Find Time for Yourself

"If you don’t find time for yourself, the time you have left for others will be less than it could be. Go for a walk, lock yourself in the bathroom, pull over on the side of the road, stop long enough to just be quiet and listen to yourself breathe for a few minutes. Even 5 minutes is better than nothing."

 

Courtesy of "Begin with Yes" Facebook Fan Page

What a wonderful reminder, isn't it?  A lot of times we are so caught up with our duties and responsibilities, be it at work or at home, that we always forget to find time for ourselves.  Too busy for others, but not for yourself... Are you in that situation right now?  This inspiring message reminds us the importance of finding time to be alone by yourself even for just a few minutes, to take time to slow down, pause...and breathe!  This I learned from Paul S. Boynton, author of the book "Begin with Yes".

Natural Home Remedy for Sunburn

Summer is up and the heat is on!  A lot of people hit the beach or the swimming pool this summer to cool them down from the scorching heat of the sun.  But if you expose yourself too much from the sun, chances are you can get sunburn.

Sunburn is caused by too much exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays.  As most sunburns are considered first-degree burns, the skin becomes red, warm, and tender to the touch.  More serious sunburn can be a second-degree burn, causing severe reddening, swelling, pain, and even blisters.  I read in a health book that fair-skinned people (like me!) are more prone to sunburn than darker skinned individuals. Yay!  But no matter what your skin color is, you will still burn if you get too much exposure.  And if you do get sunburned, here are some natural home remedies that you can do to help ease the pain and aid in the body’s healing process:

Aloe Vera

Gently apply a thin layer of aloe vera gel to the sunburned area.  Reapply it every hour until the pain is gone.  Aloe vera gel is an amazingly effective treatment for any kind of burn.  It relieves discomfort, speeds healing, and also helps to moisturize the skin and relieve dryness.  Pulp (or the transparent gel) taken directly from inside the fresh aloe vera plant is the best.  If you use a commercial aloe product, make sure, though, to choose one that contains no mineral oil, paraffin wax, alcohol, or coloring.

Weekend Blog Follower Caravan #10

Hi there!  Thank you for visiting my blog.  I'm so excited to join the Weekend Blog Follower Caravan hosted by OnlineBiz and Resources.  As the purpose of this weekly meme states, "it is designed for bloggers to help each other in terms of blog followers either through Google Friend Connect (GFC) or email subscription."

Since I'm a newbie in blogging, I'm really looking forward to meeting more blogger friends and following more interesting blogs.  I'm also looking forward to getting the love and support of fellow bloggers by following my blog...and I will surely reciprocate the love and support back to you. :-)  I am also open to exchanging links with you if you have a "family-friendly" blog.  Kindly leave a comment below (together with your URL) so I can link you up here and follow your blog, too.

I am Tess, by the way, a stay-at-home mom (hopefully a work-at-home mom soon, Lord willing) blessed with 2 adorable and energetic preschoolers and wife of 11 years now (and going strong) to my BF (bestfriend) and ex-BF (boyfriend).  For more than 12 years, my career evolved around the I.T. industry, and  now I am happily blessed and humbled that my life evolves around my ministry - my family, especially our children.  It gives me so much joy seeing my children grow up and personally witnessing the different milestones in their life, that no amount of money can  compensate.  Everyday, for me, is an exciting journey and a wonderful blessing...Get to know more about me and my life's passion and pursuits...and I would love to get to know more about you, too.  God bless!

Make Your Child a Habitat Hero

Today, April 22, is Earth Day.  Here in the Philippines, however, the celebration of Earth Day has been postponed to a later date, on April 25, if I’m not mistaken, to give way to the country’s observance of the Holy Week.  In essence, however, I think everyday should be Earth Day.  We can help save Mother Earth in our own individual gestures or “acts of green”, no matter how simple or intricate they may be, and incorporating them in our everyday lifestyle.

From Habitat Heroes website

As parents, I believe it is also our social responsibility to help our children understand about their place in the world, how to be more environmentally aware and socially responsible for their actions towards their environment.  And here’s a fun and creative way to help our children understand their environment and the different habitats in the world – through Habitat Heroes!  Habitat Heroes is a social networking website that educates and inspires children about social and environmental issues affecting our planet in a factual but fun format.  Children take on the persona of an endangered specie while playing games and learning about the different countries and habitats of the world.  You or your child can register for a free and unlimited access to this educational and fun website.  Aside from learning about some of the different countries of the world and creating their own habitat, children also get to learn cool stuffs like planting trees, animal rescue, rainforest rescue, global greening, global warming, and recycling, among others, through games and factual information.  More games can be played in the “School Safari” as well as more educational materials about environmental topics like Biodiversity, Climate Change, Eating Healthy Foods, Environmental Disasters, Marine Life, and Recycling can be found there.

Healthy Recipe #1 - Rice Coffee: A Healthy Alternative to Caffeinated Coffee

For the first time, I’m featuring a recipe I know that is healthy and very simple to make.  In fact, this recipe is so simple that it only has 1 ingredient (LOL!) and that is…unpolished rice!

Are you the type of person who loves to drink coffee but is wary of taking in (too much) caffeine into your body?  Well, here’s a wonderful alternative to the regular caffeinated coffee – RICE COFFEE!  There’s even an organic store I know that sells this kind of coffee.  But let me just share to you now how I prepare it at home.

Unpolished red rice variety

First things first, it’s best to use organic and unpolished rice.  Although I read somewhere that there are now violet, pink and black varieties, brown or red are the more common unpolished rice varieties in the supermarkets and groceries nowadays.  Using organic and unpolished rice is a lot better than the regular polished white rice because of its health benefits.  For one, it’s pesticide-free and is loaded with more micro nutrients (vitamins and minerals) and rich in fiber and essential oils compared to white rice.

