Everyone knows that lemon and blueberries go great together when you are cooking.  But aside from the taste, did you know that there are some tremendous health benefits that come from those two fruits? Here are a few of them: 

   Learning all of this about the benefits of these fruits inspired me to come up with this Blueberry/Lemonade drink to give my husband and I a boost as we were working on projects around our house! 
       I had seen a recipe from my friend and Doterra  consultant for a morning detox drink containing warm water, lemon oil and honey.  It seemed like a great idea, but I didn't want a warm drink and I thought about the blueberries in my fridge and decided to make a Blueberry Lemonade using my lemon essential oils.  It came out pretty good, but since then, I tweaked it and it is even better now.  Drinking that cool and refreshing drink, knowing that everything in it was good for me felt so good after working hard all morning and gave me a boost for the rest of the day! 

    I generally use essential oils topically and as aroma therapy.  There are very few that I feel comfortable ingesting, but lemon is one that I trust.  If you feel uncomfortable using the essential oil in this recipe, you can substitute the juice from  one lemon and maybe some zest as well. 
​      Always store essential oils out of the reach of children.  They are potent ingredients and need to be handled with care.  Oils can burn skin and eyes and cause severe illness if ingested incorrectly.  While I find oils to be a wonderful tool in my well being, it is important to learn about them and to know how to use them carefully.  I am definitely not an expert but I value the expert advice that I have been learning from many sources.  Always do your homework!     

So, here it is, my simple recipe for a Blueberry Lemonade De-Tox Refresher!  Be sure to use a blender that is good at breaking up ice cubes! 
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There you go! Super simple!  Bottoms Up!
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Hello friends! It's been awhile since I've posted. I started a new job, and we're trying to move (can someone please sell their house? Ugh). BUT, in the midst of all this we just took a trip with my husband's side of the family to Oahu.

Fun fact about me, I went to BYU-Hawaii as a visiting student 15 years ago. I LOVED being there, it was a wonderful experience in my life. Unfortunately, I haven't been back since, but I have thought about Hawaii and my deep and abiding love of it several times. So when my mother in law said she wanted to take the whole family on a trip somewhere and Hawaii was brought up, I was ALL for it!

Now that things are opening up, and you've been trapped in your house for a year, it is the perfect time to plan a trip to Hawaii! However, things are still different due to COVID restrictions, so I want to give you some tips to make your trip go smoothly. Note, this is only for the island of Oahu, if you are planning your Hawaii trip to another island, the COVID rules are helpful, but I can't give you suggestions on places to go.

How to get to Hawaii:
The first thing you'll need to do is go to the Travel Safe Hawaii website and create an account. Then check out the site for trusted partners so you'll know where you can get your COVID test from.
A few things to note:

1. children 5 and under don't need to be tested.
2. You need to take your test within 72 hours from when the last leg of your trip leaves. We had a layover in Oakland, our flight from there left at 5:05 PM and landed in Honolulu. So our tests had to be taken within 72 hours from that 5:05 PM time.
3. Once you get your test results you need to upload them to your Travel Safe Hawaii account. You'll then receive a link to a QR code that you'll need to have ready on your phone when you arrive at the airport. 

4. The Swap Meet: The Sweep Meet is a fun shopping experience that takes place every Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday at the Aloha Stadium in Honolulu. To plan a good Honolulu day you'll need to include Pearl Harbor, the Swap Meet and...
5. Hiking Diamond Head: Diamond Head is a volcanic tuff cone that was also used by the military. There is a lot to see on the hike itself, and the views at the top are amazing.
6. Hale'iwa: When I think of the North Shore, I think of Hale'iwa. It has some beautiful beaches, and it's a great place to take a surfing lesson! While you're there, head to Aoki's or Matsumoto's for some delicious shave ice! Even though things are a little different with COVID, Hale'iwa is also a great town to get some shopping done!
7. Lai'e Falls: This is a great hike behind BYU-Hawaii. Fun fact, my roommate and I tried to hike to it in 2006 and never found the falls. We hiked to the top of the mountain instead and saw the most beatiful views. Either way, it'll be a hike you don't regret.
8. Kualoa Ranch and Chinaman's Hat: If you are a big Jurassic Park fan like Alicia is, you're not going to want to miss Kualoa Ranch, where the movie was filmed. Afterwards, head over to Chinaman's hat, a small island that you can walk to in low tide, but you can also kayak out to!

9. Byodo-in Temple: This beautiful Buddhist temple in Kahaluu, Hawaii is a smaller replica of the one in Uji, Japan. The grounds are peaceful. It's a great place to walk around, and enjoy the koi ponds while you're there!
10. snorkeling on the North shore: While you're on Oahu make sure you see some great underwater wildlife by snorkeling! Turtle Bay gives you three great spots for your Hawaii snorkeling adventure: Three Tables, Kuilima Cove, and Shark's Cove!

I really hope you use this list to plan your Hawaiian get away to Oahu. Hawaii is a beautiful place, get out there and explore! You will create memories to last a lifetime! Come back and tell me about it after you do!

This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.  Thanks for your support!
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  I know that it isn't Friday, but I wanted to repost this fun article about some of our favorite poetry!  It was popular a few years ago (4/14/2017) and I think that you will enjoy it again today! Be sure to let us know what some of your favorite poetry is! 

     One blogger that I like to follow is Janssen on Everyday Reading.  In that linked post, she wrote about poetry books for poetry month and reminded me that April is National Poetry Month!  I thought, "What a great idea for Friday Faves!  Our favorite poems!"  Well, it turned out to be a more difficult task for all of us than I had anticipated!  So, let me just warn you that this is not going to be one of our conventional Friday Faves! 

​This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.  Thanks for your support!
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    Back in 2017, I made this tote bag as a gift for my Girls Camp Youth Leaders.  Of course I created one for myself as well!  Since then it has stood the test of time as I have used it often to carry my hair supplies and other sundry things when I travel.  It has proven to be useful and sturdy.  So, today I'm reposting the tutorial just in case you've missed it.  It is a great sewing craft for the Spring or Summer and if you have kids going off to camp, they will put it to good use! 

      I mentioned in this post that I am going to Girls Camp again this year as the Youth Camp Leader cabin mom.  This year we are going for 5 days to a camp area that will be very primitive as far as using tents instead of cabins. (But, there will be showers and flush toilets! Thank Heavens!)  It will be so much fun.  I wanted to do something fun for my girls.  Last year I made the girls I was over pillowcases.  This year, because these girls have so much responsibility at camp and need to bring more little extra things, I thought some tote bags would be nice.  I know that I could order some perfectly good totes from Oriental Trading or Dollar Tree, but, I saw in my brain what I wanted these totes to look like.  The girls said that they liked black, a few wanted a little color and I had found some really good prices on fabric, so of course I had to come up with my own design.  By the 5th bag, (or 2nd) I realized how crazy I was, but by then I was committed to the project.  I needed to make 14 of them, because I couldn't leave out my cabin mom partner and myself! I have to confess that they are so cute! They would make great gifts for any occasion besides camp and if you only have to make one or a couple, you can totally whip one tote out in about an hour and a half. I got even faster as time went on.  Here is the tutorial: