8 Easy Ways to Make Your Home More Relaxing and Productive

 

 

8 Easy Ways to Make Your Home More Relaxing and Productive

 

    Home offices aren't always the most relaxing places. But with a few simple and inexpensive changes, you can turn your Meridian, ID home office into an oasis of calm — making you more focused and less stressed. Whether you want to de-clutter, bring in more natural light, or create spaces for hobbies, here are eight easy ways to make your home more relaxing and productive.

1. Change the Layout

Feng shui is an ancient Chinese practice of arranging space for better energy flow. To apply it in your home, create a layout balanced with five elements: water, fire, earth, metal, and wood. 

2. Add Plants

You don't need to live in a greenhouse to enjoy nature. Plants help purify indoor air and make you feel happier while increasing productivity. Choose a few of your favorites, such as bamboo palms or fiddle leaf figs. Alternatively, select a succulent or other easy-to-care-for plant.

3. Install Natural Light

To make your home more relaxing, consider maximizing natural light through windows by removing dark drapes or painting walls in a lighter color. If you want a space that fosters creativity, sitting near natural rather than artificial light can boost your mood and productivity.

4. Clear Your Workspace

If you work from home, a dedicated workspace away from distractions is key. Having an area that's free of clutter and ready for work is vital for getting things done. This doesn't mean you need an expensive desk in a separate room. Even a large coffee table or space on your dining room table can make a big difference.

5. De-clutter

Start by decluttering anything that doesn't spark joy. That might mean a set of dumbbells or a seldom-used treadmill. Then tackle items in miscellaneous piles: small appliances, spare chargers for devices, or mail you don't need to keep.

6. Create a Hobby Space

To make your hobby a relaxing escape, create a designated space in your home where you can do it. It could be a corner of an unused room or even just one part of a room already used for another purpose. The key is to have enough privacy to get lost in your project for hours without distractions to boost your mood and creativity.

7. Create an Adult Wellness Space

Making a wellness space helps you stay on track for fitness goals by reinforcing healthy habits, such as meditation or yoga. A wellness space can be any area of your home dedicated to relaxation, whether an entire room or just a corner of your bedroom. Transform a corner into a zen oasis with simple additions, such as soft lighting, soothing colors, and fresh flowers.

8. Focus on Floors

Thicker flooring, such as hardwood or laminate, can provide extra padding underfoot. If you're looking to create an open-concept floor plan for your office, update your floors with fewer transitions. Removing a wall between two rooms, for example, can transform the atmosphere of a space.

Relax and Be More Productive

    Regardless of what space you're trying to make more comfortable, these tips can help you relax and become more productive. Visit Capell Flooring and Interiors, specialists in creating new spaces and flooring in Meridian.

-Guest Writer: Patrick Young

Welcome to July 2022 | Capell Flooring and Interiors

Dear Friends,  Summer is in full swing now and with things falling back into something resembling normal, life can seem like one barbeque after another.  We’ll take that!  Summer holidays are a great time to come together with friends, or with family, or sometimes with your whole city!  We’ve listed every reason we could find to celebrate and listed them on our calendar so we don’t miss an opportunity. Here at Capell Flooring, we want to make sure your floors can stand up to the added traffic of an impromptu summer get-together, or a well-planned party. That’s why we stock a wide selection of quality products, and why every one of our employees makes it their mission to help you choose the product that will best suit your needs and budget. It also means you can rest easy any time you refer your friends, family, or coworkers to us because you know they’ll be taken care of. If you have any questions about the flooring options that are best for your home – or just want to stop in to say hi or see what’s new – we’d love to see you.  Thank you once again for taking the time to read the Neighborhood Advisor. We hope you enjoy it, and we look forward to hearing from you! Your friend, Matt Capell

Phrases Great Leaders Never Say to Employees | E-Neighborhood Advisor

 Happy Saturday! - Hope you have a great one!

