True, the phrase, "location, location, location", is a cliché. But smart homebuyers have come to realize that the location of their new home not only determines how happy they'll be with their purchase but also dictates its resale value. Following is a primer to help you find the right home in the right location: Don't be tempted to buy a great house in a bad neighborhood unless you can see signs that the neighborhood is changing for the better. Future buyers will not be willing to pay top dollar for a house surrounded by fixer-uppers.

Decide what you want in a neighborhood before looking. If it's important to have excellent schools nearby, don't look in areas where your kids will have a long drive or bus ride to school.

How safe is the neighborhood? Be sure to check it out at night and on weekends. Neighborhoods that may seem safe during the day can change when the sun goes down. Also look around you. Are your neighbors' homes and gardens well maintained or are there rusted cars in their backyards?

What amenities do you need nearby? If you're looking for parks, walking trails and recreation centers, a suburban location is for you. For the local restaurant, bar and theater scene, check out downtown properties.

And be sure to ask your sales agent about any likely changes in zoning, new schools to be built or recently approved projects that could have a negative impact on the neighborhood.

National television personality, Ainsley Earhardt, dreamed of being an entertainer. She didn’t know where that dream would take her, but she always knew she wanted to make people smile.

But Ainsley had another big dream. She wanted to be a mom. When she found out she was pregnant, she couldn’t wait to meet her child. She went into the sonogram like most mothers-to-be excited to see that first fuzzy black and white picture of her child. When the doctor couldn’t find a heartbeat, Ainsley’s worst fears were realized. She found herself in a dark place of pain, fear, and doubt, wondering if she would ever feel whole again. Could Jesus really be trusted to heal that pain?

If you've picked up a newspaper, surfed or watched TV recently, you've probably heard about Pinterest - the online photo pinboard and community. The social media kid on the block is growing so quickly that its popularity has been touted as "Pinsanity".

The moniker for its success is well deserved; the site has more than 265 million unique visitors, and it's growing. It gets more referral traffic than YouTube, Linkedin and Google+. The demographics of the site are interesting too. Most of its users are young women.

But what's the appeal? Think of it as an online scrapbook or inspiration board - minus time spent rifling through magazines and newspapers and cutting and pasting. You can share pins, re-pin from others and organize your boards by themes such as food, travel, home decor and personal style. Users can pin items from websites they like, using "Pin It" buttons on their browsers.

In the wake of Pinterest's success, many large corporations are developing their own Pinterest presence. Nordstrom, HGTV, ModCloth, General Electric and Whole Foods Market are among the brands currently using the site. Small businesses also can make use of it to unveil new items or advertise a service.

Your children have left home. You and your spouse are home alone, likely in a big house that may be becoming too much to handle. You want to spend more of your time traveling and the idea of mowing lawns no longer appeals. Your lifestyle is changing but your living situation has not. What can you do?

Downsize. Here's how:

1. Condominiums. Secure buildings that can offer of variety of amenities to suit any lifestyle. A monthly fee takes care of the maintenance.

2. Buy a smaller house. You may still want that garden.

3. Adult lifestyle community. Interact with like-minded people in a safe community with a country club atmosphere.

4. Adult mobile home community. Pick an urban park with amenities on site and shopping and restaurants nearby, or a country setting with lots of peace and quiet.

Mindful meditation - a technique to slow down and be in the moment - is moving from the yoga mat to the dining room table in hopes of restoring calmness to the process of nourishing our bodies.

Once the preserve of Buddhist monks, mindful meditation is now seen as a powerful tool by the scientific and medical communities to combat stress, depression, anxiety and other lifestyle diseases. Mindful eating is being touted as a way of bringing a degree of consciousness to the dinner hour and possibly helping to combat obesity, now epidemic in our society.

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As baby boomers look to downsize and homeowners trade luxury for function, there is renewed interest in smaller homes.

Eighty percent of 1,300-plus real estate agents surveyed said that baby- boomer clients aged 54 to 64 are interested in smaller homes. Saving money and living more simply were among the reasons for the interest.

A recent study by the U.S. National Association of Home Builders showed that the economic downturn has altered the landscape of housing.

The study predicted that by 2020, homes will be 10% smaller than the average single-family home in 2010.

While homebuyers may be looking for smaller residences, they're not interested in sacrificing functionality.

Instead, they're trading luxury amenities for practicality.

According to architects surveyed by the American Institute of Architects, buyers are losing interest in spaces such as home theaters and exercise and game rooms and are embracing spaces like home offices and mud rooms.

Pending home sales rose 3.8% from last month and Realtors® name the top markets Millennials are moving to, with Madison, Wis. coming in at number one.

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