Bathroom Before and Afters

(CLICK ON ANY PIC TO SEE IT BIGGER THEN CLICK BACK BUTTON)
All I did was paint and add new towel racks. This face lift cost me around $200 bucks folks.

Kitchen Before And Afters

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Before and After Meditation Room

One hundred dollars in paint, 7 hours of painting at $15 per hour, $700 for new carpet and install, a day of moving out furniture and moving in my furniture and presto change-oh! Here are 3 "before shots

AAAAAAAND "after" aaaaaaaah...sweet peace.

(above) with flash truer color. check the burber carpet. click on any photo to see larger, then click the "back" arrow to get back


the red wall is redder in real life and needs one more coat

Another Handy Use For Lemons

Turns out lemons neutralize a stinky garbage disposal. I guess my mom was hip to this and yours probably is too. I wasn't. So, I called a plumber out to see if something had DIED in there!! He suggested running the disposal with hot water and adding cut up lemons. It worked! ALSO, for those of you who want to try the juice i talk about below, try posting an add on craigslist.org or freecycle.org... WANTED: FREE LEMONS. I did, and now I have at least 3 weeks worth of free fresh organic lemons!!

The Master Cleanser

The Master Cleanser Part 2

I've tried a lot of different fasts, and nutritional cleanses
THIS is the best. I first tried it back in 1998.
The Master Cleanser by Stanley Burroughs
2 tbsp lemon or lime juice (1/2 lemon)
2 tbsp of pure grade B (or C even better if you can find it) maple syrup
1/10 tsp cayenne pepper (red) or to taste
10 oz of purified water (very warm)
Drink 6-12 glasses daily and for best results, no other food. Morning and evening herbal laxative tea optional.

The Master Cleanser helps purify the liver.
The Master Cleanser helps dissolve and eliminate toxins and congestion that have formed in any part of the body
The Master Cleanser helps cleanse the kidneys and the digestive system
The Master Cleanser helps purify the glands and cells
The Master Cleanser helps eliminate unusable waste and hardened material in the joints and muscles
The Master Cleanser helps build a healthy blood stream
The Master Cleanser helps relieve pressure and irritation in the nerves, arteries and blood vessels

Grade B maple syrup contains a large variety of minerals and vitamins. These include: potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron, copper, phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine and silicon. Vitamin A, B1, B2, B6, C, nicotinic acid and pantothenic acid are also present.
Cayenne breaks up mucus and increases warmth by building the blood for an additional lift. It also adds many of the B and C vitamins.
Lemons and Limes are the richest source of vitamines and minerals of any foods known to man. The lemonade diet first proved itself in the healing of stomach ulsers over 70 years ago...

Much more info in the $5.95 book, The Master Cleanser.
It's totally worth it and you can order it off Amazon.com
Also, excellent for weight loss. I'm on this cleanse right now!! Hence all my extra energy to be up at midnight writing this blog all excited to share it so that you TOO can have more energy and vitality, nutrients, minerals and vitamines!! haha.
Continue reading below to see why honey is not so good for us.
More info: http://www.mastercleanser.com/index.htm

Why NOT Honey?

Honey must not be used at any time internally. It's manufactured from the nectar picked up from the flowers by the bees-good enough in itself perhaps - but then it's predigested, vomited and stored for their own future use with a preservative added. it is deficient in calcium and has many detrimental effects for the human being.
According to one authority, honey is a "magical and mystical word in Healthfoodland. It is one of the most overpromoted, overpriced products being sold to gullible health foodists. The great value attributed to honey is delusive...honey is only a little less empty and more dangerous than sugar."
Just as with alcohol, honey, being predigested, enters the blood directly, raising the sugar content very rapidly above normal.. To correct this, the pancreas must produce insulin immediately or possible death can occur. More insulin than necessary is likely to be produced, and the blood sugar level then drops to below normal. When blood sugar is below normal, a person will feel depressed. The regular use of honey can create constant imbalances which in turn will adversly affect the normal function of the liver, pancreas and spleen. Hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia are the results of the use of unbalanced sugars. The balanced sugar in maple syrup and sugar cane juices cause no dangerous side effects. All natural fruits and vegetables have balanced sugars in them. Artificial synthetic and refined sugars have no place in the natural diet.

Stanley Burroughs
Author of The Master Cleanser and Healing For The Age of Enlightenment

"To many people, God seems so far away. If so, who did the moving?"
Stanely Burroughs

New Paint, New Room

Originally Journey had asked for his room colors to be black and green. This was my compromise. This photo is from Behr.com, a sample of what his room looked like in these colors. I'm using this photo because I just painted OVER these colors today. These are the new colors. Same family, but many many shades lighter. This is a photo from earlier when Roberto was painting.

