Plano, Texas Named as One of Top 10 Cities to Raise a Family

Cities with low crime rates and exceptional schools top list of best places for kids

Raising a family is an incredible undertaking, and finding the perfect city for your family is an important decision for many parents. Locating the right combination of a perfect school, family friendly activities and a home for the entire family can be quite a feat. Searching for the right home for your family begins with picking a city and reviewing the surrounding neighborhoods and their offerings. Homes.com, a leading real estate listing site, researched some of America’s favorite locales to uncover the top 10 family friendly cities.

The Homes.com “Top 10” series is designed to guide consumers through every phase of life, from choosing the perfect place for summer vacation, to discovering the best cultural cities. The latest list of best places to raise children highlights cities across the country that are family friendly and offer great educational, cultural and work opportunities.

Top 10 Family Friendly Cities

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How to Write a College Essay

Selecting a Topic: The College Essay Dilemma

by Amanda McClure, Academic Life Coach

While there is no magic formula for finding the “best” college essay topic, the writing prompt on the application is a good place to start. Prompts tend to be generic and vast in scope, which makes it difficult for students to find their niche. The following essay prompt on the ApplyTexas application is a great example:

Save Even More on Black Friday with These Coupons

Black Friday Coupons and Discounts

Planning to do a little post Thanksgiving shopping? Save a little extra on Black Friday deals and everything else. Coupon Sherpa has rounded up the top 15 offers for additional savings on Black Friday (and beyond). These offers are available on this handy mobile app for even more convenience.

Leftover Turkey Recipes: Nanny’s Turkey Curry Plus 12 More Recipes

Leftover Turkey Recipes

Love Thanksgiving Leftovers but Tired of the Same Old Turkey Recipes?

Leftover turkey is almost as popular in my house as the Thanksgiving feast itself! Are you tired of the standard leftover turkey recipes yet? In our house, we tend to cook turkey several times a year, just so we can eat leftovers. My mother-in-law is famous for her Turkey Curry, in fact on every summer vacation, we beg to cook a turkey just so she will make curry the next day.

While I love curry, I also like soup and my husband loves hot turkey sandwiches the next day. So, I searched the internet to find many recipes for leftover turkey. I am only sharing 12 with you here, but each of these links will lead you to dozens of additional ideas for leftover turkey. I tried to pick the very best ones with the best reviews or that I thought were creative, different and easy. Who wants to spend a whole other day in the kitchen? I usually wait until Saturday or Sunday after Thanksgiving to make the stock and either soup or curry.

Here is Nanny’s turkey curry “recipe.” The truth is she doesn’t have a recipe. These are just guidelines. The secret is to cook the bones for as long as possible to create a rich stock and to use a good quality curry powder (or make your own.) We usually get a pot of soup and a pot of turkey from the leftovers, which we means we stretch our grocery dollars and get to eat great food for several days.

Caterpillar Stickers: The Story Behind the Book – Part One

We recently introduced Sierra Rene Flad, a Fifth-Grader with Dyslexia who co-authored an inspirational children’s book, Caterpillar Stickers, with her mom, Ruth Flad.

Caterpillar Stickers launched November 11 and inspires kids by sharing the message anything is possible! Below is Part One of the journey that led to discovering that Sierra has Dyslexia. Ruth Flad shares her family’s experience to help other parents facing the same situation.

Read an excerpt from Caterpillar Stickers

Enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of Caterpillar Stickers

Purchase Caterpillar Stickers: Be Yourself and Be Butterfly Beautiful

Sierra’s Journey: Part One

When Sierra was only 9 months old she said her first coherent word. She has never stopped talking since. She has an enormous vocabulary. I knew she had a genius hiding inside her tiny body. Always bold, unafraid and still never gives up on anything, a true perfectionist. I should have paid more attention to the question she answered with her first word but I was too shocked that she answered me. We had just completed viewing and reading story books. Sierra appeared disinterested. I asked, “Don’t you want to read anymore?” Sierra answered emphatically “NO”.

10 Tips for Holiday Travel with Children

Tips for Traveling and Getting Around with Kids During the Holidays

Tis the season of get-togethers and holiday travels. While it’s a joyous time of year, the hustle and bustle can create anxiety for children. Make your family visits and adventures enjoyable for one for all – with just a little preparation.