My Ideal Island Vacation Quiz

It is so funny and true. I would much rather be on PEI than any tropical island. It must be from living in Florida for so many years. I rather have good rugged nature. Where's your Ideal Island Vacation?

Your Ideal Vacation is Prince Edward Island

On an island vacation, you'd really like to immerse yourself and get to know the locals. You enjoy the idea of spending time in a small, remote locale... especially a beautiful one. Whether you're sipping tea or enjoying the beautiful countryside, Prince Edward Island is perfect for you. It's so authentic and homey, you won't mind that you're not in the tropics.

What's Your Ideal Island Vacation?

Fresh Clean Air - Inside and Out

One thing I have learned in the past 5 year living with a chronic illness and studying to be a naturopath is the importance of getting fresh air and sunshine. How many days do we stay inside playing with our kids, watching TV, cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry to name just a few? How many days do we actually spend an hour outside? Some people don't even realize how healthy it is to be outside. Some people are just too tired to go. Since, I also have chronic fatigue, I know this feeling well. I have to force myself out the door. (I am always glad I did go because inevitably, I feel better.) Our family and I try to get outside afterschool and on weekends, we do however nix this idea when the pollens are high. Usually we can escape the pollens in Tucson by driving up to Mt. Lemmon and enjoying the air up at 8000 feet. Often times people with MCS forget the importance of getting outside or they just feel too sick. Yesterday, I took my homework with me to the park and sat and read. I found that I retained more information while I was sitting outside and studying, even with the kids running back and forth than I do when I am sitting in my home with the kids in school. I have decided that I am going to the park when I can to do my course work and projects.

Another great thing to do is to remember to open your windows. On a beautiful day, I like to open the windows and doors. I believe that it cleanses your house, removing chemicals and toxins from the indoors. We do this a lot in the fall, winter and spring. Once our temperature here in Tucson breaks 100 degrees we head up to the mountain for our fresh air. The mountain is a wonderful place to escape the extreme heat of the desert. If we can't drive to the mountain on the weekends we spend time outside in the evening looking up for falling stars and star gazing.

One last thing I want to mention, we often times exercise, meditate and do yoga in gyms and in our homes. We forget that these activities can be done outside in a beautiful quiet serene place. Free of stress. I love doing activities like these outside because my brain fog lifts and I feel so much better. Relaxation can also be achieved in the great out doors. Takes some blankets and find a shade tree or a sunny spot and just lay and watch the clouds drift by.
Thanks for reading, have a beautiful day.

Aquafina Water Bottles

Hi Everyone,

I am so sorry I have not written before tonight. I have been so busy with school, and kids I haven't had much time for anything else. I miss reading all of your blogs. I will catch up. I was thinking about all the things I wanted to write about. Alan, Ryan and I all reacted to our mold/dust shots and our chemical drops this week, which sucks. We all need additional testing to see if our allergies worsened or got better. We have gone pretty whole grain and veggie and noticed that some of our MCS symptoms were at bay this weekend. YAY!!!

One important thing I wanted to bring up is how we respond to some plastics. We, as a family, don't use plastic unless necessary. Alan, at work, has to grab an Aquafina sometimes and noticed that his MCS symptoms always increased after drinking from that plastic bottle. I found out that when I drink from an Aquafina bottle my symptoms go up too. Go figure. I just wanted to tell in case of emergency that a store brand water does not increase our symptoms over the prestigious Aquafina brand. More expensive might mean more leeching from a the plastic containers. If in doubt use a glass.
Hope you all have a great week.

