Thrift Haul-of-the-Month & Christian Corner Beginning in October

For the month of October, there are going to be two new series taking off -- Thrift Haul-of-the-Month and Christian Corner.

For the Thrift Haul-of-the-Month, I am going to go out and find things that I need to replace around the house (and other random fun stuff).  I will implement the original price and the price that I purchased it for.  I love going to thrift stores, so maybe you guys will enjoy following along with what I find.

Secondly, I am still trying to work with an author for Christian Corner.  I am not sure if this will be weekly or monthly, but I think it will bring a new dynamic to this website.  This will start at some point in October.

Again, thank you for all of your input by means of comments and emails.  :)

5 Steps of a Quality Home Workout

Not everyone can make it to the gym. For some it’s too expensive, for some it’s just not available. However, getting a good workout doesn’t have to be done at the gym. The following 5 steps are key to a quality home workout.

Step #1 - The Warm-up

Every exercise needs a proper warm-up, not only to get blood flowing and your heart rate up, but to prevent injury. Warm-ups for a home workout include a slow pace on a treadmill, elliptical, or exercise bike. Ensure you take plenty of time to warm-up, and don’t continue to intense physical training until you feel that you are fully ready.

Step #2 - Aerobic

Aerobic exercise is to get your cardiovascular system working. Jogging, step aerobics, jumping rope, or intensified cycling on a bike is a great way to improve your cardiovascular system. The idea is to get your heart rate up and keep it up.

Step #3 - Anaerobic

Anaerobic exercise is to improve your strength. This can be done a number of ways, but depending on the available equipment, you can do squats, push-ups, sit-ups, or pull ups. A variety of dumbbells, ropes, or bands can also be purchased to improve the anaerobic workout.

Step #4 - Flexibility

Flexibility is often overlooked. Floor stretches and forms of yoga poses are a great way to improve your muscle flexibility. When stretching is overlooked, muscles can become tight and lose range of motion. If you exert a muscle group too hard with poor flexibility, injuries can occur. Always make stretching part of your workout routine.

Step #5 - The Cool-down

Cooling down is also a very important part of the workout routine. Allowing your muscles to cool down will help remove lactic acid buildup in your muscles along with allowing your body to gradually reach resting levels. If vigorous exercise is stopped suddenly, risks of dizziness or fainting can occur.

Top Tips for Buying a New Mattress

Replacing a mattress can be a daunting task, particularly for those who haven’t had much experience buying mattresses in the past. There are all manner of new specifications and terms one needs to familiarize themselves with.

However, mattresses aren’t like most other furniture; they are something that we use every day, and having a good mattress isn’t just a matter of comfort and luxury. The mattress we sleep on can have a dramatic impact on the quality of our sleep and therefore our wider health; being sleep deprived has a number of negative effects, both physically and emotionally.

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Cost--

Cost is going to be the biggest limiting factor when it comes to assessing your options for a new mattress. As with most things in life, you will get what you pay for. If you skimp on the mattress it will likely not last very long.

A good quality mattress will cost you more money now, but you will save money not having to replace it regularly. Using websites like Best Mattress Brand who present a side by side price comparison of brands will help you to assess who the best manufacturers are and to get an idea of what sort of price you should pay for them. This comparison step is essential if you wish to keep costs down.

Support--

There are four common types of mattress: latex, inner spring, foam, and air-filled. The type you choose will depend on how you prefer your mattress to behave; whether you prefer something with more bounce or more firmness.

If you are planning to buy your mattress in person from a retailer, you should definitely try the mattress out. If you’re planning on ordering a mattress online, it is still worth visiting a retailer beforehand so you can try out the different types of mattresses.

Sleeping Positions--

If you prefer to sleep on your side, then you will want a mattress that responds to the extra pressure put on certain parts of it. Memory foam is perfect for this, it will offer a good deal of pressure relief and makes for a more comfortable sleeping experience in just about any position.

If you sleep on your front then memory foam won’t be as pleasant, in fact it may well feel smothering. Instead, a firmer material will be more comfortable. If you sleep on your back on the other hand, then you will want to aim for something which sits halfway between these two extremes.

Allergies--

Many people suffer from allergies which restrict the kind of pillows and blankets they can have on their bed. Both foam and latex mattresses will be more resilient to dust mites, which can be a trigger for allergies in some people. Otherwise, you can purchase allergen-resistant covers separately, which will prevent dust mites and mold building up in other mattress types.

Hybrids--

Hybrid mattresses allow you to combine the features of other mattress types to create a custom mattress which is perfect for you.

Buying a new mattress can seem like a daunting and complicated task at first, but with a little bit of research, and some experimentation, you should be able to find the perfect mattress for you. With a good quality mattress comes a good night’s sleep. Be prepared to spend the money necessary and you will end up with the mattress of your dreams.

Accidents Happen: How to Save Your Child's Tooth

When children are playing, accidents happen. We never want them to, but sometimes they are inevitable. Whether they are playing baseball with their friends and someone takes a ball to the face or they are running too fast down a hill and fall, teeth can get knocked out. The team at Desert Hills Dental has put together these tips for helping you save your child’s knocked out tooth.

Once a tooth has been knocked out, the nerves and blood vessels are damaged beyond repair, but if you act quickly the bone can be reattached to the root, saving the tooth. However, if they have lost a baby tooth it isn’t always necessary to replace.

What to Do When a Baby Tooth Is Knocked Out--

Baby teeth will eventually fall out and be replaced by permanent teeth. So, if your child accidentally knocks a baby tooth out, it isn’t necessary to replace it, especially if they are reaching the age when their teeth should start falling out – 5 to 6 years old.

But that is a choice you have to make: to re-implant the tooth or let nature take its course.

If your child is 5 years or older you may want to simply allow the permanent tooth to grow in when its time comes. Maybe a visit from the tooth fairy is the best course of action at this point.

If your child is younger, 2-4 years old, you might want to consult their pediatric dentist about re-implantation. Their dentist can tell you if it is necessary to re-implant their lost tooth and what the risks and benefits of that will be. Then you can make an informed decision about what is best for your child.

No matter what your decision is, always first make sure to find the tooth. Because children’s teeth are so small, it would be easy for them to inhale the knocked out tooth, causing difficulty breathing. If you can’t find the tooth, have a pediatrician check your child to make sure they didn’t inhale or swallow the tooth.

What to Do When a Permanent Tooth Is Knocked Out--

Whether you are getting the prematurely lost baby tooth or a permanent tooth re-implanted, these are the steps you’ll want to take.

Find the tooth, and pick it up by the crown. You can’t get it re-implanted without it – although there are options for replacements if the tooth cannot be found.

Rinse it off gently with water if it is dirty, and if your child is old enough to do so themselves, reposition the tooth in its socket and have your child hold it in place until you reach the dentist’s office. If you are worried about this option, then place the tooth in a glass of milk. Just remember to keep it moist at all times.

It’s important to act fast. Once you have the tooth clean and ready, get your child into a dentist within 30 minutes if possible.

When faced with the panic of any medical emergency, always remain calm. Now that you have the knowledge you need to take care of the situation, you know that everything will be okay and can express this to your child to help calm them.

Adding Automation to Make a Smarter Home

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For a lot of people, the idea of having a home which is augmented by automation is a dream for the future. Only a select few have access to the resources to have this sort of option for their home, making it hard for others to jump on the bandwagon. Of course, though, with the right patience, you can build this sort of system for yourself. To help you out with this, this post will be going through the process of adding a touch of tech to your home, without having to spend a small fortune in the process.

Step #1: Choosing Your Features

The first stage of this journey will be choosing the features you want your smart home to have. You have a lot of options here, with the sky being the only true limit of the ideas you can incorporate. Of course, most people will probably want to go for the simple at first and build from there. So, below you can find some of the most common home automation features which people are using today.

Some Common Examples are:

Imagine having your speakers turn on as soon as you get home, playing the same music you were listening to on your phone. As you move around your place, the music follows you, with speakers which are perfect for the room they’re in. This sort of idea is completely possible, and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune.

Along with music, it would be very useful to have lights turn on as you get home, as well as being able to control them with your phone. Smart bulbs can be fitted to almost any normal light fitting. This gives you the chance to have a cost-free installation while giving you loads of freedom when it comes to your lighting.

As time goes on, people are becoming more and more aware of security in their home, and are looking for ways to enhance it. This is possibly the biggest area of home automation which is currently available, thankfully, making it easy to find items to help you. Cameras which turn themselves on, facial detection for your front door, and automatic locks which are always as secure as possible are already being added to homes.

Finally, for those wanting to live in the true future, smart mirrors have been making a splash in a lot of places. Following a simple online guide, it’s possible to create a mirror which can be used to give you notifications, tell you the weather, and even suggest which outfits to wear. This sort of tool is perfect for those who live for their phone, as the best options are always built around a smartphone.

Step #2: Choose the Tools to Do It

Once you have an idea of the basic features you like to have in your home, you can start to research the tools you’re going to be used to do the job. In most cases, off-the-shelf products can be used for this sort of work, and you should be able to find an array of options to help you. For music, options like Google Home and Sonos speakers are perfect, and Philips make the best smart bulbs. For other areas, though, you’ll have to do some research for yourself dependent upon your needs.

The objective of this research should be to find several different options for each of the features you’d like your home to have. For example, for smart speakers, you have loads of options from different companies. For a lot of people, an option which can work with Apple devices will be very important, limiting your choices.  But, for others, reviews will be the best way to tell if an option is for you. Along with this, you could also look into the idea of visiting a tech store before you buy these items. A lot of home automation gadgets are becoming very popular and will be able to fit right into your home.

Step #3: Installing It

Once you have all of your items ready to be installed, you might have quite a bit of work to do. In most cases, you will probably need some tools to help you with your work. So, it’s worth doing some research and preparing what you’ll need before you start. This will save a lot of time which would be spent while you’re working hard on your automation.

With your tools in hand, you can start to think about the jobs which you’re going to do yourself. In most cases, a lot of the tools you will have bought will be DIY-able, and you can install them yourself. In these cases, it’s worth having someone to help you out, along with reading the instructions you’re given very carefully. Always expect jobs like this to take longer than others say they will. There will almost always be setbacks and issues which need to be solved, and you’ll have to make sure you have time to do this.

Of course, there will also be some work which you can’t do yourself. If your automation dreams mean you have to alter your home, you may need the help of a builder to get the job done. Along with this, you may also need the help of an electrician to get your work done. You can view more here about services like this, and you should be able to find loads of professionals in your area which can help you. Finding the best options here will depend on doing plenty of research. But, to do this, you only have to look at some reviews.

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Hopefully, this post will give you a good idea of what needs to be done when you’re trying to find new ways to add some tech to your home. In a lot of cases, this sort of work will make a huge improvement to the space you live in. But, it’s worth making sure you consider all of your additions to make sure they will truly benefit you.