Here are the photos of his room that I took this evening. As you can see it's much brighter during the day.

Featured Favorite Bathroom Accessorites

Teak Bathmat Bed Bath and Bayond $39.00

River Rock Bathmat $12.99 Bed Bath and Beyond
It's the little things... the simple things. Both of these accessories add a natural element to your bathroom. Both not too expensive and a nice treat for your feet too.

Bathroom Face Lift

I did some research last night on vanities, because I felt like my bathroom needed a makeover. Any way I looked at it, I'd be spending at least $1000.00. Well, I should've taken before photos (again), but this is what I did instead. I replaced all my mix match accessories with 4 new bamboo accessories and a teak floor mat from Bed Bath and Beyond (totalling $100.00), adding some wood elements. My bathroom feels much more zen now. I also put up some wood framed bathtub photos of my son and his friends and cousins.

It Doesn't Have To Be Perfect

But, everything has a place. In this case, there was one battery in the drawer, meanwhile ALL the other batteries are in the refrigerator so...duh, this one should be in the fridge too. Allergy medicine, medicine cabinet. Take out napkins, gonna be used today for cleaning. Headphones, go with the electronic stuff. Straws, in the cabinet with all the other straws...and it goes on and on. I allowed myself some room and left the tacks in this drawer because that's where I'm used to them being and I also left the paint brushes here because this is where I hide my good paint brushes from my son!! haha. A couple of pens and some rubber bands, but otherwise, this is a kitchen silverwear drawer.
BEFORE

O.C.D At It's Finest

Can ANYONE please tell me WHY it makes me SO happy to have a color coordinated closet with matching wooden hangers all throughout!!?? Today I bought 90 matching wooden hangers for $36 bucks from a nice girl off craigslist.org. Easy Breezy Beautiful. haha. And although it looks like I have a lot of clothes (i do) I filled up a large shopping bag for donation.
I may need a bigger closet:)



Tip for off season clothing: Pack it away neatly in a suitcase that you are not using any time soon and store in your closet up on a shelf, out of the way till next season or in your garage if you have one!

Tips For De-Clutterization

If you don't LOVE it or if you haven't used it in 6 months...GET RID OF IT!!
Besides feeling really good because you've created more space and can now SEE what's in your closet, you can also do someone else a favor by donating your old stuff. I've been utilizing www.freecycle.org a lot in the past week (haha...I think this may become a long term relationship) or you can find your local women's shelter or whatever works for you.
I walked into my garage yesterday and took a look around (a little depressing I have to say..it needs A LOT of work) but ONE THING AT A TIME. So I spotted my old cat scratch tree which was taking up too much space in the house and wasn't really being used by the cats and decided to vacuum it off, take a picture of it and post it on Craig's List (which is where I bought it from originally for $60.00). It was sold in a matter of hours for $40.00. Booya! Simple, easy, effortless really...and now someone will actually USE it, and I had some bangin Thai food on half of that $40 last night:) It's all about letting go and being smart with your junk. Utilize the internet. Some of these donation spots will pick up, freecycle folks are just waiting for your free stuff. Believe me, I'm on every day and the stuff just goes like that! And remember, some folks will pay good money for your garbage.
S0, let's recap:
1. If you don't love it or haven't used or worn it for 6 months to a year (you have to keep seasons in mind) GET RID OF IT!!
*Disclaimer: Keep a storage container of sentimental items. Some items you may not use or wear but they hold a special memory for you...keep these things in a storage container out of view.
2. one project at a time
3. sometimes working on one area at a time for 20 mins at a time works really well. This depends on the kind of person you are. I have a hard time staying in one place for that long so I sortof sweep the space, attacking different areas for different short amounts of time. This is how I like to work, but most people do better with one area or project at a time for 20 mins.
4. One thing i LOVE to do is take a garbage bag and walk around my house and collect 20 things for give away, or 20 things for garbage.
5. If you have a partner and have a few hours on Sunday to get things together, ask him or her to help you with one thing. I like to do the "dish sweep". Ask him or her to gather up all the dishes, cups, glasses around the house and load them in the dishwasher or sink. That's one thing accomplished. It's not hard and you were able to get help doing it, saving YOU the time and grief. NOW you can attack the office, or bedroom, or closet, or whatever.
6. Don't forget to eat or drink fluids, get sleep, take tv breaks, play music and take care of yourself during your space clearing...it can be energizing and draining all at the same time, so staying hydrated and keeping your bloodsugar levels right will make it all better.

Dressing Up A Little Bathroom

The door to this shower used to open up and overlap the door to the bathroom so I removed the door, added bamboo window film from Home Depot and a shower curtain from Target to dress it up.