Jermaine Jackson, 63, brother of Michael Jackson and a member of the Jackson Five band, announced his plans to marry his 23-year-old girlfriend Maday Velazquez. And yes, there is a 40-year age difference between them.

But it seems that to them, age is nothing but a number.

The Jackson Five singer announced this shocking news while overseas in Spain. He and his brothers Jackie, 67, Tito, 64, and Marlon, 61 have been touring in honor of their 5oth anniversary. So, right after a performance in Mallorca, Jermaine felt that he wanted to share his big plans with everyone. And so, he did.

“We are going to get married soon,” Jermaine explained to the European publication. The Dutch newspaper, De Telegraaf, was among the first ones to report the news.

According to them, Velazquez joined the family on their tour and enjoyed their trip to Spain.

According to news, he began dating Maday shortly after his nasty divorce from his ex-wife Halima Rashid in 2016. To be honest, age difference aside, it seems that Jermaine has finally found the woman of his dreams.

We only wonder how his niece, Paris Jackson, 20, feels about all this.

Anyhow, congrats to the lucky couple! We wish them a lifetime of love and happiness.

Many people hide behind a fake smile but their eyes present an unmistakable sadness. While most people will feel sad from time to time during the course of their lives, it’s not normal to feel this way all the time. Depression can take hold of you and prevent you from feeling joy and happiness. Unfortunately, many people live in silence keeping their feelings of depression inside.

Why Are You Depressed?

It may sound simple, but in order to fight your depression, you must first learn of its origin. You must ask yourself why you are depressed. And, then give yourself an honest answer. Your depression may stem from your parent’s divorce as a child and you blame yourself. Or, it may be you lost a loved one, someone very close to you and now you are heartbroken and can’t seem to live life as you did before. Living in sadness is not going to change the past. What it will do is prevent you from enjoying life in the present.

Don’t Isolate Yourself

One of the hardest things for someone who lives with depression to do is to get out and mix and mingle with others. As a result, they often shy away from large social gatherings that require putting on a happy face. They prefer to live life alone and in silence. Instead look for fun activities and events with family and friends. Take every opportunity to get out and to enjoy life. Attend community events and family social gatherings. Or, better yet plan a party and go all out. Rent a myriad of festival tents, tables and dishes and decorate your outdoors in bright cheerful colors. 

Keep Busy

Often people fall into a state of depression because they have too much time on their hands and their thoughts take over. Find things you enjoy doing and keep busy. An occupied mind will prevent thoughts from creeping in and taking over your emotions.  For example, if you enjoy doing crafts, make some and then sell them at the local fair. Or, you can volunteer with kids or seniors in your area, or get a part-time job. These are all great ways to stay focused on something other than your own feelings.

Depression Can Cause Spinoff Problems

If you live depressed often, you may do things to alleviate the pain and sadness you feel. You may try drugs or drink alcohol as a way of coping with your emotions. Unfortunately, drugs and alcohol only seem to work and only for a short time. In addition, you may end up addicted to either one as it requires more and more to feel good.

Stay Active 

Regular exercise is vital to sustaining a lean and fit body. What you may not realize is that exercise also promotes good mental health. When you work out and get your heart rate up, your blood flowing and sweat pouring, you produce endorphins that diminish negative feelings and make you feel happy. You don’t have to join a gym or follow any complicated routines. You can jog, run, take a brisk walk, swim or ride a bike and get the same results. And, the good news is that this boost of positive feelings stays around for hours after each session.

Positive Promotes Positive

If you know you have a problem with depression, the last thing you want to do is surround yourself with negative people. Instead, eliminate or at least minimize the time you spend with these naysayers. Stay connected to people who view the glass as half full.

Depression makes you feel sad, but it doesn’t have to control your life. There are many things you can do to enjoy a better quality of life. 

Are you currently pursuing or have a biology degree? Here’s an in-depth guide on the careers you can expect to look for.

What can you do with a biology degree? This question goes through everybody’s mind when they think of biology degree careers. It is only fair that you know what jobs are available before committing yourself to following this degree path.