Becoming a Praying Parent

I remember what our pastor always reminds his church, and that is to develop a consistent prayer life.  That’s my heart’s desire, too - to be more consistent in my prayer life.  And in praying, we do not only pray for ourselves but for others as well.  And one of the most important aspects of our prayer life is praying for our loved ones, especially the ones whom we deal with, take care of and minister to everyday – our children.

Here’s an excerpt from one of my favorite books by Stormie Omartian entitled “The Power of a Praying Parent” that I want to share to you this week. 

It gives me so much hope and encouragement to know that our children’s lives don’t ever have to be left to chance and be tossed and turned by the winds of change.  Instead, we can always turn to the expert parent of all time – our Father God – for help.  This doesn’t mean, though, that we would be abdicating all the responsibility of parenthood to God, but rather we can declare ourselves to be in full partnership with Him.  An important part of our job as parents is to keep the details of our child’s life covered in prayer.

Mommy Moments - Birthdays!

 

For the first time, I'm joining my good friend Mommy Chris' "Mommmy Moments" this week!  The theme is all about birthdays.  Birthdays are indeed very special moments to cherish and to celebrate God's goodness and faithfulness.  My kids are always looking forward to celebrating their birthday every year.  And here are some snapshots of our recent birthday celebrations...

Our Daughter's Fifth Birthday

Even though there was a nationwide brownout that day because of a typhoon and even though my little girl did not get her desired "Barbie" cake because it was temporarily phased out, we still managed to celebrate our sweet little daughter's 5th birthday at home.  Oh, and she also got two awards that day - Best in Art and Best in Math & Science!  Good job, my dear!

Our Son's Fourth Birthday

We first celebrated our son's 4th birthday this year with all our homeschool friends in the area.  And on the day of his birthday, we went out as a family to a children's play house and restaurant called Fun Ranch. The kids had a blast!

And finally....My birthday!

Had an exquisite and sumptuous dinner with my family, and was serenaded by the restaurant's staff and crew that evening.  What a lovely surprise!  Loved it!

Thank you Lord for the precious birthday moments a mother like me will always cherish!

Bee Propolis - Nature's Powerful Probiotic

I mentioned in my previous posts, Mama I Am Sick and Practical Home Remedy of Honey, that we have been using Bee Propolis as a natural health remedy and supplement at home.  Maybe it’s your first time to hear about it.  So what is it really, you may ask?  Read on and you’ll be surprised with its natural health wonders…

Propolis is a sticky resin that seeps from flowering buds and oozes from the bark of trees.  Propolis forms part of the tree’s immune system.  It fights bacteria, fungi and viruses that attack trees.  Honeybees collect propolis, sometimes called “bee glue”, and combine this resin with nectar, creating a mix of wax and pollen.  Propolis is used by bees to varnish the inside of their entire beehive including the inside of all the cells in their honeycomb to sanitize them.  Propolis is known to keep the hive disease-free by preventing bacteria and fungus from growing inside it.

It's My 2nd Month Blogaversary!

YES, it’s my 2nd Month Blogaversary, woohoo! (LOL)  Nope, sorry I don’t have those fancy stuffs to giveaway (just yet).  I must admit I’m still going through a learning curve here.  How I wish, though, I can accelerate it but it's just that my hands are always full and I can only do as much in a day.  Can somebody with a kind heart please help me without asking anything in return?!?! (LOL)

With the topics that I have posted so far, I never expected that I will be getting a positive response from readers and a not-so-bad site traffic coming from different parts of the world in less than three months since my blog launch…and yes, even though I don’t have that much followers yet! (LOL)  Truly, the World Wide Web has its amazing power to easily spread information across the globe.  Nevertheless, I’m so thankful to everyone who’s been reading my posts and to those who inspire me to go on.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Earth Day 2011: A Billion Acts of Green

Last March 26, 2011, millions of people all over the world participated in the Earth Hour, an event wherein every household or establishment across the globe turned off their lights for one hour as an act of commitment to a sustainable future.  At home, even though we were able to switch off our lights an hour past the exact Earth Hour, we extended the switching off of all our lights all throughout the night until the next day came as our simple way of participating in the earth greening movement.

Earth Day, on the other hand, is celebrated on the 22nd of April of every year, which marks the anniversary of the biggest modern environmental movement that started way back in 1970.  Earth Day Network, a non-government organization established in the United States, is continuing its commitment to build global sustainability through global events and online pledges.  With their “A Billion Acts of Green” website, any individual or organization can register an Act of Green, from Earth Day events, community activities and simple individual gestures of “greening” Mother Earth, to prove the idea that real change occurs best when millions of people commit with their actions of saving our planet.  A Billion Acts of Green is the largest environmental service and advocacy campaign in the world and its ultimate goal is to gather one billion actions in advance of the 2012 Global Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Here are some of our simple “acts of green” that I pledged for us to do at home, and hopefully, we can add some more in the near future:

Health Benefits & Practical Home Remedy of Honey

What do Winnie the Pooh and I both like? Hhmm, did you say "honey"?  Yup, you guessed it right!  If you are familiar with this cute and huggable bear from Hundred Acre Wood, Winnie the Pooh loves to eat honey.  And what's common between us is our fondness for honey.  We both love it!

We commonly know honey to be a natural sweetener.  It’s an excellent substitute for the common refined white sugar in our food and drinks.  But more than just a sweetener, honey gives us a wealth of health benefits that I really, really like.  Some of honey’s health benefits and uses are: