If you are you in the Dallas area and considering doing something fun and educational for your child this Summer that won’t break the bank and cost hundreds of dollars, then the Dallas World Aquarium, would be a great addition to put on your to do list! The cost for admission to the Dallas World Aquarium varies based on Age and is considerably affordable. The price for entry is as follows
Children – Ages 0-2 are FREE
Children – Ages 3-12 $19.95
Adults – Ages 13+ $29.95
Seniors – Ages 65+ $24.95
Military Personnel – $24.95
Exhibits/Experience/ What You Can Expect to See
The Dallas World Aquarium- located in the heart of Dallas, conveniently located near the freeway/highways for quick access in and out of the city is an unique experience that immerses you into another world.
Upon arrival to the entry you are greeted by a beautiful vibrant jungle of palms and bamboo. Even as you wait in line you can expect to be immersed in an other worldly tropical jungle experience where you will be greeted by various exotic birds and tropical plants.
Once you are admitted you will be provided with a thorough and helpful guide of exhibits and the species of animals within. The Aquarium itself is broken into 3 levels and several types of habitats as follows
The Orinoco Rainforest
Mundo Maya
The Aquarium
Some of the amazing creatures you can expect to see in these exhibits are
Exotic Birds
Fish
Crocs/Gators
Lizards
Penguins
Monkeys
Bats
Sloths
Snakes
Turtles
Sharks and More! The Dallas World Aquarium has even included an online PDF of the field guide of the aquarium on their website at DWA-Field-Guide-2024.pdf (dwazoo.com) for more detailed information on all the exhibits.
The unique feature I enjoyed most about the Dallas World Aquarium, is that it not only included plenty of beautiful aquatic creatures, but also other species of mammals and animals from other habitats and environments as well, which gave the feel of not only being in an aquarium but a live rain forest as well.
The walk through was quite enjoyable and was perfect for capturing my 2 eight years old attention and curiosity for 2 PLUS hours! One of the first exhibits my kiddos enjoyed was on the second level of beneath the canopy and sloth forest which had a unique interactive feature where children could experience some of mist and fog of the rain forest.
Of course there are a few dining options as well in each of the 3 levels/habitats – a c Cafe Maya, in Mundo Maya. Cafe Jungle in Orinoco Rainforest, and eighteen -O- One in the Aquatic/Aquarium level.
The visit to the Dallas World Aquarium, was an enjoyable experience and was the perfect educational, and entertaining family outing for exploring summer fun, and staying out of the Texas Sun!
Only 3 months into 2020 and what a year it has been. January left us shocked with the fatal helicopter crash that claimed Kobe Bryant’s death and the lives of 8 other’s.
Now an unexpected virus has crept into our lives country by country, county by county, and city by city.
I just want to say, what a way to start the decade.
“Corona” is the virus that will make America or break it.
With number of confirmed cases steadily on the rise in almost every state, more and more schools, and businesses are closing their doors. The stock Market has crashed and no one knows when this invisible virus “plans to finish it’s business.”
There are only 2 possible outcomes; America will either bounce back to be better than it was before, or it will fall to a place which we would have to take time recovering from.
It’s not just up to our leaders and the governors of our country and state, but it’s up to us as well. WE ALL PLAY A PART in the spread/containment of this virus, but only time will tell.
Who knows how long the pandemic will last, but we do need to make the best of it. Spend this quarantine time with your family, and just appreciating life, Pray, talk to God, and ask him for blessings, and guidance over you life.
Gain clarity for yourself. This quarantine is a break that most of us needed.
I’ll be the first in life to say this is true for me. This time has given me a new focus, and outlook on life. I was in absolute misery at my job, and not living up to my full potential.
After this pandemic is over they may not see me back!
I’m not saying quit your job, but use this time to focus on you. Ask yourself; if what you are doing is leading to the life and the things you want. If not; what can you do to start changing this.
Why Having Good Credit is Important, And Understanding it
There are various reasons why you would want to raise your credit score, It could be that you want to take out a mortgage on your dream home or you’re praying to get approved for car financing or a personal loan. Even if you just want to raise your credit score to repair your credit just want to get a shinny new credit card, these tips should be able to get you on the right track.
In order to be approved for a credit card, loan, mortgage, financing etc, lenders will look at certain factors, like your job, income, and most importantly; your credit score.
Just about all lenders look at your FICO score to determine whether your credit is poor, fair, good, or excellent. The range of your credit score can literally make or break any deal with a potential lender.
Trust me it’s not something you want to go through, I’ve been at the car dealership anticipating getting a new car only to be denied because my credit wasn’t good enough
Having good credit is important, not only for making big purchases, but it can come in handy if you happen to need emergency funds. Your score can also determine how much interest, you will pay on a particular loan and can even determine the size of your monthly payments (the more excellent the score the lower the payment.
The diagram below is a more detailed breakdown of the typical credit range
The next most important thing about credit you should understand is the different parts or factors that make up your credit score.
Once you can understand what makes up the majority of your score, you can focus on those sectors to raise your credit score faster. Your credit score is typically broken down into 5 cateogories:
Payment history– are you making your payments, late on time, or before time.
Amounts Owed– Total debt and outstanding balances
Credit Length– How long have you held accounts in good standing, collections, closed accounts
Types of Credit– Personal and student Loans, Mortgages, credit card
New Credit– New cards and new loan approvals
As depicted in the image above the cateogories with the 2 most major impacts on your credit score are your payment history and your amounts owed as a combined total of 65% of your credit score. Luckily for you these 2 cateogories are things you can work on right away.
If you are like the average person you probably don’t have a lot of money to spend on paying back thousands of dollars worth of debt awesome enough there are some things you can do to raise your credit score without spending large sums of money, so here’s 5 tips to help you raise your credit score fast.
What is Experian? Experian is a huge multinational consumer credit reporting agency. Experian offers several services ranging from checking your credit score, to monitoring your credit for fraudulent activity, they even offer live support for you to ask questions about your credit, but my favorite perk about Experian is that they offer a service called Instant credit boost!
Instant credit boost is exactly what it sounds like, an instant boost in your credit score. By using the instant boost to raise your score, you can raise your score on average by 13 points!
Experian looks at your account statements and gives you credit for bills, and utilities that you already pay on a monthly basis, which instantly boosts your credit score, and the score really does take effect immediately! Click this link here to head on over and get your FREE credit boost!
Raise Your Credit Score Tip #2-Dispute incorrect/fraudulent or unknown accounts
Disputing and removing faulty or incorrect accounts from your credit his can have a dramatically positive effect on your credit score! That is why it pays to really know everything on your credit report because you could have unknown credit errors lying around, crippling your credit score.
When you successfully dispute an account and have it removed, your credit score could easily jump over 20 points!
Luckily for us Experian, and Credit Karma are two sites and apps that let you view your entire credit history and will help you dispute accounts you believe to be errors for FREE!
If you can set up payment arrangements for outstanding balances that you owe. Since payment history and amounts owed makes up about 65% of your entire credit score, it makes sense that adding on time monthly payments, and decreasing outstanding balances will drastically raise your credit score.
You’re payments don’t have to be huge but they should be consistent. There are even companies that will help you consilidate your credit.
What does it mean to consolidate your credit? Consolidating your credit happens when a lender, or bank agrees to help you pay off your debt by combining all your outstanding balances into one lump sum,. In turn you only have to make a single payment each month to your lender.
Juggling several monthly payments on top of rent, utilities, and other bills can be stressful. Consolidating your credit simplifies the process of rebuilding your credit by combining monthly payments into one.
What is SELF? Self Lender is an amazing credit monitoring tool that allows you to build credit and save money by making fixed monthly payments over a span of 24 months or less.
In a way Self is like a CD or Bond, where after your account has matured you can withdraw your money! The only difference is that your money doesn’t gain any interest.
Self Lender is great for people who are on the low end of the credit spectrum, looking to rebuild their credit, or those who are new to the world of credit and looking to establish credit history.
The only upfront cost you have to pay is a $9 fee to activate your account, after that you will begin paying the fixed monthly payment of your choice, $25, $48, $89, or $150. For minimum payments of $25, the span of your loan is 24 months. If you opt for one of the higher payments, the span of your loan will last for 12 months
People have raised their credit score by a whopping 100 points using Self Lender . So it is definitely 100% worth the try. Click here to visit their site and signup here
Raise Your Credit Score Fast Tip #4-Secured Credit Card
A secured credit card is similar to a credit building loan in the sense that you have to provide your own money upfront. Your deposit is what makes the card secure, so that there is no risk for the bank or lender.