Writer Maya Angelou was only half right when she said that people won't remember what you said, but they’ll always remember how you made them feel. True, unless you're talking about toxic things that careless leaders say. People will remember the exact words, and exactly how they made them feel—and it’s not good, according to Inc magazine. 1. “Person X is doing better.” Ugh. Never make comparisons like this. The only reason to use this phrase would be to motivate someone to improve (which it absolutely won’t) or to berate them (shame on you). 2. “Bring me solutions, not problems.” Baloney. Real leaders want problems surfaced and don’t want to shoot the messenger. Yes, the employee should think through options for solving the problem, but sometimes they need your help. This absolute a statement leads to problems buried versus brought forth. 3. “I don't have any feedback for you.” You don’t have any or you can’t have any, because you’re not in tune with the employee’s strengths and opportunities or weren’t paying enough attention to the specifics of their performance? 4. “You don’t need to know why—just execute.” Actually, they do need to know why. Surveys conducted for Make It Matter revealed 58 percent of employees ranked “Not knowing why I’m asked to do what I do” as a top three de-motivator. 5. “I'll do it myself.” And you’ll be by yourself, on an island, without support. This is horrid on two fronts. First, it’s the opposite of granting autonomy, which employees crave. Second, it says, “I know better than you” and “I'm a control freak” -- both are debilitating. 6. “Because I’m the boss.” So what? It's about personal power, not position power. This phrase is a cop out and a weak way to hide behind authority. You might get compliance. You’ll never get commitment. You'll get followers by hierarchy. But never by heart. 7. “Why did you do it that way?” This phrase is an accusation by nature. If you use it, be clear it’s inquisitive in nature. If the intent is to point out flaws, instead ask, “How might things have been done better?” 8. “Good job.” Bland feedback is like white bread -- it’s not nutritious. Instead, get granular and let them know what about the job they did was good, and why. 9. “You need to do more with less.” A platitude. And an offensive one. No duh, we should do more with less. How about giving insight as to how, or what you’ll do to help us be more efficient? It’s a frustrating, never-ending quest to just keep producing more with less resources. Even if it’s true, it requires more context and aid offered. 10. “That’s your problem.” Wrong. If you’re a leader, it’s your problem too. There’s no faster way to ditch accountability than to use this sentence. 11. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but...” But you’re beating around the bush. This says “I haven’t really thought through the feedback I have for you” or “I'm too timid to be direct with you.” 12. “I don’t have time right now.” Or is it that you won’t make time? The best leaders I had always did. Or even if they truly didn’t, the refusal was properly couched, with an explanation of why and a counteroffer of when and where they could connect. 13. “Are you questioning my authority?” This smacks of insecurity and the inability to handle debate or conflict. Great leaders welcome questioning; they know it makes them, the idea, and the outcome stronger. 14. “Our boss is a moron.” So unprofessional. If you show the troops you’re willing to talk about your boss, how do they know you won’t throw them under the bus? Don’t bash your boss, peers, or anybody in front of the troops. It’s not what real leaders do. 15. “My predecessor was terrible.” This one is related to the previous and may even be more despicable because it comes across as a veiled attempt to pump yourself up. Disrespect and self-promotion are a sour mix. 16. “I’m disappointed in you.” Ouch. As with children, it’s never about the person, it’s always about the behavior. You can be disappointed in the work they did or the outcome but making it about them as a person is something they often don’t recover from. 17. “It’s not my fault.” If you’re a leader, it’s definitely at least partly your fault. Own it. Be accountable. Look to the room to give credit and in the mirror for blame. So choose your words wisely—but not these words. Leading and working is often challenging. It is best to use the golden rule, and treat people with kindness. Your Flooring Consultant, Matt Capell Email: sales@capellinteriors.com Phone (208) 288-0151 P.S. Here's a joke for you! What’s the worst part about working at a calendar factory?  No days off.

Why Venting Doesn’t Work | E-Neighborhood Advisor

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Many of us think venting will make things feel a little better, whether it’s complaining to co-workers about a micromanaging boss or airing frustration with your partner and kids. But while blowing off steam often feels like it works to extinguish negative emotions, State of Mind says that academic papers and clinical work with patients show it doesn’t. In fact, it often makes things worse. The idea of venting can be traced as far back as Aristotle, but Freud is the one who really popularized the notion of catharsis. Most of what we assume about the need to “let it out” comes from his assertions about the danger of unexpressed feelings. Neuroscience—specifically, neural plasticity—explains why venting reinforces negative emotions. You can think of our brain circuitry like hiking trails. The ones that get a lot of traffic get smoother and wider, with brush stomped down and pushed back. The neural pathways that sit fallow grow over, becoming less likely to be used. Kindergarten teachers are thus spot on when they say, “The thoughts you water are the ones that grow.” This is also true for emotions, like resentment, and the ways we respond to them, like venting. The more we vent, the more likely we are to vent in the future. Why do we still do it? For starters, venting can be like scratching a mosquito bite. It feels like it works at first. Studies have shown a drop in diastolic blood pressure of 1 to 10 points after venting. But they show no attendant drop in hostility. It feels like we release anger or frustration, but we don’t. Even if we didn’t experience this temporary alleviation, there’s the fact that negative feelings naturally dissipate over time. People who do nothing assume the abatement owes to time; people who vent believe venting did the trick. And our choices can be self-reinforcing. If it seems like venting worked, we’re less likely to abide by social norms around holding back in the future. Another culprit reinforcing the “catharsis hypothesis” is media messaging. Emotional awareness is on the rise, with more Americans understanding concepts like trauma and toxic positivity. We’ve gotten the message that we need to acknowledge our emotions and set boundaries in our workplaces and relationships. But complaining to co-workers about your office manager switching muffin brands isn’t the same as whistleblowing, and an occasional gripe is different from constant negativity. In more general terms, embracing our feelings isn’t the same as expressing them, and not all forms of expression are created equal. Realizing “I’m angry” (always OK) is a different beast from telling someone “I’m angry” (sometimes OK), and it’s even further from berating someone for causing your anger (not OK). We want to give in to the urge to wallow, to do damage, to invite company into our misery. We also can feel closer to others when we expose them to our raw emotion, and if there’s one reliable truth about human psychology, it’s that we desire connection so much that we’ll take it in negative forms when we can’t get positive ones. But venting often doesn’t work to enhance intimacy; it can even isolate us further, whether we’re talking about getting a bad rep among our colleagues for being a negative Nancy, undermining our partner’s sense of trust and safety, or having people in our social circles associate us with stress. None of this means you should repress your emotions or never grouse to your loved ones. In fact, studies on “social sharing” show that the productiveness of this type of venting depends on how it’s done. According to a 2019 paper, “When Chatting About Negative Experiences Helps—and When It Hurts,” recounting a negative experience takes you right back there emotionally and physiologically, just like the grievance narrative research shows. That leads to an increase in negativity. Restructuring Chatting with friends can bring closure when they help you reconstrue an event, rather than just recount it. What does that look like? Asking why you think the other person acted that way, prodding to see whether there’s anything to be learned from it all, and just generally broadening your perspective to “the grand scheme of things.” There are lots of other things you can do when overwhelmed by negative emotion. Try “square breathing,” four breaths in and four breaths out, in order to take your body out of fight-or-flight mode. If that doesn’t work, there’s another schoolteacher trick: Cross your arms in front of you like steps five and six of the macarena; make fists, pretending one holds a bouquet and the other a candle; breathe in the roses; and blow out the flame. Psychologists call techniques like this “psychological distancing,” and studies show that they’re an effective way to defuse upsetting emotions like anger. When a modicum of calm descends, try to identify the root of your frustration by asking yourself: “Why am I so upset about this?” Ultimately, anger is like smoke. You have to get at what’s feeding the fire. After sitting with your emotions, move forward by problem-solving, scheduling a future time to discuss underlying issues, or using any number of other healthy coping mechanisms. I think it is best to try to stop counting venting (without any reconstruction following your vent) among them. 😊 Our company feels it is best to treat people with kindness, and I personally find a good long walk helps me too. Thanks for reading. Your Flooring Consultant, Matt Capell Email: sales@capellinteriors.com Phone (208) 288-0151 P.S. Here's a joke for you! A woman in a store was complaining vehemently about her bathroom fan. I guess she really needed to vent.

Tips for Making a Move to Boise

 

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 Tips for Making a Move to Boise

Boise is a hot place right now. Touted by many, this bustling city is one of the fastest growing in the US. With mild weather, plenty of outdoor activities, a growing economy, a connected community and a rising food scene, this city is great for families and millennials alike. And there's something to suit every taste.

