Wildlife encounters: A couple of months ago, while taking a beautiful and scenic walk in the foothills near my neighborhood, I ran into a mountain lion. Let me just say I was terrified!

I finally get a couple of weeks off and am going camping – a great, traditional summer activity. Of course, some people cringe when they hear that word…”Camping”, but it doesn’t have to be as “rough” as some people think. There are definitely some varying levels of “roughing” it when camping:

Yes, that’s right folks, it’s the housing bubble déjà vu all over again – at least in the City of Angels. According to news stories published this week (Los Angeles Times and CBS), housing prices rose 28.3 percent since last June.

I came across this infographic (click the image to view it in it’s entirety) while finishing up my Financial Newlywed Bliss E-book (it’s getting real close to being completed!) and thought this was a great way to get the ball rolling.

Value is in the eye of the beholder…borrowing the saying that relates to “Beauty”, I’m going to apply it to cost of living and what’s deemed as “cheap” in my eyes. Lately I’ve been pondering my cost of living.