You can have a biology degree career outlook and see what field of work interests you. A degree in biology opens up a lot of opportunities if you are passionate about research. Additionally, if you enjoy spending time outdoors and in the lab, then this can be a good career path for you.

Jobs in the Biological Sciences and healthcare fields are expected to grow by 23.5% in the next twenty years, from 2012 to 2032.

Jobs in Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations are expected to grow by 10% from 2016 to 2026. Moreover, jobs in Healthcare Occupations are expected to grow by 18% from 2016 to 2026. This is higher than the average job growth for all occupations.

Here’s an in-depth guide on the careers you can expect to look for.

1. Microbiologists

If you are looking for an entry-level job with a bachelor’s degree in biology. You can kick start your career by being a microbiologist. A microbiologist gets a chance to learn and study the smallest lifeforms.

Most of the work is done in the laboratory, and the microbiologists study the behavior of the small lifeforms. However, a microbiologist gets a chance to work in the field when they are collecting samples.

A microbiologist is employed by most research institutions, government agencies, and pharmaceuticals.

2. Environmental Scientist

If you are concerned about conserving the environment, then a career as an environmental scientist is the right one for you. This field doesn’t require any previous experience; all you need to have is a bachelor’s degree in biology.

The field has an estimated career growth of around 11%. This means that the field is estimated to grow at a faster rated. This shows that there will be more open job opportunities.

If you are looking for a field that has signs of growing very fast shortly, then an environmental scientist is the right one for you.

This field is filled with a lot of opportunities and great potential. Additionally, this field has a potential of earning over $122000 if you happen to be at the top 10%

3. Agricultural and Food Scientist

The world population keeps growing, and the available land gets scarce by the day. This means that the available land needs to be utilized properly to produce enough food for everybody.

This brings in the need to have food scientists who use science to improve agriculture. They make breeds that are resistant to drought, or that can handle being grown in alkaline water. Additionally, they come up with breeds that can produce more even when grown in a small piece of land.

This job is an entry-level job, and it does not require any experience all you need is to be a graduate in the biology major. Since most of what is done is taught on the field and you can easily keep up if you have an interest in agriculture.

4. Biochemist or Biophysicist

A career as a biochemist or a biophysicist focuses on the physical and chemical foundations that are responsible for making life possible. This includes cell development, where they study the different stages of cell development.

Additionally, they study the physiology of metabolism and the chemistry of disease. They do an inner depth into understanding the disease and how it can be cured.

To form a stable career, you will need to have a doctorate in the field. This ensures that you have enough knowledge needed to understand the foundations that make life possible.

You can make a career as a biochemist or biophysicist if you have a bachelor’s in physics, chemist or biology.

5. Become a Biology Teacher from a Biology Degree

If you love spending time with children, nurturing them, and instilling knowledge. Then a career as a biology teacher will work great for you.

Teaching biology doesn’t necessarily mean that you teach high school children. You can be a professor who teaches in colleges. This requires you to have enough patience and understand how to deal with children and teenagers.

Additionally, you need to have a master’s degree in biology or a doctorate. This ensures that you have enough knowledge that you can share with your students. Also, this boosts your confidence since you know what you are teaching the students.

6. Registered Nurse

For you to be a registered nurse, you need to have an understanding of how the body works. This requires you to have enough knowledge of biology. Also, you need to be certified in nursing, but having a degree in biology gives you enough knowledge about the human body.

Moreover, a nurse needs to be compassionate and learn how to talk to patients. A nurse needs to know how to calm the patients in case they are panicking about their condition.

Moreover, nurses need to know how to educate the family of the patients about the condition of their loved one. They need to know what to say to the family when a patient is hospitalized.

7. Pharmacist

A pharmacist is a person responsible for dispensing medications to the patients to improve their health and wellbeing. For you to qualify to be a pharmacist, you need to have a doctorate in pharmacology or any related field.

However, this journey can start with you getting a bachelor’s degree in biology. Having basic knowledge about living things allows you to know how to protect life.

Pharmacist career has a 6% career growth, which is on a national average level. This profession shows a lot of promise in providing more job opportunities.