When preparing for your move to Boise, advanced planning will help streamline the process. Read on for practical resources from the pros at Capell Flooring and Interiors to help simplify your transition.

Find Your Dream Home

Before you can move, you need a place to stay.

●       Determine a budget for your future home, taking into account the down payment, closing costs, and home inspection.

●       If you're buying property out of state, work with a local Realtor who knows the area.

●       When determining your mortgage needs, factor in upgrades you'll want to make, like adding a security fence.

●       Before you sign on the dotted line, assess the neighborhood the property is in.

 Start Planning Your Move in Advance

 Leave sufficient time to get through your pre-moving checklist to avoid last-minute stress.

 ●       Create a comprehensive checklist to structure your move.

●       If you’re a business owner, you’ll need to set up your business structure (i.e., LLC, partnership, corporation, etc.) and register with the state of Idaho before beginning operations there.

●       Find trustworthy professionals to help with your move online. If you're going out of state, make sure they offer long-distance services.

●       Set aside one bag or box of essentials you'll need on move-in day and bring it with you instead of sending it with the movers.

●       If you have kids and pets, prepare accordingly.

 Get Settled Into Your New Community

 The moving process doesn't end once you've arrived. There are still things to do.

 ●       Take proactive steps to introduce yourself to your new neighbors.

●       Download mobile apps that connect you to the surrounding community.

●       Look up local events online that you can attend to get a better sense of your new surroundings.

●       Don't forget practicalities. Rely on online resources and references to find service providers like electricians, plumbers, and more in your new hometown

Boise truly is a great place to call home. Wherever you decide to go, the resources above can help simplify your move. This will minimize stress and allow you to focus on the excitement of settling into a brand new chapter of your life.

For all your flooring needs, visit Capell Flooring and Interiors today!

 Looking for new flooring to give your home a great makeover? Capell Flooring and Interiors wants to help! We can help you choose the perfect material, and offer professional experience you can count on. Call today! 208-288-0151

 

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Mini Makeover: Simple Ways to Revive Your Home

If your home is starting to feel boring, dull, or otherwise uninspiring, it’s time to make some improvements! Aim to turn your home into a calmer and healthier space that reflects your values and aligns with your needs. Your home environment should spark your creativity, foster relaxation, and offer comfort at the end of a long day. Here’s how to achieve it!

 

Do Some Redecorating

 

If you want to refresh your home but don’t want to invest in costly remodeling projects, a little light decorating will do the job! Paint the walls and invest in a few new interior decorations. Better yet, to really personalize your living spaces, check into wallpaper that’s customizable. You’ll find that there’s a wide range of easy-to-apply prepasted and removable wallpaper products on the market, some that even allow you to upload your own designs! You can also play around with colors and textures.

 

Swap out old, worn furniture for modern pieces that reflect your personality. This is a great chance to use your home décor to make small rooms feel bigger and large rooms feel cozier. Using interior design hacks, like installing mirrors and hanging floor-to-ceiling curtains, can trick the eye into seeing a room as bigger than it really is!

 

Updated flooring can make a significant difference in the look and feel of a home. Consider switching from carpet to hardwood or laminate, or swap out worn carpet for a new color with a fresh design. Or perhaps it’s time to give your kitchen the update you’ve been dreaming off with new countertops, a fresh look for cabinets and a

 

Lastly, take a look at your bedroom. This room should feel like a safe and secure sanctuary. Choose calm colors for your furnishings, linens, paint, and décor. Add layered lighting so you can turn off bright overhead lights in the evening and enjoy a warm, atmospheric glow. You may even want to add a soothing scent to your bedroom in the form of candles, fresh flowers, or an essential oil diffuser.

 

Invest in Outdoor Improvements

 

Don’t let your home design improvements stop with the inside of your home. During the pandemic, we all spent a lot more time enjoying our outdoor living areas. By now, you likely have a few ideas for improvements that would make your landscaping work better for you and your family. If you want some space for your kids to run around, but you could do with a little less lawn maintenance, some strategic landscaping is in order. Hire a professional who provides landscape design services to help you optimize the use of your outdoor space, ensuring the result is both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

 

Another option is to add an outdoor kitchen. This is a great update if your family likes to spend a lot of time in the backyard and loves to cook. A sink, an island range hood, a built-in gas grill and durable counterspace will bring together the perfect outdoor escape.

