A couple more years and I will have a teen in my household. Of course, with that comes a whole lot of new issues and one of them may be teen acne. We all know that this is a normal part of a teenager's life since it's the time where hormones are raging. Luckily, there are many types of acne treatment that are affordable. If over-the-counter acne medications cannot fix the problem, then a trip to the dermatologist may be the best solution.

Do you think staying healthy is determined by your genes or by your lifestyle? I'm not sure on the answer to that question. I know of a family friend who lives a healthy lifestyle yet she still has high cholesterol. When I was still single, I exercised because I wanted to be attractive to the opposite sex. Nowadays, I exercise because I want to live longer for my family. I walk and walk and walk without going anywhere. We have a treadmill in the basement and I'm glad it's not being used as a clothes hanger. I wish we have more space down there so we can get an elliptical machine. I'm not wishing to be skinny because that will never happen. My body type is not a stick, rather it's a rock. A medium-sized rock. :o)

I've seen many online shopping portals and they all offer the same thing. They make it easy for online shoppers like me by having all the information about the product from different websites. There is one particular online shopping site that is diffferent from the pack. This website is called Iteya.com. So what makes Iteya different? Well, when you shop through their website, you receive points. Here comes the great part: The points that you accumulate can be exchanged for gift cards from Amazon.com and Zazzle.com. Isn't that great or what? '

So aside from shopping through the Iteya website, there are other ways to accumulate points. When you sign up with Iteya, you automatically get 1,000 points. The other way to get points is by referring friends and family. You will receive 2,500 points when the person you referred accumulate 2,500 points through shopping.

Another way that Iteya is different from other shopping websites is that you can search for coupons without leaving their website. All the coupons available for your favorite stores are on the Iteya website. So no more searching numerous coupon websites therefore saving you precious time. Among the online sites where you can earn points towards gift certificates are Walmart, Petsmart, Office Depot and even Hotwire.com for flights and ITunes for your favorite songs. So why not sign up now and start earning points towards that gift certificate.

Muscles weigh more than fat, that's a fact. So when you start working out and use weights like dumb bells or the new exercise called Kettlebell workouts , you will probably be surprised that you gained weight or didn't lose any. That's because you're gaining muscles and this is very important if you want to lose weight. Muscles burn more calories so if you have more muscles in your body, you are more likely to burn more calories. Burning more calories than you are consuming means you're going to lose weight. So it is important not to obsess on the numbers you see on the scale. Look instead on how your clothes fit.

...is still full of weeds. Yes, I haven't planted a single thing. Well at least the flower beds at the front is clean but I haven't started cleaning out the vegetable garden. Luckily, he helps me out with that part. I was going to start gardening yesterday but I didn't have enough potting soil for the flower pots in the front steps and flower boxes for the deck. As for the veggie bed, I still have to buy the tomato plants. My allergies are through the roof these past few days because of the high tree pollen count. Dh said I should've worn a mask when I cleaned out the flower beds. Have you ever worn those things? Those are uncomfortable. I hope it'll be better this week since I need to plant the annuals asap!

I remember watching a news magazine show where they were discussing the different places in the house which has the most germs and is the dirtiest. They said that the kitchen sink is dirtier than the toilet bowl. Shocking! Well, this could be true if you do not clean your sink regularly, especially the kitchen sink. It is where all the food are washed and we all know that uncooked foods like chicken can harbor germs like salmonella. That is why it is very important to always wash and clean the kitchen sink at the end of the day.
If you have a stainless steel sink, you can wipe it down with a glass cleaner for make it shiny. This is of course, after scrubbing it with hot and soapy water.
One all-around cleaner I use is Borax. It does not scratch cast-iron, porcelain sink, stainless steel sink or even zero radius sinks. You can also use baking soda for cleaning and scrubbing the sink. With borax or baking soda, make a paste and scrub the sink with a sponge. For heavy stains, leave it for a couple of minutes before rinsing. I have a white porcelain sink and I use borax to clean it. It is still sparkling white after almost 8 years.

How much sleep do you get every night? We all hear about how our body needs at least 8 hours of sleep. I always wonder who came up with that number? Anyway, there has been a recent study which showed that you're less likely to develop calcium deposits in your arteries if you get at least 7 hours or more a night. These calcium deposits are the start of heart disease. For every additional hour of sleep, the risk dropped nearly 33 percent. So you'd better stop those late night blogging and go to sleep if you want to live a healthy life. :o)

Just last week, the Food and Drug Administration gave a warning about the dangers of using the diet supplement Hydroxycut. The FDA wants people to stop using this supplement because of the risk of liver damage. According to the FDA. they received numerous reports of people who suffered from irreversible liver damage after using the product. These diet supplements are not regulated by the FDA so one is taking a big risk by using it. Hydroxycut is used for weight-loss just like products that contain caffeine or ephedra.

Use a fabric dryer sheet to clean any gunk stuck on the soleplate of your iron. Set the iron on low and rub the plate over with a dryer sheet until the residue disappears.

There are many uses for fabric dryer sheets, aside from making smelly sneakers smell fresh and making small spaces like an rv smell good, you can also use dryer sheets for the following:
- Remove static from TV screens, computer monitors and even your hair.
- Dusting your Venetian blinds. The dryer sheet attracts the dust from this hard to clean blinds.
- Cleaning pet hair from the furnitures or floors.
- Prevents the thread from tangling when you're sewing. Run the thread through a dryer sheet before you start your needlepoint.