A pharmacist can also upgrade his qualification by getting Medical Coding and Billing Certification. Learn more about Medical Coding and Billing Certification from the Ultimate Medical Academy. Employers will look favorably for a candidate with such a certification.

8. Physician

A physician is one of the most appreciated and respected careers in the world. This is because the physicians are responsible for the health of everyone. Taking responsibility for the health of the people around you requires you to have the skills and the knowledge to do that.

To become a qualified physician, you need to have a bachelor’s degree in biology. Additionally, you can get a master’s or doctorate to have enough knowledge on how to deal with your patients.

This field has an expected career growth of 13%, which means that the field keeps expanding.

9. Biologist Technician

Working as a technician gives you room to grow and apply all your knowledge. Additionally, it allows you to be able to work in a team. You get the responsibility of carrying out tests and experiments. After doing the tests, you analyze your data and report to the biologists.

As a biology technician, you can work in the pharmaceutical industry or the healthcare provider sectors. This allows you to collect data that is used in making medicine and improving people’s lives.

Additionally, a technician can work in the university assisting the biologists to do their research. This is a great entry-level career that exposes you to the life of research. Moreover, this career has a promise of growing and room for advancement.

There were 82,100 jobs available for biology technician in 2016 whose median pay is $21.39 per hour or $44500 per year.

10. Conservation Scientist

With changes in the environment, most of the earth resources are used at a high rate than they are being replenished. This could be caused by global warming changes or an increase in population.

For this reason, conservation scientist is emerging, and their work is to ensure that the resources are used efficiently. They carry out research and experiments showing how you can conserve the environment.

If you love taking part in experiments when you are in class, then a career as a conservation scientist will be great for you. You get to spend most of your time outdoors collecting samples and taking them to the lab.

11. Dentist

Taking care of your teeth is very important, and a visit to the dentist once in a while is required. Most people only visit the dentist when they have a toothache and tooth decay. This is a bad approach as you may end up removing your teeth.

A career as a dentist is expected to grow by 19%, which means that there will be a lot of opportunities to dental students. Becoming a dentist requires you to have a doctorate in dentistry. This shows that you have enough knowledge in the field and you know what you are doing.

However, having a bachelor’s degree in biology is a good place to start. You can earn around $208,000 if you get to the top 10% in the dental profession.

12. Veterinarian

A veterinarian is one of the important people in your life. If you love animals, then you know how awful it is when your animal is not feeling well.

If you want to learn new ways of treating animals, then a career as a vet would be the right choice. Veterinarian officers need whether you have farm animals or pet animals.

When one of your farm animals is sick, the disease can spread to all the animals. This calls for you to get a qualified veterinarian to take a look.

You can make over $159000 if you are the top 10%. A career as a veterinarian is one of the best jobs for anyone with a bachelor’s degree in biology.

Bottom Line

Starting a career with a biology degree can be tricky if you don’t know what jobs to apply for. A biology degree is important because it has numerous careers paths you can follow.

Some careers are great for our environment, health care, animal health, research, and teaching. Visit our blog and learn more about career tips in your chosen field.

Starting crate training when your pet is young will allow them to establish a feeling of safety and security and learn how to enter the crate on command.

First things first, crate training a puppy or older dog is not cruel, when it’s done in the right way. In fact, many breeders and vets actually recommend dog crate training.

Why? Because it’s in their instincts.

Dogs have always sought out small dens to feel safe and sheltered. A crate or kennel is just like a den and can give a sense of safety and security to your fur baby.

But how can you start crate training without going barking mad? We’ve done all the sniffing around for you. Read on for some woof-tastic tips on how to crate train a dog.

Benefits of Dog Crate Training

Here are some many benefits to kennel training your pooch:

• It helps with housetraining
• Provides an easy and relaxing mode of transport
• Is a refuge for your pup when stressed
• Gives injury prevention when you can’t keep an eye on them
• Helps them feel calm and safe when heading to the vet and after surgery

In addition to the many benefits to your pup. Crate training will give you peace of mind. And looking after your dog will become more manageable in the long run.

Picking the Perfect Crate

Before crate training a puppy, how can you pick the perfect pet carriers and crates?

You need to select a crate that’s big enough, but not only for your pooch to lay down in. Your pup needs to have room to stand up, turn around, and lie down with outstretched legs.

But if it’s too big, they won’t get the cozy effect you’re going for. Balance is key.

There are several different types of crates to choose from. But it’s best to stick to something simple like a plastic or metal wire crate when crate training a puppy.

How to Crate Train a Puppy—Do’s and Don’ts!

Now you’ve picked the perfect crate, it’s time to find out how to crate train a puppy. Follow these dos and don’ts and you’ll have a paw’sitive experience with your pooch.

Do

Let them blow off steam before they go into the crate. Give them a runaround and make sure they have the opportunity to go to the potty too.

After they’ve spent some time in the crate, give them another opportunity for some exercise and potty time. This will start training them to only go to the bathroom outside.

Don’t

Don’t use the crate for punishment purposes. If they associate the crate with a negative experience, it will be harder to train them.

Make sure your doggo associates the crate with a POSITIVE experience. Add a few cozy blankets, a favorite toy, and some treats inside and leave the door open for a while. This will allow them to explore freely without feeling anxious.

Do

Try feeding your puppy as part of your dog crate training. Move their bowl into the crate and let them eat without closing the gate. After they feel more comfortable, you can close the gate while they’re eating and open it when they’re done.

Do

Encourage use of the crate when things are stressful at home. Kids running around and loud noises may be too much for your furry friend. Give them some peace and quiet and a chance to unwind.

Don’t

When dog crate training, don’t leave them in the crate for long periods of time. They need bathroom breaks and playtime REGULARLY. Leaving them for too long may even cause them depression and anxiety!

Do

Progress slowly. Build up the duration gradually until they can stay comfortably without stressing out. Treats go a long way in this!

In the Doghouse

It’s clear to see that sending your pooch to the doghouse shouldn’t be a negative experience at all. In fact, crate training has many benefits that can give your fur baby their best life!

For more interesting lifestyle tips to benefit your pets and family, check out the ‘Life’ section of our blog.

Curious to learn more about challenge coins? Here’s a complete guide with everything you ever wanted to know about challenge coins!

Have you ever heard about challenge coins? Ever wondered what challenge coins are for?

You may heard about them in 2017 when President Trump redesigned the presidential challenge coin. There’s a huge difference between his challenge coin and former President Barack Obama’s. Opinions about the new design are very different.

Wonder no more about them because we’ve got a quick guide on everything you want to know about challenge coins.

1. History of Challenge Coins and the Handshake

For a century, challenge coins have been in the American military tradition.

One of the earliest rumored origins is during WWI when an American soldier gave his ace flyers minted coins with their squad insignia. One of them got shot down, got captured by German soldiers, and then escaped into France. The minted coin saved his life when he used it to prove to the French military that he wasn’t a German spy.

Col. “Buffalo Bill” Quinn of the 17th Infantry Regiment made minted coins for his men during the Korean War. One side had a buffalo and another had the Regiment’s insignia. He drilled a hole at the top so his men could wear it around their necks.

2. What Are Challenge Coins?

A challenge coin is a representation of anything from a small unit to a leader at the top. They are custom coins that mark camaraderie, commitment, and allegiance. Often, military personnel and top leaders have and use them.

Before his retirement, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates toured military bases in Afghanistan. He shook hands with men and women in the Armed Forces in what appeared to be a simple exchange of respect. In fact, it was a secret handshake with a special Secretary of Defense challenge coin for the recipient.

3. Uses of Challenge Coins

Military personnel receives challenge coins as a commemoration of hard-fought battles. Most often, service members collect challenge coins. They display challenge coins to show off missions they’ve been on, the top leaders they’ve met, and the units which they’ve worked for.

In tradition, carriers of a challenge coin use it to prove membership when challenged. It also enhances the morale of a unit. Now, some coins get made for special events, anniversaries, and even nonmilitary leaders.

Every president and vice president have their own challenge coins. Presidential challenge coins started with Bill Clinton. Vice-presidential challenge coins began with Dick Cheney.

Often, there are a few different challenge coins. There can be one for the inauguration, one for administration, and one for the general public. The one for the general public is often available in gift shops.

Police challenge coins are an inexpensive way to recognize outstanding officers, boost department visibility, and foster camaraderie among them. Learn more on police challenge coins, how they became so popular, and why you want them in your unit.

More Chances for Challenge Coins

That’s our quick guide on challenge coins and everything you need to know about them.

Do you have an organization or company of your own? Create your company’s own challenge coin, give it to your employees, and evoke morale. If you do, remember to give weight and bearing to the challenge coins as they should have.

For more informative content like this, all you need to do is check out our other posts and guides.

Marijuana is finally being recognized for the benefits it can provide for numerous medical conditions.

With widespread acceptance though comes the question of what type of marijuana you need. Picking between indica and Sativa strains can be really hard, especially as a beginner.

Today we’re covering the major differences between indica and Sativa strains and helping you understand what conditions each may benefit.

Indica

Indica strain marijuana is notable for its shorter, bushier growing style and wide leaves. It grows at a significantly faster speed than sativa does and has a much darker green color. It’s believed to have originated in central Asia and spread to places like the Afghani Kush and the Hindu Kush

If you compare the buds of indica vs sativa you’ll notice that indica buds are much more densely packed together. They also produce a higher yield per plant than do sativa plants.

Indica has been bred for centuries and thrives in lower light environments. This makes them perfect for indoor grow conditions.

Effects of Indica

Indica is known to marijuana aficionados to produce more relaxing strains. It has higher levels of cannabidiol (CBD) than does sativa but lower levels of THC.

That causes indica strains to affect the body a lot more than they affect the mind. Indica is great for causing a general feeling of relaxation and peacefulness.

It’s been used for centuries as a natural analgesic and sedative. It can help reduce pain and feelings of nausea while also stimulating the appetite.

When people think about a classic marijuana high they’re really picturing an indica high.

Conditions That Benefit From Indica

Most people who seek out indica for treatment are looking for a way to calm their body. Common conditions include:

• Multiple Sclerosis
• Crohn’s Disease
• Muscle Spasms
• Glaucoma
• Insomnia
• Chronic Pain

Because most of the indicas effects are focused on the body it’s great for people suffering from chronic conditions. It can relax the muscles, reduce the feeling of nausea, increase dopamine production and help stimulate the appetite.

Sativa

Sativa grows in tall and thin plants with very narrow leaves. Their leaves are known for being quite light in color and Sativa buds are usually much more loosely packed than indica buds. They’re believed to have originated in eastern Asia and spread throughout the world from there.

One important thing to remember with indica vs Sativa plants is that sativa isn’t as fruitful. They require noticeably more light than do indica and take longer to mature.

This makes them more suited for outdoor grows on sunny days rather than indoor grow with limited lighting.

Effects of Sativa

Sativa produces a much more cerebral feeling than does indica. It’s known for having mainly mental effects and improving things like alertness and creativity.

Sativa has lower levels of CBD than does Indica but much higher THC levels. This causes it to create a high more like a stimulant.

Sativa is more likely to help get an interesting discussion going than cause everyone to take a nap. Many people also report improved focus on Sativa strains rather than indica strains.

Conditions that Benefit from Sativa

Given that Sativa strains focus mainly on mental effects it’s to be expected that they’re used mostly for conditions of the mind. Their stimulant and focus-inducing properties make them effective for conditions like:

• Depression
• ADHD
• Chronic Pain
• Mood Regulation

The effects of sativa are great for improving focus on things like studying as well. They also have many of the same appetite inducing characteristics of indica strains.

Hybrids

Hybrid strains combine the effects of indica and Sativa strains. Depending on what kind of effect you’re looking for there’s likely a hybrid strain that can provide them.

Check and see whether the hybrid strain you’re considering is indica dominant or Sativa dominant. This will give you a good idea of what basic effects it will have. 

Don’t be Afraid to Try a Few

One of the great things about medical marijuana is how many different strains there are to help you. Don’t be afraid to try a few different ones until you find the strain that gives you the most benefits. It may be indica, sativa, or even a hybrid of the two.