After your deposit has been received and your account activated you can begin using your credit card as you would a normal credit card. Whatever you borrow you must pay back. Your credit limit is typically the same amount as your deposit
There are various banks and cards that offer various deposit amounts ranging from a minimum of $50 to a maximum of $3,000. Just like ordinary credit cards, these banks report to the major credit bureaus. If you make your payments on time this will help to raise your credit score.
Here is a list of some of best secured credits cards out there
“Embrace Uncertainty. Some of the most beautiful chapters of our lives won’t have a title until much later.” –Bob Goff
Accepting or embracing change can be difficult, painful even. It’s the reason why we procrastinate and put off those important projects and ideas that have the potential to change our lives.
The truth is in some way, shape, or form, we are scared; scared of what change may bring, scared of the effort we may have to put in, scared to leave our comfort zone, afraid of the difficulties we may face.
Some of us are so scared of failure that we never even start down the road that could lead us to our greatest success.
Today I made a change. I left my average entry level position job as a cashier.
Although I have held this position for a year, I have grown comfortable in it, comfortable in the familiarity of it, comfortable in it’s daily repetitiveness, and the safety of my routine.
Staying would have been an easy thing to do, but taking the easy way out leaves no room for growth or change, which is a basic necessity of life. We need growth and change, or otherwise our dreams, and goals begin to die.
To be honest I’m more than scared about starting a new job, especially one I’ve never done. I’m not even sure I’m mentally prepared for it, but one thing I do know is that I have the chance to grow, and when life presents you with the opportunity you take it.
This post is a reminder to go after your goals and dreams no matter how terrifying and unreasonable they may seem. Of course there’s a 100 chances of not achieving success, but it’s a fact that you never will if you never try.
A post shared by Jelisa Payton (@empowering_womenworthwealth) on
The shocking truth is 1 in 4 women will experience some form of domestic abuse or domestic violence in their life time, with most domestic occurrences happening to women between the ages of 18-34.
Although there are an estimated 12 million cases of domestic abuse a year, less than half are actually reported to authorities.
It’s extremely important that women (or men) who may be subject to this kind of abuse alert someone about their situation, even if it’s a family member, friend, police or agency, someone should know.
You should never feel alone, trapped or helpless when facing domestic abuse, most partners who are abusive tend to escalate, or continue abuse because they feel that their victim is estranged from friends and family
If you or someone you know may be suffering from abuse make a police report, or contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline. at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
A Man Who is Not A Man; A Short Verse
I know a man who is not a man, but a liar who never keeps his word.
Whose mouth proclaims his love, and threatens my life like a two edged sword.
I know a man who is not a man, who’d rather make excuses than to try.
I know a man who is not a man who believes all his twisted lies.
I know a man who is not a man who’d take my last without batting an eye,
He believes raising hands to me can be justified.
I know a man who is not a man who has no self control, no morals or, no goals.
Someone who believes he’s entitled because he exists,
he believes he can solve his problems by how well he can use his fists.
The problem with this man is that he is not a man at all.
So I know a man who is not a man, he’s actually is just a boy.
I wrote this verse a little over a month ago, BEFORE deciding that maybe posting a verse revealing the true nature of my children’s father would be a little bit harsh. You are reading this because he changed my mind.
In the past week alone he has shown up outside my door and at our neighborhood park shouting and threatening to shoot me and kill me in front of our children for not answering the phone when he called.
I do not understand how a man can behave this way toward a woman that has mothered his children. This instance is just one of several other traumatizing incidents I have endured with this man, varying in degrees of, stress, trauma, and severity.
As someone who has experienced domestic violence and abuse, it’s very easy to allow feelings of dread, depression, hopelessness and fear to sink in, but I encourage you to use your voice and tell someone, remove yourself from the situation if you can. Seek help from family, and professionally if you need to.
You are important. You deserve to feel safe, no one on this Earth deserves to harm you in anyway. Reach out there are many people who would be willing to help.
Are you a survivor or know someone who is a survivor of domestic abuse. What are your thoughts on the issue? What did you do, what actions are you taking to protect yourself?
Disclaimer: the photo above is not meant to portray an individual/s accused of or associated with Domestic abuse or violence.
Don’t forget to Follow me on Instagram @real.queens.killing.it for encouragement and inspiration
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