You probably have a collection of something. We have collections of favorite things, and we use some of them to decorate our home.
On my kitchen window sill, you’ll see an arrangement of blue pottery items. This started about five years ago when we moved to our current home.
Since the kitchen colors are blue and white, [...]

This post is for my readers in Monroe County, Mich.:
If you have a student in high school in Monroe County, applications and announcements have been sent to the local schools about the summer sister city student exchange opportunity to Hofu, Japan.
My family belongs to the Monroe International Friendship Association, which sponsors this program. (Click here [...]

Today, my husband and I will attend a sister city delegation reception at Monroe City Hall, and welcome a Japanese high school student into our home for 10 days.
Does this sound like a unusual activity for a family on a budget? Look at it this way: it’s an example of figuring out how to do [...]

One of our current home improvement projects is to paint the college daughter’s bedroom. It’s sort of like the home improvement television show “While You Were Out.” In this case, she knows mom and stepdad are re-doing her bedroom, but she can’t do anything about it! She’s out of town. Ha, ha.
Well, to be honest, [...]

Monroe County Community College is seeking host families to house international students for one month or up to two semesters at a time. The college has posted a notice on its web site, and has been running notices in The Monroe Evening News, about the host family request.
There actually are several programs available in Monroe [...]

Does your high-schooler have a competition-related or educational trip on the calendar?
Join the crowd.
My co-worker Doug Donnelly has this story for monroenews.com, and page 1A of today’s print and e-editions of The Monroe Evening News about some of the trips that Monroe Public Schools students are taking this spring: Monroe students on the move.
A snippet:

There is a story on page 2E of Sunday’s print and e-editions of The Monroe Evening News with the headline “Teens skipping summer camp for world travel.”
If you have a high-school student at home who’s been looking at the youth travel brochures or a service and educational program overseas, this article has a lot of [...]

It’s becoming increasingly popular for college students and high school students to take an overseas trip or participate in a study abroad program. While these opportunities have been around for many years, such experiences among teen-agers and young adults are getting more attention as a way to get first-hand knowledge of a world where employers [...]

Here’s one for the foodies – the Lunch in a Box blog. It features the Japanese style of lunches on the go. There’s some good ideas here for those who want to get creative with school (or work) packed lunches.
My daughter eats any food that comes from another country, so she’ll really enjoy this site.
I [...]