick assembly of friends for a hike.

I have already hiked the popular places recommended by friends and looked through outdoor guides to hike the rest. I recently found this new book, Utah’s Incredible Backcountry Trails , and was impressed by it. This book has more than a few (make that 92) trail maps with beautiful pictures of each area. It has trails in a range of places, covering not just Utah National Parks, but other less known trails that haven’t been seen by every hiker and visitor to Utah. It is also an easy read, with plenty of pictures.

Since the writer is a professional photographer and former Peace Corps volunteer, you get the best of the area in words and visuals. He has also written four other books about Utah’s backcountry. This book is definitely one of the best in Utah recreation, written by a real hiker and specialist.