It's not easy being GREEN

I have a pet-peeve. Okay, I have many pet-peeves but this one is driving me nuts. Everybody and their cousin wants to look like they are being green. They carry there little green (look at me, I love the environment) bag and they douse themselves in toxic chemicals that they call perfume. Usually with a baby in tow. I am still amazed that we can be sitting 50 feet away from someone and still have a strong scent of toxic sludge (perfume) drifting our way. Today was no exception. One lady was toting a "organic cotton green bag" and reeking of chemicals. It isn't easy being green in this world today. There are too many hidden killers in everything you buy. There is hope, one person at a time, changing there cleaning products to those of our ancestors, it isn't that hard. Not poisoning the environment with chemicals that we spray on ourselves, or put in our homes to make them smell better. I rather smell your home full of body odor than a mask of chemicals. Today, was a day where we couldn't even stay at the playground part of the park. Nine different mom with nine different scents poisoning my children and theirs. To me it is as bad a second-hand smoke. I have to remind everyone to please step away if you are wearing perfume, you might as well be blowing second-hand smoke at me. There, I feel much better, except for the fibromyalgia and headache from the odors we endured today. I hope tomorrow is another beautiful day. Thanks for listening to me be angry.

Clean your Own Toxic Mold --- OMG No!

So dear readers I am surfing the internet and came across a blog that tells you the dangers of toxic mold and then shows a book on how to clean it naturally. I want to put my two cents in. Very rarely do I take sides but this book scares me. The article was written on a wellness blog and I know the writer was thinking about how important it is to get rid of toxic mold because of the health risk. I strongly feel that it is like dealing with a rattlesnake bite at home. You have no idea how serious the mycotoxins can harm your body. I can not express my concern for this DYI project enough. Remove yourself from the home/apartment etc. Get a professional to remediate your home do not attempt this on your own. The complications to your health are by far too great and I don't want anyone out there believing that if you take care of it yourself it will be great.

Mold Toxins increases your risk of allergies

A new study came out in December that states that the mycotoxins from mold are more hazardous to your health than previously thought. The study came from Lund University in Sweden.

For us it is something we already knew. I developed so many chronic allergies especially to dust and dust mites. I am starting to react to my dust/mold shots which means my allergies to one or more of the antigens in my shot is getting worse. Unfortunately that means more testing to tweak my shot. More testing means I need to fly to our environmental physician in Florida. He is one of four in the country that titrates our formula specifically for our type of allergies. For more information on our physician you can look at his website.

Living in a Chemical Soup - Ning

I just wanted to mention that chemical soup has a NING counterpart for all of you intereted in living chemical free and having a community to meet and discuss issues. I realized it was a nice community after my college started a NING site. So if you are interested please check out Lynn's Ning page called Living in a Chemical Soup ~ Healthier Homes, Healthier People Thanks Lynn for a great NING site.

Hope you are still having a great day!

The Noodles and a Cold

My dear reader's it has been a busy week. We had a new piece of furniture delivered just after Christmas which caused us a great deal of MCS issues. We did all the detox treatments to help on our symptoms and on Sunday it seemed to pay off. Hopefully it will stay this way.
There is a great group of guys that play in a band called The Noodles out of Tempe AZ. The lead guitar player, John Reuter builds some really great sounding Jerry Guitars and if you are into that scene, the guitars are truly awesome. The band member were very kind letting Alan sit in as both lead and rhythm for the second set. It made his month and he enjoyed getting out to play. I met a lot of great followers of the Noodles and just felt welcomed from the moment we got there. I hope to go back there soon. Now, as for MCS and going to a bar. We survived. It was a smoke free bar and no one was wearing cologne or even patchouli. I left feeling pretty good and woke up the next day feeling pretty good. So did Alan, how weird is this. Bar, no smoke, no MCS. Hurray!!! It was called the Red Owl in Tempe Arizona. I was pleasantly surprised. Although on Monday night, I started getting a cold. Today, it is at bay and I am feeling better. Must be all the Vitamin C and good music.
I also started my Foundation of Naturopathy course it is some pretty heavy reading so it is going slow. Hopefully I will get through it by next week. I shall keep plugging along and I will still try to get on this blog site and write. I hope everyone is having a beautiful week. Hope to be writing soon~

Please feel free to check out the youtube video from that night.



