Last minute gift guide 12 19 14

Friday, December 19, 2014

GIFT GUIDE Roswell Daily Record

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GIFT GUIDE

Deck the Halls with smart home technology

Roswell Daily Record

neered pair of compact speakers, such as SVS Prime Satellite speakers, can produce big-time dynamics from a tiny cabinet so you can enjoy holiday classics without the bulky audio equipment.

Garage

(StatePoint) 2014 will go down in history as the year smart home technology went mainstream. Rapidly evolving security, entertainment, cleaning and mobile technology have made home automation more af fordable and easier to integrate than ever before.

And this holiday season is the per fect time to give

yourself and others the gift of smart home convenience.

Feel like you’re still living in the Stone Age? No need to fret, there are ways to moder nize almost every part of your home.

Ar ms full of holiday shopping bags or hands

(StatePoint) On average, Americans gain weight during the holiday season.

While the weight gain may not be dramatic, research shows it tends to stick and accumulate over the years.

But you don’t have to succumb to this progression, say experts.

“There are strategic steps to avoid holiday weight gain while still enjoying friends, family and holiday feasts,” says Sonya Angelone, registered dietitian nutritionist and Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics spokesperson.

In preparation for a big holiday party or feast, do not skip meals throughout the day. This may result in overeating later.

“It is especially important

to eat breakfast,” says Angelone. “High-fiber and high-protein foods like oatmeal and milk with fruit, an egg and spinach on whole-wheat toast, Greek yogurt with nuts, or nut butter on a whole-wheat English muffin will satisfy hunger without a lot of calories.”

Holiday meals tend to be large or buffet-style and include second and third helpings. While most people wouldn’t consider eating an entire cake, a common mistake is eating large portions of foods that are perceived as healthful.

To avoid overeating, use a smaller plate. It will encourage proper portion sizes. Also, start by filling your plate with vegetables

Front door

covered in clunky gloves?

Ditch fumbling with your keys in the cold and upgrade your front door with the Kwikset Kevo powered by UniKey. Featuring Touch-To-Open technology, unlocking the front door is as simple as tapping your lock, without needing to remove your phone from your pocket. Have holiday

PHOTO SOURCE: (c) Linear LLC

guests visiting? No problem! Send them an electronic key (eKey) to grant them instant access.

Living room

A leading trend for audio products has been to make them as small and unobtrusive as possible. For the music and home theater enthusiast, a smartly engi-

Enjoy the holidays without the weight gain and salad before going to the entrees and desserts.

Research shows eating a salad before your meal can help you eat fewer calories overall. Eat slowly and savor every bite. Before you go back for seconds, wait 10 minutes to see if you really are still hungry.

Including nutrient-rich foods in your diet is great, just remember that these foods have calories too, which should be taken into consideration with your whole eating plan. “And be mindful of alcohol consumption. Drink more water throughout a party to

25%

Cleaning the garage used to be a pain, but smart home technology can make it quick and convenient.

For example, the mountable Vroom Garage Vac from H-P Products has an attached 40 foot hose that can help you remove sawdust, metal shavings, sand, debris and even tiny shreds of wrapping paper from the farthest reaches of any garage, basement, or workshop, eliminating the need for schlepping a bulky shop vac. There now are smarter ways to keep garage messes under control and even vacuum the car.

A clean garage deserves an intelligent garage door.

Linear’s Z-Wave Garage Door Operator Remote Controller allows you to open, control, and monitor your sectional garage door from anywhere using a smartphone, tablet or computer. Last-second delivery, but nobody is home? Lying

in bed, but can’t remember if you closed the garage door? Now you can easily monitor and manage your garage door or use the controller to easily grant guests access via the garage.

The driveway

If you’re working in your driveway or yard, why not use the time to listen to your favorite holiday music while protecting your hearing? Headphones like Tough Sounds from ION Audio have you covered.

Perfect for outdoor work or for streaming music inside, the ruggedly crafted Tough Sound hearing protection Wireless headphones with Bluetooth reduce external noise by 25 decibels, while letting you listen to AM/FM Radio or your own tunes streamed from your favorite device. Tough Sounds also allow you to make and receive calls so you can take advantage of handsfree communication while you work.

This holiday, invest in some smart tech that make this particularly busy season less stressful, and reap the benefits all year long.

quench your thirst and help keep the cocktails to one or two,” says Angelone.

Remember to include at least 30 minutes of physical activity in your day to promote health during the holidays, and be sure to involve the whole family For more healthy holiday tips and information, consult a registered dietitian nutritionist. To learn more and find an RDN in your area, visit eatright.org.

Having healthful eating and exercise plans for holiday meals will help ensure success throughout the season and all year long.

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Blizzard®

With the purchase of Blizzard® of equal or lesser value.

Limit one coupon per customer, per visit.

Good at participating DQ locations only. Void if altered, copied, sold, exchanged or where restricted by law. No cash value. Plus tax if applicable. DQ and the eclipse shaped logo are trademarks of Am. DQ Corp., Mpls., MN ©2014. Exp. 2/28/15

$1.99

Bacon Cheese® Grillburger™ Limit one coupon per customer, per visit.

Good at participating DQ locations only. Void if altered, copied, sold, exchanged or where restricted by law. No cash value. Plus tax if applicable. DQ and the eclipse shaped logo are trademarks of Am. DQ Corp., Mpls., MN ©2014. Exp. 2/28/15

FREE

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With the purchase of Royal Treat® of equal or lesser value

Free sandwich of equal or lesser price with any combo purchase

Limit one coupon per customer, per visit.

Good at participating DQ locations only. Void if altered, copied, sold, exchanged or where restricted by law. No cash value. Plus tax if applicable. DQ and the eclipse shaped logo are trademarks of Am. DQ Corp., Mpls., MN ©2014. Exp. 2/28/15

Limit one coupon per customer, per visit.

Good at participating DQ locations only. Void if altered, copied, sold, exchanged or where restricted by law. No cash value. Plus tax if applicable. DQ and the eclipse shaped logo are trademarks of Am. DQ Corp., Mpls., MN ©2014. Exp. 2/28/15

Royal Treat®

Sandwich

GIFT GUIDE

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Chaves County Administration Door-Decorating Contest Roswell Daily Record

Friday, December 19, 2014

Mary Morgan Photos

Above left: Whoever said that people who are number crunchers have no imagination was wrong. The Finance Department was this year’s winner of the door-decorating contest.

Above right, the County Clerk office’s door.

Left: Even the County Manager’s office got in on the action. Right, many people think of the County Assessor as the Taxman, but for the holidays he gets to wear a black top hat and be the Snowman.

FREE

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Limit 1 with this coupon at participating Arbys® restaurants. Not valid with any other offer or value menu item, and not traferrable.

Valid through Valid thru 2/28/15

FREE

ANY ARBY’S® SANDWICH With the purchase of Any Combo or Equal or Lesser Value

(Excludes all Melts, Value Menu and any Angus Sandwich.)

Limit 2 with this coupon at participating Arby’s® restaurants. Offer is not valid with any other offer or discount and not transferable. Valid thru 2/28/15

1013 N. MAIN

4 For $888 4 ROAST BEEF CLASSIC SANDWICHES

Buy up to 12 in groups of 4 with this coupon at participating Arby’s® restaurants. Offer is not valid with any other offer or discount and not transferable. Valid thru 2/28/15

3 For $777 3 BEEF ‘N CHEDDAR CLASSIC SANDWICHES Buy up to 12 in groups of 4 with this coupon at participating Arby’s® restaurants. Offer is not valid with any other offer or discount and not transferable. Valid thru 2/28/15

10 AM - 11 PM

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GIFT GUIDE

Roswell Daily Record

The gift of giving

Christina Stock Photo

As a promotion to reach 5,000 “Likes” on its Facebook page, the Daily Record asked its Facebook fans to share the page with someone they know on Facebook. Once the goal of 5,000 was reached, the names of those who had shared the page as part of the promotion were entered into a raffle for a gift card at a local restaurant. The newspaper drew a name and contacted the winner, but the woman lives out of state and wouldn’t be able to use the gift card. On the second drawing the Daily Record had an official winner, Jill McLaughlin, who works as communications director for U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce. Rather than using the $50 gift card for Cattle Baron steakhouse for herself, McLaughlin said she is going to give it to a friend who is a U.S. Navy veteran of the Vietnam War. She said her friend and his wife live on a fixed income and can’t remember the last time they went out to dinner. “This is so exciting,” McLaughlin said. “It’s a real blessing to be able to give this to someone for the holiday.” Presenting the gift card to McLaughlin are Charles Fischer, Daily Record publisher, and Mary Morgan, student intern.

Don’t let kids’ brains go on vacation during the holidays

Five ways your smartphone can help you get through the holidays (StatePoint) Millions of Americans find themselves focused on planning the perfect party, juggling a packed social schedule and shopping for the best holiday deals.

Nearly seven in 10 smartphone users are “always looking to improve their productivity,” according to the results of a global study on productivity, conducted

by BlackBerry.

Don’t make the mistake of underestimating your smartphone — it can and should be more than just a way to text or email. It can be your secret weapon to sanity this holiday season.

To help, the experts at BlackBerry are sharing five savvy tips for using your smartphone to drive productivity during this busy season.

