Blog Posts by Babble.com

APAW Means Cheaper Health CareIf you've ever had a sick pet, you know exactly how quickly the cost of a trip to the vet and medication can add up. And even if your pet has never been sick, mere regular health maintenance, such as heartworm prevention, can be a draining part of a family's budget.

Barbara Trulio recognized this as a pet owner, and when her dog became sick, she lived it. That's when she decided to start the company, Advocacy for Pets and Affordable Wellness (APAW). This national coalition of pet owners and advocates are "dedicated to promoting the health and well-being of America's pets and empowering pet owners everywhere to demand affordable, quality health care and medicine for their animals."

Their main goal is to inform pet owners that they can find cheaper alternatives in pet healthcare, including filling your pet's prescription at a pharmacy instead of buying it directly from the vet. The savings can be quite large. The website, has a pet app where you can calculate your savings, personal

I'm what you might call a fundamentalist agnostic: I really don't know if there's any sort of higher power or afterlife, and I really don't care. I'm at peace with uncertainty and I live my life trying to do as much good - or at least as little harm - as possible. My husband is similarly minded and so we've spent our Sunday mornings doing things like eating bagels or watching SportsCenter. This didn't change for us after we had kids.

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However, my son is 5 now and he has a lot of friends who are church-goers. Those friends have started sharing their religious education with him and suddenly I'm fielding questions about things like heaven from the backseat of the minivan. If I were talking to another adult, I'd offer a flippant shrug and say, "I don't know about heaven. I'll find out after I die, I guess." That's not going to work with my son. He has a child's earnest curiosity about the idea of heaven; where it is, what it looks like, how can he go check it out without dying. All

Let's face it, we all want to look cute at music festivals… especially after seeing photos of adorably dressed girls and celebrities on blogs and sites all over the internet, year after year. Who wouldn't want to look the part? But with everyone talking about what to wear to this year's upcoming Spring and Summer music festivals, I thought it would be nice to know what beauty essentials to take. Because "cute" doesn't stop at your neck and being prepared to weather a weekend without proper restrooms and/or showers is only for the brave. So, without further ado, I give you The Ultimate Music Festival Beauty Essentials & Survival Guide-- Click through to make sure you've got what you need, because most of all, music festivals should be FUN!

- By Maegan Tintari

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Ever since I was a kid, strawberry season has been a big deal. Growing up, we had a big strawberry patch in our yard, and as soon as the first berries were ripe, we'd make up a big batch of strawberry shortcake. As a grown-up, my obsession survives, only now I've diversified my dessert repertoire to pretty much anything strawberry. Head below for 10 of our favorite sweet ways to enjoy strawberry season. From shortcake to cake to sundaes, all of your favorite recipes are here. - By Elizabeth Stark and Brian Campbell

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runningIt can be a hard thing to find someone who you feel comfortable exercising with. Right? I mean, this is someone you have to feel okay sweating next to, someone who doesn't mind if you make weird noises. You should feel no judgment from this person. If you're trying something new and you don't quite get it right, this person should be in your corner. Not only that, but this is someone you should be comfortable chatting with, and, ideally, someone whom you actually enjoy spending time with. Working out with her should be something you look forward to - it may even be the social/emotional aspect of the workout that gets you there.

But the perfect workout buddy should be more than just a friend. If you're going to stay motivated and interested, if you're going to improve and become more fit, your workout buddy should be . . . well, a lot of things.

1. Your equal

You two should be able to run at about the same pace, or be able to weightlift about as much as each other, or be

cookiesThere's been chatter lately about whether women should work to "snag" a husband while still in college - especially at exclusive schools like Princeton. As it turns out, women from some of the nation's top universities might be doing just that - and not much else - with their elite degrees.

According to the New York Daily News, married women from some of the best schools who take time off from work after having babies are less likely to return to full-time jobs. Joni Hersch, a professor of economics and law at Vanderbilt University, wrote a research paper, "Opting Out among Women with Elite Education," in which she revealed that the employment rate for married moms with children from selective colleges is 68 percent compared to 76 percent for those from less selective schools.

For the study, Hersch looked at 33,307 married women, ages 21-54, with children under the age of 18.

Related: Women are desperate to get married...and 16 more myths men believe

"The dominant

runningI can't tell you how many times I've thought about multitasking at the gym. Getting some work done while running on the treadmill AND child care? It'd be a dream come true for any busy mom. Unfortunately the execution of such a plan is much less realistic than the fantasy I've conjured up in my head. I don't know about you, but reading on the treadmill makes me almost as nauseas as trying to read in a moving car. Ugh, no thank you. I know treadmill desks are all the rage, but really, how do you get anything done without going cross-eyed and having your stomach do flips?

Related: The 10 craziest things women do to lose weight

Well, there just might be a solution. The ReadingMate, developed at Purdue University, adjusts text on a monitor so that it appears still as you run on the treadmill. The way it was developed is actually pretty cool. Engineering researches at Purdue wanted to make up for the vertical bobbing motion of a runner's head, so they strapped on goggles with infrared

As adults, we love to indulge in our favorite treats from childhood. Classic kids' desserts, like milkshakes, cake, and cookies, seem to be everywhere, and that can make it difficult to stick to a healthy daily regimen. To help, I've rounded up 10 healthy takes on classic kids' dessert recipes you love. Now, you (and your kids) can have your favorite treats without a big dose of parent guilt. - By Elizabeth Stark and Brian Campbell

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