Keeping Active This Winter

Unless you live in a warmer region of the U.S., chances are you’re finding yourself cooped-up and bored from the confines of the cold winter season. I know I’m ready for warmer weather myself, but until spring comes I find that staying busy is a great way to beat the wintertime blues. One thing we do in my house when it’s cold outside is play a lot of board games (Monopoly and Scrabble are our favorites). Not only does it help to relieve some of the tedium from being indoors, I find that it’s also a great way to spend some time together as a family.

Aside from board games, there are a number of things you can do to help keep the cold weather boredom to a minimum. Watching movies, exercising, working on crafts, or even cooking up a special meal are all great ways to stay busy. We’ve included some links (below) if you need more suggestions. Take a look and be sure to let us know what you think.

FamilyCorner.com - Indoor Activities & Fun
Indoor Activities For Kids During Winter
Winter Boredom Busters Disney Family.com
DLTK's Winter Activities for Kids
Card Games
Domino-games.com

In the meantime, what kinds of things do you do this time of year to keep active? Feel free to share your suggestions, tips and ideas with other members in the comments section below.

Start the New Year Right -- by Getting Organized

Well, we’re off and running in 2009 – I hope you guys are still sticking to those New Year’s resolutions! You know, aside from making changes to the way we eat, increasing how much we exercise, or giving up bad habits, another common resolution for a new year is to get more organized. Most experts agree that getting rid of clutter is a great way to get rid of unwanted stress -- something I’m sure we could all benefit from.

While getting organized may seem like a daunting task to some, it isn’t nearly as difficult as you think – the hard part is getting started. The best approach to getting organized is to start small and only take on one thing at a time. Personally, I’ve found that it’s also easier to work from a list; otherwise I think I’d get too overwhelmed to accomplish anything. With a plan, a little perseverance and some determination, you can become more organized.

Get Organized Month
Lifeorganizers.com
Organization - HGTV.com
Online Organizing
Organizetips.com

Another thing you can do this month is clean up your home computer (*Note: ALWAYS be sure to back up your files first before you do anything). You’ll be amazed at how much faster your computer will operate, which will save you loads of time later on.

So how about you guys? How do you stay organized? Feel free to share your thoughts, tips or stories with other members in the comments section below. Happy organizing!

Happy New Year!

I hope the New Year has started out well for everyone. I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the MySurvey.com members who submitted photos for the annual New Year’s greeting card. We received almost 200 photos, each one beautiful and unique - it was very difficult for us to select just one photo. I think you will all be pleasantly surprised when it arrives in your inbox this week.

I would also like to thank everyone for their participation in 2008. Throughout 2008, our members participated in thousands of surveys and provided opinions to our clients about hundreds of products and services. In doing so, members earned millions of reward points and more than 800 million reward points were redeemed - or the equivalent of over 8 million dollars. This included reward points redeemed for charity donations, and merchandise as well as for cash.

We thank all of you for your past participation and look forward to a successful 2009!