Thanks Mitch

Bathtime Detox~

Detoxification is a process that occurs within our bodies on a natural and continuous basis. Detoxifying is the process of releasing accumulated toxins and waste products that build up throughout our system.


I have been making my own bathsalts for over 19 years. It is a simple recipe that works great and is quite cost effective, and healthy for people with MCS, or people that just don't want alot of chemicals added to the bath.

Basic Bath Salts Recipe

3 parts epsoms salts
2 parts baking soda
1 part sea salt

*Stores indefinately in a mason's jar. Add liberally to your bath.

Now you know that I don't use scents but if I wanted to I would make a sachet of organic herbs (fresh or dried) You could use organic rose petals, spearmint, lavendar or something like that and add the sachet to the tub.

For a good detoxification bath I use 3 cups epsoms salts, 2 cups baking soda and 1cup sea salt. I make the bath water as hot as I can stand it and soak for 20 minutes bringing on a good sweat.

I have also read that another detox bath is made up of 1 cup epsoms salts, 2 cups baking soda and 1 cup sea salt and you use a 1/2cup per bath. I haven't tried this formula so I cannot say if I feel better after it. Especially with MCS the larger amount seems to work better. If you have dry skin you might want to add a teaspoon of glycerin to the bath or apply organic aloe vera gel after the bath.

For more information on Detox baths you can check out Our Little Place.

I hope you have a beautiful day.

Since I am on a blogroll today I wanted to let you guys know of one site that I have found very informative on the effects and treatment of inflammation on the body. It is called Cooling Inflammation by Dr. Art. Ayers. He is very helpful if you have any questions on incorporating an anti-inflammatory diet into your daily life and the benefits of doing so. It can keep all kinds of chronic diseases at bay. If you have the time~ please, check it out.

I just found another great called blog Chemical Soup. It is very informative on keeping you safe and your home safe from unwanted hidden chemicals. Just wanted to give them two-thumbs up and check them out if you have a chance.

Kids are Back at School

Yesterday all of my kids went back to school. I loved them being home for two weeks but it was sure nice when they went back. I didn't really like getting up before the sun was up but I got a lot accomplished. All my Hanukkah/Christmas decorations are put away for the next year and stored. All the thank-you cards have been written to family. I am just waiting to get some pictures to send with them and they will be off. I am just finishing some work I am doing for the school and I can start my homework again. I think by Thursday I will be starting my first course on the Foundations of Naturopathy. Yay!!!
As for feeling better. We are almost there from the gas heat episode. I started walking with my neighbor we are just walking one mile a day. We hope to get it up six miles by the end of the next couple of months. It feels good although I have a headache from something. I think it was from doing errands yesterday. We needed shoes and shoe departments do me in.
As for my friends with MCS remember how important 30 minutes of aerobic exercise at least three times a week is. It helps your body heal. It helps me feel good by elevating my mood and decreasing depression. Also, during the winter (northern hemisphere, now) remember to get some sun. Vitamin D is so important to your health. Just read the article for more information.

Hope you have a beautiful day.
Hugs and Love~

Natural Gas and MCS

Okay, so I went to bed late last night because I drank a cup of Organic Earl Grey Tea at 10pm. I knew better but I wanted something warm because it was cold in the house. I guess that was my first mistake. I can handle Earl Grey before 6pm at night. It doesn't seem to bother me chemically in any way. The caffeine at 10pm was another story. I think I finally was able to go to sleep about 1am. Tonight, I am drinking Yogi Tea Kava Stress Relief to calm the mind. We will see if my mind starts calming. Now onto the second mistake I made before going to bed, I turned the heat on. Even set the heat to 69 degrees. We have natural gas heat in the desert and when it comes on in the winter we get sick. I get dizzy, edgy and forgetful not to mention I wake up at 4am (Insomnia has set in. Nothing to do but watch infomercials to relax the mind. Of course I get sucked into one of them. I won't even tell you what I bought at 4am, if it works I will share it, if it is a scam I will share that too. I have to evaluate the product firts. I will tell you one thing it has to do with getting into shape. My favorite post New Year's till the end of summer regime. I always get back into shape for the summer. I like to eat in the fall and winter (something about hibernating and storing fat) so it takes a little bit of work to feel good about putting on a bathing suit. So enough about the 4am thing. I was up for the duration and I am still up now-10pm. I have no edge, no headache, no dizziness--just some neck pain and blurry vision and of course it is hard to remember things. Tonight, though, I will not be putting on the heat. Even with the cold front coming in. We will just have to stay snuggly in our flannel sheets and flannel PJ's. (romantic, isn't it? :)