 

Bring the Outdoors Inside

 

Incorporating plants into your interior decor is a great way to add a pop of color to a neutral palette or compliment a colorful design. Plus, indoor plants have been shown to provide mental and physical health benefits! Indoor plants can reduce stress and anxiety, boost productivity, improve your air quality, and lower blood pressure. You don’t need to have a green thumb to enjoy these benefits. Plenty of indoor plants can thrive with very little effort from you!

 

Do Away with Clutter

 

If you don’t have a lot of time or money to spend on redecorating your home, work on organizing it from A to Z. You can start by decluttering, which is one the best things you can do to refresh your space. Getting rid of the stuff you no longer want, creating space to store everything you use, and keeping the visual clutter to a minimum can take a lot of weight off your shoulders. Eliminating clutter will help you think more clearly, clean more efficiently, and get more out of your available space. Stylist suggests decluttering in small, bite-sized chunks so you can avoid getting overwhelmed.

 

It’s been a long couple of years living with the pandemic. Are you ready to shake things up? Cleaning, redecorating, and otherwise improving your home can help you put the pandemic behind you and start fresh!

How to Eat Like a Nutritionist | E-Neighborhood Advisor

 Happy Saturday! - Hope you have a great one!

When in dietary doubt, we ask nutrition experts to show us how to leverage our food for optimal performance. This time, Outside magazine asked seven sports nutrition gurus to dish on their go-to meals. Their choices may surprise you. Eggsplosions Yoni Freedhoff, Assistant Professor at University of Ottawa and a Doctor Specializing in Obesity Treatment Yoni Freedhoff wears many hats. When he’s not practicing medicine or teaching, he’s playing the roles of author and dad, so cooking healthy meals for his family needs to happen fast. To get it done, Freedhoff turns to eggsplosions—grilled cheese sandwiches with eggs cooked into the bread, similar to the classic “egg in a hole” breakfast dish. Ingredients • 2 tablespoons butter, divided • 2 slices sandwich bread • 2 eggs • Salt and pepper • 2 slices American, cheddar, or Monterey Jack cheese Directions 1. Using a small empty can, cut a circle in the center of each slice of bread. 2. In a nonstick skillet over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter. 3. Place both bread slices into skillet, break an egg into each, season with salt and pepper, and cook, swirling occasionally, until golden brown on bottom side (about two minutes). 4. Add remaining butter and flip bread slices. Place cheese slices on top, close sandwich, and cook until golden brown (about one minute). “Amasian” Egg Scramble Allen Lim, Founder of Skratch Labs Exercise physiologist and coach turned chef Allen Lim understands how important it is to treat food as fuel, even when you’re crunched for time. Enter his favorite “Amasian” food—part Asian, part American. It’s delicious and packed with healthy ingredients. Ingredients • 1 cup dry sushi rice per person • 1.5 cups water per person • Vegetable or olive oil • Bunch of spinach • 3 eggs • Spices to taste Directions 1. Rinse the rice to remove excess starch. Add to pot with water and cook according to package directions. 2. While rice cooks, sauté a bunch of greens like spinach 3. Once the spinach wilts, remove it from the wok and scramble the eggs. 4. Pile the spinach and eggs on top of the rice. Season with your favorite spices for extra flavor. Banana Omelet Stacy Sims, Co-Founder of Osmo Nutrition, Exercise Physiologist, and Triathlete Stacy Sims’ alarm clocks goes off at 5:30 every morning—even on weekends—to let her know it’s time to train. How does she do it? Sims will tell you that good coffee gets her out the door, and the breakfast she knows is waiting for her makes her hustle through workouts. Ingredients • 1 banana • 1 teaspoon vanilla paste • 3 egg whites or 2 whole eggs Directions 1. In a bowl, combine banana and vanilla paste and heat in microwave until mushy. 2. Stir in the eggs. 3. Pour the mixture into a hot skillet and cook it like a pancake. For more protein, eat the omelet on a piece of toast smeared with almond butter. DIY Prerace Breakfast Sandwich Matt Fitzgerald, Author of The Endurance Diet and Marathoner Before marathons, Matt Fitzgerald chows down on a sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich with extra sausage. Feel free to play with his template if you’d rather go the way of, say, turkey bacon and Swiss or avocado and mozzarella. Ingredients • 2 eggs • 2 pork sausage patties • 1 slice American cheese • English muffin, toasted Directions 1. Scramble the eggs. 2. Cook sausage patties in skillet. 3. Stack eggs, sausage patties, and cheese on top of toasted English muffin. Fish Chowder Nancy Clark, Sports Nutritionist and Author Nancy Clark, the team nutritionist for the Boston Red Sox, has an exceptionally surprising go-to dinner: a quick fish chowder. Plus, it’s even better the next day. Ingredients • 1 tablespoon olive oil • 2 large onions, diced • 4 large potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch cubes • 1 pound whitefish (such as cod, tilapia, sole, or haddock) • 1 can evaporated milk • Salt and pepper Directions 1. In a large saucepan, heat olive oil, and then sauté the onions until transparent. 2. Add potatoes, plus just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook until almost tender (about 10 to 15 minutes). 3. When the potatoes are almost tender, place the fish on top; cover and cook about five minutes or until the fish is done. 4. Stir in evaporated milk; add salt and pepper to taste. Applesauce Parfait Matthew Accarrino, Executive Chef at SPQR and Team Chef for the Hincapie Cycling Team Matthew Accarrino is an avid cyclist by day, Michelin-starred chef at night, and team chef during race season, so his entire life revolves around fueling, depleting the tank, and repeating the cycle. For dessert, Accarinno mixes no-sugar-added applesauce with a touch of yogurt, a spoonful of almond butter, and fresh fruit, then tops the whole thing with homemade granola. Ingredients • 1 cup no-sugar added applesauce • 1 tablespoon plain Greek yogurt • 1 tablespoon jam of your choice • 1 tablespoon nut butter of your choice • 1/4 cup granola • 1/2 banana, chopped Directions 1. In glass jar or cup, begin with a layer of applesauce at the bottom. Continue alternating all ingredients to create parfait. If preferred, you can stir to eat. Serves one. Big Burger Bowl Elyse Kopecky, Co-Author of Run Fast, Eat Slow Elyse Kopecky lets her body tell her what she should be eating. Following her book’s principle of “indulgent nourishment,” Kopecky doesn’t believe in skimping or deprivation; instead, she votes for meals (like this burrito bowl) that feel like a treat but are jam-packed with nutrients. Ingredients • 2 cups short-grain brown rice • 1 egg • 1/2 cup crumbled feta • 1/4 cup almond flour • 2 cloves garlic, minced • 1/4 teaspoon salt • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper • 1 pound ground bison, beef, lamb, or turkey meat • 1 bunch asparagus, drizzled with olive oil • 1/2 red onion, drizzled with olive oil • Salsa, guacamole, and cilantro (optional) Directions 1. Cook rice according to package directions. 2. Preheat grill to medium-high. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine egg, feta, almond flour, salt, and pepper. Add meat and mix without overworking. Form into four equal-size patties about one inch thick. 3. Grill burgers about three to four minutes per side, or until a thermometer placed in the center reads 160 degrees Fahrenheit and the meat is no longer pink. 4. While burgers are cooking, grill asparagus and red onion; chop when cooked. 5. Divide rice into four servings. Top each with a burger, grilled veggies, and generous scoop of guacamole, salsa, and cilantro (if using). My kids have all learned how to make the "egg in a hole" with bread from their middle school class. That is a little easier than some of these recipes of course. Sometimes on Saturday mornings, our family will watch PBS cooking shows and see what we can come up with next. My kids all enjoy cooking, and it is fun to see what they will come up with next. Happy cooking and have a wonderful weekend, and thanks for reading. Your Flooring Consultant, Matt Capell Email: sales@capellinteriors.com Phone (208) 288-0151 P.S. Here's a joke for you! What do eggs do for fun at parties? Sing kari-yolkie.

Beginner’s Guide to Bird Watching | E-Neighborhood Advisor

 Happy Saturday! - Hope you have a great one!

