At this moment perception is clutch. As it stands nothing will ever be the same.

When we come out of this — and you know we will — we will be different people. We must be careful with what we speak, think and feel into existence.

We are into the Northern Michigan deep freeze. This year came like clockwork, but it came hard and fast.

I know I, for one, am having a hard time getting into the swing of things as we are plunged into the darkness of standard time and the silence of the frozen tundra.

I have been plagued with severe allergies my entire life. Red nose, itchy eyes and postnasal drip are my standard state of being.

This time of year, it is difficult to tell the difference between simple allergies and the beginning of a cold.

Although an allergy is an immune response and colds are a viral infection, the two share a lot of symptoms.

We did a little research to help sort out what’s making you miserable. Here are a few tips to help you tell the difference.

Today we officially enter what has become widely known as Gratitude Season. We collectively reflect on the year and “live, laugh, love” our way into the warm and fuzzy feeling associated with being thankful for blessings.

This year has been very successful for me and many others, but I am sure we have all faced some painful hardships. I have suffered my fair share of public humiliations, as some of my readers may know.

However, this year, I find myself glowing. Not from anger, embarrassment or resentment lighting me up from within (well, maybe a little) but from the peace of hard lessons learned — finally. There is a satisfaction in knowing that one finally gets it. The pain that comes with bad choices isn’t happening again. The cycle has ended, and you can rise from the ashes a better, stronger person.

“This is Halloween ... this is Halloween” my little heart pre-emptively sings as it feels the crisp air September air.

October is nearly upon us. Harvest season is ending, and all the creepy crawlies start to come out to celebrate the darker half of the year.

Here is a list of scares to prepare you for Samhain:

This week we found ourselves at the Sugar Bowl once again to chat with newly local cook and entrepreneur Elizabeth Màrcano-Kennedy. Little did we know we were about to meet such a fascinating woman.

When you move into a historic home, you expect the house to creak and groan. You anticipate the wind to whip around it in a certain creepy way. So when we first settled into the house we never really thought anything of the squeaks and moans we heard.

So y’all put a ring on it — now what?

Love isn’t about grand gestures and expensive things. Love is doing the dishes without being asked, shoveling the drive way, and somehow making tedious every day tasks fun because you are in it together. To this day my favorite date of all time was spending the day driving around South Florida in our beat up 1991 Caprice getting free “Stolen Base” Taco Bell tacos, making jokes and dreaming about the future. With that said here are some thoughtful ideas on how to spend Valentine’s Day loving instead of spending.

Winter activities work up quite an appetite. Gaylord has plenty of places to warm up after a big day in the snow.

I used to go to the gym ... often. Then, life happened, and I stopped. However, I’ve never been gymtimidated. Yoga, pilates, boot camp, barre, Zumba, kickboxing — call me, it’s a date — as long as it’s after 6 p.m.

The reality isn’t that my failures are someone else’s fault, but my own. How did I ruin everything? What damage did I cause to get me to this moment? What actions did I take to get me here? From the good to the bad, I find myself taking responsibility for my current position.

We’ve all come to know Gaylord as a town of varied interests. Golf Mecca, growing foodie village and hub for a burgeoning music scene, but is Gaylord a breeding ground for a nascent underground art scene? All sign are pointing to yes. This week we hit the streets to dig a little deeper, and we found that our gorgeous downtown offers up more than just cocktails, fine dining and great shopping.

Thanksgiving is upon us. Gaylord’s sons, daughters, brothers and sisters return from their respective locations for tryptophan-laced celebrations with family... and a tsunami of feelings. Your mother sneak-dissing your weight, your dad just not getting it, your sisters openly, and aggressively hate your partner, your auntie asking when you're getting married, and grandpa's slightly problematic undercover racist comments all come together to create a perfect storm of potentially wild fury. But, here at Extra, we got you. Before you fling a handful of stuffing at your little brother let us help you plan your pre and post-meal escape. Here is Gaylord's ultimate guide to taking the edge off this holiday season so you can stay calm and party on.

As November comes to a close and we enter deeper into the holiday season, gratitude is something we all explore. This past month, Yoga-45 invited the members of the Gaylord community to participate in a gratitude challenge. When researching the challenge, Yoga-45 found a Harvard University study that revealed a daily gratitude practice had physical, spiritual, and social benefits. Surprising, no?! These benefits include stronger immune systems, lower blood pressure, better sleep, general alertness, positivity, and happiness, as well as, increasing compassion, generosity, and creating more forgiving natures.

Winter activities are the best activities. Maybe it is because I grew up in warm weather climates, but there is something untouchably magical about snow-covered sceneries. For an experience that is stunning, relaxing, and potentially romantic consider taking a horse-drawn sleigh ride through some of Northern Michigan’s enchanting landscape. Here is a list: