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On Friday, I made a promise to my kids that I would take a day off and do something with them. You see, they have been "Soo bored" on Christmas vacation and they were in need of some fun. Looking back, my son stayed at a friend's house, went to the science museum with friends, had a friend over for a day and my daughter had a friend over, went to the science museum, and had an all night sleepover at her gymnastics. So you can see why they were "soo bored". If that's boring, I would hate to be busy.

Anyway, I had promised them something fun, so I thought we would try skiing at Wild Mountain. We had a few ski passes that we had been given, so other than gas, it would be a pretty cheap day. Keep in mind that on friday, there was absolutely no snow on the ground. We went there expecting to find small alleys where the snow machines had made snow. What we found was amazing. There was snow everywhere. Apparently Wild Mountain runs their snow machines from sun down to sun up, because they had a ton of snow.

We made a day out of it, and my kids had "the best day" of their vacation. If you have been hesitant to ski because of the warm temps and lack of snow, don't be.

I hope you had a wonderful New Years weekend. Our family kept it pretty quiet. We enjoyed a nice dinner and some board games with friends. The subject of resolutions came up and when I was asked what mine was, I had no answer. But I thought about it over the weekend, and I believe I finally have one.

My resolution is to simply take in only good. What does that mean? Well you see I am a chronic worrier. No matter what the situation is, I sit and worry and let it fester inside me. I have come to the realization that worrying to that degree, does absolutely no good. In fact, it compounds the situation. Negative energy brings on more negativity. Deep right? Not really.

If I accept only positive feelings and at the same time stay positive, that will attract more positivity. I haven't went off the deep end here folks, I am speaking from years of experience. Think bad things are going to happen, bad things will happen. Think good things are going to happen, good things will happen. I hope, no, I know they will.

I hope you had a chance to look at our imroved website. Our "shiny new" website won't be up for another week or so, but like I mentioned last week, our old site has a really cool new feature.

If you click on the side tile "This week's Search Shopper", you will be re-directed to a page that contains the latest Search Shopper in the electronic version. So what's the big deal? Well, just click on an ad, any ad. That ad will pop up all by itself. You will then be able to print the ad if you like. If there is a coupon in the ad, you simply click on the coupon and it allows you to print just the coupon.

Oh, here is something else very cool. If you click on the website in an ad, bam, it opens that companies website. Isn't technology cool?

If your business is going to be in the 2012 Home Show, we are here to help. Once again, we will be putting out a stand alone tab that will feature stories about home improvement, along with a map of the show, a list of vendors and of course advertising from most of the vendors at the show. If you would like to get the word out that your business will be at the show, please give us a call at 651-257-5115. We will help you create an ad that is eye catching and will drive people to your booth.

Lastly, the Celebration of the Lakes is just around the corner. As odd as it seems, with barely any snow, the celebration will take place no matter what Mother Nature says.

There is a new twist to this year's ever-popular Chili Contest. This year, the contest will take place on Friday night, January 27. It will be at the Pilot's Reception at the Lindstrom Community Center. You are encouraged to make your favorite chili which will then be judged (and eaten) for three different categories. Best tasting Hot chili, Most Unique chili, and Best Overall chili. Each winner will take home $50. You must provide on full crock pot of chili, a ladle and one 25 foot extension cord. If you have any questions, please call Laura at 651-257-5113 or Shari at 651-257-9380.

We are once again looking for photos from you. If you have a digital photo of something you think exudes a "Chisago Lakes" feel, we want to talk to you. You can send your photos to [email protected]. We will give you full photo credit and your photo could end up on the cover of the Community Guide.

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