The weather is getting nicer and it’s time to get outside. Bird-watching is a four-season activity that will not only extend the amount of time you spend in parks or other green spaces, but also make you feel a little bit like a treasure seeker as you try to spot birds you know should be around (and find others you may not expect). Migration Periods You can go birding any time of the year, but a good way to get hooked is to take advantage of the spring and fall migrations. During those bountiful times, hundreds of neotropical bird species rest and refuel in urban green spaces on their way to and from countries south of the U.S. Outside of the migration months, you can find resident birds in cities, too. So whether you think all the little brown birds on your lawn are sparrows or are comfortable identifying a handful of common backyard birds, Field & Stream’s guide to bird-watching in any US city will elevate your bird-spotting abilities. The first step on the path to birding is understanding which species are in your city at any given time. If you only take one thing away from this story, let it be this: bird knowledge is essential. Try eBird’s web-based Explore feature. You can search by species, region, or hotspot—a location where lots of birds have been observed—and can click on any listed bird for identification clues, photos, songs, and calls. Knowing the difference between complex songs and simple calls is like having a special tool in your kit; one that can help you predict a bird’s behavior. Once you’ve become familiar with the species in your city at the time you’re planning to go out, decide whether you’ll be birding alone or not. You can also use social media to see what’s been spotted locally. Birding groups and organizations often post photos on Instagram and Twitter, and some birders tag their images with #birdtwitter. Make sure to search using #MeridianIdaho (or replace with your actual location) to get the most relevant results. The basic tools for birding are not that expensive. You don’t necessarily need binoculars for your first casual birding experience, but you may want to purchase a pair if bird-watching will be a regular pursuit. You want binoculars that let in a fair amount of light because you will see objects (and birds) more clearly, but larger lenses mean heavier binoculars. The goal is to strike a balance between lens size and overall weight. You’ll also want to purchase a field guide. Get a regional one; it’ll be geared toward the birds you are most likely to see and weighs less than a comprehensive North American guide. The most recent edition of the National Geographic guide contains more than 1,000 species, while the Sibley guide has 650. If you don’t want to buy a guide right away, check to see if your local library has any. To go paperless, try the free Merlin Bird ID app. You don’t even have to leave the comforts of home to bird-watch. If you have a yard, you can bring birds to you by creating a bird-friendly garden. Choose native plant species, which will act as a food source for native birds. They’ll also attract insects and the birds that feed on them. Planting native flora is a benefit on its own, as human activity has significantly reduced global plant diversity. Because plants are the backbone of many bird habitats, their loss has contributed to a massive 3 billion drop in the North American bird population since 1970. For just-right species for your locale, check out Audubon’s native plant database. The organization also provides tips for assessing your space and designing your garden. Bird-watching can also help you reap the benefits of being outdoors, which has been shown to improve human physiological and mental health. In general, viewing and spending time in nature can lead to lower blood pressure and a slower heart rate, shorter recovery times after surgery, and increased attention and focus, so get outside! I grew up in South Meridian, and we would see a lot of different species of birds, and even wildlife like the occasional fox. We especially liked it when we would see birds of prey flying in our field or a pheasant running through the pasture.  Happy bird watching. 😊 Your Flooring Consultant, Matt Capell Email: sales@capellinteriors.com Phone (208) 288-0151 P.S. Here's a joke for you! What kind of bird works at a construction site? The crane!

Welcome to June 2022 | Capell Flooring and Interiors

Hello Friends,  Welcome to the June edition of the Neighborhood Advisor! Has your summer fun kicked into high gear yet?  That may mean spending time in the water, planning some backyard barbeques, or getting out of town for a family vacation (or maybe all three). We’re loving this summer over here at Capell Flooring! But as nice as it is to be getting outside, a single summer can do a lot of damage to your floors on the inside of your home. That’s why at Capell Flooring, we conduct a full Design Audit where we talk to every client about their needs and the level of traffic the area sees before we make a recommendation on flooring. We want to make sure that whatever you choose for your home, from an attractive and easy-to-care-for vinyl to a plush carpeting, you’re going to be happy for years to come. Thank you once again for spending a bit of your summer with our newsletter. We hope you’re enjoying it out by the pool!  Find an article, trivia contest, or puzzle you love, and we can’t wait to see you in the store sometime soon. You friend, Matt Capell

Memorial Day Traditions | E-Neighborhood Advisor

 Happy Saturday! - Hope you have a great one!

Happy New Year! While the first commemorative Memorial Day events weren’t held in the United States until the late 19th century, the practice of honoring those who have fallen in battle dates back thousands of years, according to History.com. The ancient Greeks and Romans held annual days of remembrance for loved ones (including soldiers) each year, festooning their graves with flowers and holding public festivals and feasts in their honor. The holiday’s 'founder' had a long and distinguished career. In May 1868, General John A. Logan, the commander-in-chief of the Union veterans’ group known as the Grand Army of the Republic, issued a decree that May 30 should become a nationwide day of commemoration for the more than 620,000 soldiers killed in the recently ended Civil War. On Decoration Day, as Logan dubbed it, Americans should lay flowers and decorate the graves of the war dead “whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land.” According to legend, Logan chose May 30 because it was a rare day that didn’t fall on the anniversary of a Civil War battle, though some historians believe the date was selected to ensure that flowers across the country would be in full bloom. After the war Logan, who had served as a U.S. congressman before resigning to rejoin the army, returned to his political career, eventually serving in both the House and Senate and was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for vice president in 1884. When he died two years later, Logan’s body laid in state in the rotunda of the United States Capitol, making him one of just 33 people to have received the honor. Today, Washington, D.C.’s Logan Circle and several townships across the country are named in honor of this champion of veterans and those killed in battle. It didn’t become a federal holiday until 1971. American’s embraced the notion of “Decoration Day” immediately. That first year, more than 27 states held some sort of ceremony, with more than 5,000 people in attendance at a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. By 1890, every former state of the Union had adopted it as an official holiday. But for more than 50 years, the holiday was used to commemorate those killed just in the Civil War, not in any other American conflict. It wasn’t until America’s entry into World War I that the tradition was expanded to include those killed in all wars, and Memorial Day was not officially recognized nationwide until the 1970s, with America deeply embroiled in the Vietnam War. It was a long road from Decoration Day to an official Memorial Day. Although the term Memorial Day was used beginning in the 1880s, the holiday was officially known as Decoration Day for more than a century, when it was changed by federal law. Four years later, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 finally went into effect, moving Memorial Day from its traditional observance on May 30 (regardless of the day of the week), to a set day—the last Monday in May. The move has not been without controversy, though. Veterans groups, concerned that more Americans associate the holiday with first long weekend of the summer and not its intended purpose to honor the nation’s war dead, continue to lobby for a return to the May 30 observances. For more than 20 years, their cause was championed by Hawaiian Senator—and decorated World War II veteran—Daniel Inouye, who until his 2012 death reintroduced legislation in support of the change at the start of every Congressional term. Wearing a red poppy on Memorial Day began with a World War I poem. In the spring of 1915, bright red flowers began poking through the battle-ravaged land across northern France and Flanders (northern Belgium). Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, who served as a brigade surgeon for an Allied artillery unit, spotted a cluster of the poppies shortly after serving as a brigade surgeon during the bloody Second Battle of Ypres. The sight of the bright red flowers against the dreary backdrop of war inspired McCrae to pen the poem, "In Flanders Field," in which he gives voice to the soldiers who had been killed in battle and lay buried beneath the poppy-covered grounds. Later that year, a Georgia teacher and volunteer war worker named Moina Michael read the poem in Ladies' Home Journal and wrote her own poem, "We Shall Keep the Faith" to begin a campaign to make the poppy a symbol of tribute to all who died in war. The poppy remains a symbol of remembrance to this day. Despite the increasing celebration of the holiday as a summer rite of passage, there are some formal rituals still on the books: The American flag should be hung at half-staff until noon on Memorial Day, then raised to the top of the staff. And since 2000, when the U.S. Congress passed legislation, all Americans are encouraged to pause for a National Moment of Remembrance at 3 p.m. local time. The federal government has also used the holiday to honor non-veterans—the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated on Memorial Day 1922. Your Flooring Consultant, Matt Capell Email: sales@capellinteriors.com Phone (208) 288-0151 P.S. Here's a joke for you! Did you hear about the popcorn that joined the army? They made him a kernel.