Find deals

(StatePoint) You may have hear d of “summer slide‚“ — when those summer months cause kids to lose all that glorious information and knowledge they acquired during the school year. But even shorter breaks can cause education rifts for students, too.

Not to worry. You can help dampen this effect by making sure kids use their brains over the holidays.

The only r equir ement: make it fun.

Here are a few ideas to keep your childr en’s brains busy during holiday breaks:

Study buddies

Whether your children pair up with just one friend or an entire crowd, consider making studying a social event. Add some festivity to the af fair by serving snacks and desserts. Around the holidays, you might even include a themed gift exchange for added appeal.

If you ar e in between semesters, there may not be any official studying to do, but kids can keep their minds moving with supplemental lear ning.

For example, if your child studied “As I Lay Dying,” in school, make a movie night of it. Pop some popcorn and invite his or her

friends over to watch the film version of the novel.

America” can make holiday learning a treat.

Consider online learning tools that use cr eative techniques to engage students. For example, Shmoop, an online curriculum and test pr ep provider, of fers original content that is fun without being cheesy. For example, the site has a “Pride and Pr ejudice” course which asks students to create OkCupid profiles for Lizzy, Jane, and Lydia Bennet.

“Even if it’s not 100 percent related to what your child is studying, fun tools and content can spark new interests,” says David Siminof f, founder and chief cr eative of ficer of Shmoop.

For example, the site’s “Shakespearean Translator” translates anything students type into “super authentic Shakespearean English,” tur ning even r esistant r eaders into Shakespeare aficionados.

Additionally, the site has online courses on subjects that will definitely keep kids’ brains stimulated without feeling like a snoozefest. For example, short courses like”Breaking Bad as Literatur e,” “The World According to Dr. Seuss,” and “Bruce Springsteen’s

It’s no surprise that kids love television and movies.

So why not mimic the experience with educational videos? Whether it’s a historical documentary or a math-oriented instructional video, the audiovisual format is a great vessel for many lear ners — especially those on vacation.

Fun learning tools

Educational videos

Incentivize

For students who need motivation beyond the pursuit of knowledge or the satisfaction of better grades, consider a rewards system.

Offering prizes for books read or lessons completed could be just the encouragement needed to get kids focused on academics over the holidays. Shmoop’s “Math Shack” takes this concept to heart, awarding badges and “Shmoints,” a virtual currency.

No matter what your child is learning, a bit of material incentive can prove useful when helping kids set and achieve goals. Cookies can’t hurt, either.

More information can be found at Shmoop.com. The holiday season is not necessarily a time to be bored by schoolwork. But it’s also no excuse to shut down all brain function.

Ensure you’re getting the best deals on holiday shopping. Activate the geolocation feature on your smartphone. Many brick-and-mortar retailers will be pushing special holiday discounts and offers to consumers shopping nearby or who have “checked in.” Additionally, apps such as Flipp allow you to browse the flyers and weekly ads of your favorite stores, highlight the best deals and clip items straight to your shopping list so you never miss out on a holiday sale.

The holidays can also mean a hectic travel season — use travel apps to search hotels, find flights deals and track your itineraries.

Set reminders

Creating reminders is a seamless way to stay on top of day-to-day tasks that seem to double during the holidays. With apps such as SlickTasks you can boost productivity instantly and focus on what needs to get done by creating and sorting tasks. You can then build in reminders for each and easily keep track of what needs to get done.

Bring along your personal assistant

Most smartphones are equipped with voice recognition technology, allowing you to jot down notes, search the Web, add calendar updates, place calls and send messages, without typing. These “assistants” can prove highly useful during the holiday season.

Driving from store to store looking for the perfect gift? BlackBerry Assistant can be activated via Bluetooth and can detect when you’re in the car and therefore unable to type. The assistant will take action based on your voice commands, helping you multitask on-the-go.

Don’t be camera shy

Smartphone camera technology has vastly improved over the past few years.

For example, the new BlackBerry Passport has a 13-megapixel camera and is capable of taking the same high-quality photos as a traditional point-and-shoot camera. With just the click of a button, and the help of photo-editing tools like Photo Studio, you can take beautiful photos of the holiday party and share instantly with family and friends across social networks.

Protect yourself

Thieves are working overtime during the holidays.

When it comes to your smartphone, make sure all security features are enabled. This includes password protection, as well as activating app permissions, particularly on your banking apps.

For BlackBerry users, apps such as BlackBerry Protect will safeguard users in the case of a lost or stolen phone by allowing users to remotely lock, locate or wipe their smartphone, ensuring sensitive information remains out of reach from potential thieves.

With the right tech tools and strategies, you can get your to-dos done in record time this holiday season.