I do have to say that last year at this time, I had excruciating headaches from the natural gas. This year, not so much. (we use the heat minimally to avoid our symptoms) I took my 5000mg of Vit C, my chelate magnesium, calcium and zinc, with my multivitamin later. I also take 400iu of VitD. Alan and I went for a 30 minute walk this morning to escape the natural gas and opened the doors when we got home. I took time out to play basketball with Alan and Ryan for about an hour yesterday Adding exercise and supplements to my life has greatly reduced a lot of my MCS symptoms. It has reduced a lot of my families symptoms but if we don't follow our regime sickness comes back in a flash and we are back to square one.

Thanks for reading dear readers~ Hope you have a beautiful day :)

*Note to self--change to electric heat by next winter :)*

Creating Natural Beauty at Home

Some of the things I have been doing over the past month is reducing chemicals in my house. My newest endeavor has been creating my own cosmetics and shampoos. My sister always sends me great books and I finally dug into one she had gotten me a while ago. It's called 'Natural Beauty at Home' by Janice Cox. Janice Cox herbal recipes for body, bath and hair have been featured in the Herb Companion (one of my favorite magazines!) I have to say she has great recipes that can be unscented and soothing to your body. I like adding natural herbal scents by soaking them in an organic oil. I have been making products with organic beeswax, oils and natural color (beet root, tumeric) much better than those horrible red, yellow and blue dyes. So I have gotten rid of all my cleaning products as you already know and now I am slowly getting rid of all my personal products. Making things that only require 3 organic ingredients makes me feel so good about using the product. Unless there is hidden chemicals in my organic purchases, my ingredient list is short. I buy on-line from two companies for my organic products and I will gladly recommend Glory Bee Foods Inc and also Mountain Rose Herb. Her recipes are easy to create for anyone. These recipes are especially good for people with MCS because you know exactly what you are putting in your products.

We are finally feeling better....and wishing you all a Happy New Year and hoping that ours doesn't end like it did this year with out pets!!

Hi Everyone,

I have so much to share and so little time to share with you. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. I was burning the candle at both ends and developed bronchitis and laryngitis. I am physically feeling better.
On our pet side it was a very hard month on us all......
Three weeks ago I had to put my 14 year old cat Magi to sleep. She was a Humane Society rescue who developed kidney failure over the last two years. My fondest memory was how she protected Rhyanna when she was a newborn. She would guard and watch over her. If anyone but myself came near baby Rhyanna, Magi would meow loudly and sit by the door of Rhyanna's room. She was a Tonkenese and meowed loudly normally but it was funny to see how protective she was. During Christmas break it was Arod, Ryan's 6 year old Betta fish that died. He lived a very long time for a Betta fish but Ryan was heartbroken. Lastly, Jaclyn's hamster Mario died on Dec. 30th, I am not sure what happened Jaclyn said that Mario was falling and she caught him and he died.) (She is 5 so I can only imagine how hard it was when she came out to the kitchen holding him and crying. So you can see that we had a lot of saddness when it came to our pets. Hopefully, the new year will be a happy time for our life with our pets. I do not want to leave this on a sad note and will post a lighthearted post next. It was a sad month for us here.