Do Yourself a Favor and Quit Smoking

A regular cigarette contains tobacco. The tobacco in these cigarettes has harmful substances that are not good for your body not matter how smoke it. You have heard people developing health complications simply because of too much smoking. Health risks arise with continued smoking of one or even more cigarettes per day. So, with no doubt it would be a favor if you stop stopping and find a viable replacement. However, the transformation process can prove to be challenging. Nicotine is addictive and it is what makes cigarettes addictive. This means you will require an alternative that can yield low levels of nicotine as you gradually reduce its intake. The only surefire way is to use e-cigarettes at vape uk. These are electronic devices that help those who would like to quit smoking.

So, if you are still wondering why you should quit smoking, here are cons of smoking cigarettes to your body systems and organs.

Central Nervous System

Nicotine is one of the key ingredients of cigarettes which mostly alter moods. So, when you smoke it reaches the brain faster and brings a more satisfied feeling after it energizes your system. But with time, its effect wears off and you begin to feel tired. Typically, nicotine is a drug that creates certain habits and this explains why it is so hard to stop smoking. You find that without it you cannot properly perform usual tasks since you might be irritated, depressed, and worn out.

Cardiovascular System

It is right to note that smoking harms your body’s cardiovascular system. See, nicotine can lead to tightening of blood vessels which in turn restricts the flow of blood. Eventually, the process- if you do not stop taking more nicotine- can lead to peripheral artery diseases.

Similarly, smoking affects your blood pressure. Blood vessels weaken and blood may clot on some parts of the vessels. These entire can increases chances of developing stroke. However, you should not forget that those who you smoke around are also susceptible to the same health risks as you.

Sexuality and Reproductive System

See, genital areas require a lot of blood. Nicotine affects overall blood flow in your body. This means your genital areas will not receive enough blood. This happens to both women and men. In most cases,

sexual performance is highly affected especially in men. Women may experience sexual dissatisfaction due to reduced lubrication and can adversely affect their ability to reach orgasm.

Integumentary System

Skin changes are one of the obvious signs of smoking. And it is true that there are substances in tobacco that can actually alter the structure of your skin. Skin cancer can be a risk resulting from smoking. Also, your nails and toe nails can get fungal infections if you keep smoking several cigarettes every day. Lastly, you may experience hair loss, and balding if you do not stop smoking the soonest possible.

Conclusion

You have explored the various effects of smoking cigarettes. So, if you want to keep your body’s systems in good health, it is time you did a favor for yourself by quitting smoking. Hopefully, you will find vaping your best gateway to stopping smoking.

Calculate Flight Times Across Different Time Zones

A scientist discovers that he can travel forward and backwards in time. He shows this to the media. How is this possible?

As you contemplate the answer to this classic riddle – for those who can’t wait, we do provide the answer at the end of this article – we will share with you some fun facts that will help you to better understand what it means to cross multiple zones on a single flight.

A Blink of an Eye

Seeing that we are talking about time, is it possible to depart one place and arrive in another in what seems like the blink of an eye?

No, we are not talking about some new secret jet aircraft that can travel at warp speed. Warp speed – which at 670,616,629 miles per hour is travelling faster than the speed of light, is not yet possible. But, on one commercial flight, you can depart and arrive at your destination in 57 seconds give or take headwinds.

For a $51 airfare, a Scottish commercial airline will fly you between the islands of Westray and Papa Westray. Located in the Northern Isles of Scotland, it takes just 57 seconds to make the 1.7-mile flight. You will not need to reset your watch on this trip.

Flying Back to Yesterday

While 57 seconds is the shortest commercial flight in the world, this past October the record for the longest non-stop commercial flight is now 19 hours.

The route which will take travellers from Singapore to Newark, New Jersey, will see passengers depart Singapore at 10:00 AM on a Sunday and arrive at their destination in Newark at 10:00 PM local time Saturday.

Like trying to figure out the equation for time travel, you may be wondering how a 19 hour flight results in a 12 hour time difference. Simple answer: time zones in which some are only 30 to 45-minutes apart. We will get into that shortly.

In the meantime, and depending on your time of departure, when you fly west with a 12 hour time difference, you are actually heading towards yesterday! Flying east you are heading toward tomorrow. Talk about back-to-the-future! Or is it ahead-to-the-future?

All Time Zones are not Equal

How many people believe that 1 hour equals “one” time zone? To all but the most seasoned traveller, this seems like a reasonable assumption.

However, when you take into account the International Date Line (IDL) and the fact that several time zones are less than an hour apart, you have 27 time zones in total.

Besides the additional zones, it is also worth noting that time zones and local time are not the same. Especially when you include Daylight Savings Time and the fact that there are 37 different “local times” in use around the world.

Not a Straight Line

You have probably heard the old saying that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

While this sage advice is in many instances sound, when it comes to flying routes, a straight line is not the shortest path to your destination. The reason? The earth isn’t flat. Sphere-shaped, the best way to fly between two points is on an arc as opposed to a point A to B straight flight path.

Visualize this: draw a straight line between New York and London on a three-dimensional globe, then flatten it out into a two-dimensional map. Your straight line would then become an arc. Pretty cool, right?

A Timetable for Fun

From extending your birthday celebrations or chasing New Year’s Eve around the world, flying allows everyone to become a time traveller.

The best way to approach the travel experience and not get a headache trying to zone in on dates and times is to let several useful online tools do the math for you. So sit back, relax and enjoy the flight.

By the way, and in case you haven’t already figured it out, here is the answer to the riddle: the scientist takes planes to different time zones.

Friday Favorites Linky Party Week 482

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Create Better DIY Photographs For Your Mommy Blog

If you’re thinking about starting your own mommy blog, then congratulations! Starting a blog is a great way to engage with your local community and perhaps make a little money on the side.

But one of the most critical aspects of creating a successful blog is having great imagery. If your photos are poor quality, people won’t stick around on your pages, and you won’t have the social media clout you so desperately want.

In this article, we’re going to take a look at some of the DIY ways that you can create better photographs for your blog. Take a look at these tips.

Select Your Subjects By Zooming In Tight

When it comes to photos, you want them to be as clear as possible for your viewers. The last thing you want is photos of cluttered rooms or dozens of people. The trick to compelling photography is choosing a subject and sticking with it.

Suppose, for instance, you decide that you want to photograph some toys because you want to recommend them to other mommies on your blog. Instead of shooting them from a distance and at a high angle, get up close and personal and try to make sure that the subject (in this case the toy) fills around two-thirds of the total picture.

Once you’ve taken the photo, uploaded it, and know how to access iCloud photo library, you’re all set to use it in your blog.

Add Digital Styling Elements

It’s unlikely, even with the best angles and lighting, that your photos will look professional. But rather than give up, it’s often a good idea to apply digital styling.

Digital styling is effortless these days. You upload your photo and then edit it using tools provided by your blog host or other third-party apps. Try experimenting with vignettes and greyscale to see whether you can create something that looks more professional.

Make Your Subjects More Interesting

You might have the best setup in the world, but if your subjects aren’t compelling, then you’ll fail to generate traction on your mommy blog. Ideally, you want to take shots of things that automatically draw the eye. Top of the list of subjects is things like animals and exciting home features that people love to ogle all day long. Bottom of the list is clutter. By definition, pictures of clutter have no subject.

Take Shots From A Unique Perspective

The people reading your blog want to see the world from a different perspective, often literally. Your job is to find new angles which show off familiar objects in exciting ways. It’s easier said than done.

Sometimes it can help pointing your camera up and subjects to create a sense of size and power. Other times, taking photos from the perspective of your child can have a great impact and help readers of your blog feel like they can get into your kid’s shoes.

Create Mood

The final element to great mommy blog photography is to create “mood.” Mood is a tricky concept to pin down, but it is essentially a way of making a photo more impactful with facial expressions and lighting.

 

5 Simple Yet Ingenious DIY Ideas To Update Your Kitchen

Does your kitchen look like the standard boring setup that everyone has? Have you been on the fence about some of the things you can do to spice it up? If so, look no further. This article is for you. In this article, we’re going to take a look at some of the things you yourself can do to spice up your kitchen as well as some steps to take before you conduct any DIY project in your kitchen.

Before you conduct any DIY project in your kitchen, you need to ensure that you have your appliances covered. One of the ways you can do this is to get a home warranty plan. Even though it is similar to a home insurance plan it differs in what it actually covers. While a home insurance plan protects your home from weather/fire-related damage, as well as theft of your belongings, it does not cover appliances that simply stop working. Alternatively, TotalProtect Home Warranty covers appliances and can be best described as giving old appliances a new warranty.

1) Add Unusual Furniture And Accessories

One of the most simple and cost-effective things you can do to spice up your kitchen is to add accessories and furniture that isn’t typically seen in a kitchen. By doing this, not only will it help to spice up the kitchen, it will surprise your visitors and loved ones as well. Utilizing accessories such as standing mirrors, rugs or even a bean bag, will shock your visitors and definitely make your kitchen stand out in their minds for a long time after their visit.

2) Organization

Regardless if you have a small or large kitchen, one of the most essential aspects of having a kitchen is how it functions cohesively. Having handy hooks for various utensils to be placed on display, as well as to allow easy access and installing efficient shelves that hold your spices and various other ingredients, may not seem decorative by themselves. However, by combining them together, it can give your kitchen a professional impressive appearance.

3) Illumination

One of the things that makes a kitchen stand out is its lighting. If you have large windows, be sure to clear anything that may be blocking the sunlight from coming in. If you have a dark kitchen, consider the possibility of adding ceiling pendant lights, countertop lamps, or even string lights. Alternatively, you can consider a color changing lighting system that can be adjusted to suit the occasion such as red for Valentine’s Day, green for St Patrick’s day.

4) Smart Devices

One of the more interesting things you can do to update your kitchen is to add some smart devices. Kitchen based smart gadgets will definitely stand out in the minds of your guests each and every time they visit your house. Here are a few examples to consider:

· Intelligent Frying Pan – This frying pan doubles as a virtual chef which will guide you throughout the cooking process, such as to tell you when to add ingredients, the temperature of the meat, when to flip it, and when it’s finished.

· Smart Coffeemaker – Smart coffee makers feature scheduling options that you can use to program when you want coffee. Many smart coffee machines even allow you to give it instructions from your smartphone so you can brew coffee within 2 minutes of waking up before you get out of bed.

· Smart scales – Smart scales eliminate the need for various measuring containers. By placing a container on the scale, it will give you a reading through your smartphone.

· Smart Meat Thermometers – Many smart thermometers give you the ability to leave it in a meat of your choice, as to which you can check the temperature, from a distance by using your smartphone. In some instances, you can even customize it to give an alarm whenever the meat reaches the desired temperature.

5) Artwork

If the surface area of your kitchen walls enables the opportunity to hang different fixtures, consider various kinds of artwork. This in itself is not common amongst homeowners and will make your kitchen standout. One of the things you can do is to hang up artwork that correlates with the season. By doing this, what you will basically have is a kitchen with an interchangeable theme that you can change to match someone’s birthday or holiday.

How to Budget for Breaks when You’re Self-Employed

There are a lot of benefits to being self-employed. You get to choose your own hours (in theory), do something you love, and explore new opportunities with amazing people.

However, self-employment also comes with a lot of challenges to consider. For instance, there’s no-one in the background to make sure that you still get paid if you need to take some time off work for sickness, personal reasons, or just a good old fashioned break.

There comes a time when we all need to take a break from work, but it can be very difficult for self-employed people to find a way out without struggling financially. However, you can’t just commit yourself to working every day, no matter what.

Here’s how you can make sure that you’re prepared for a much-needed absence when you’re self-employed, freelancing, or working as a contractor.

1. Keep Monthly Costs Low

First things first, the easiest way to make sure that a day off work isn’t a disaster, is to ensure that your monthly expenses are as low as possible. Check out the outgoing expenses that you commit to each month and ask yourself what you can do to reduce fees. For instance, if you’re taking out a loan, it’s crucial to ensure that you check you’re getting the lowest possible price first. If you’re currently committed to a specific gas or electric provider, can you check to see whether you can get a better deal elsewhere?

Cutting your monthly fees to an absolute minimum will ensure that you know exactly how much money you “have” to spend to keep yourself and your family safe each month. If you know how much you generally earn per day, you’ll also be able to calculate how many unpaid workdays you can afford each month without having to worry about unpaid bills.

2. Ensure yourself Against Unexpected Changes

If you’re new to freelancing or self-employment, then you may not know this, but you can insure yourself against the possibility that you won’t be able to work. As a self-employed person, you probably already have business insurance and other forms of coverage. Income protection insurance is a kind of cover you can get to replace your monthly income if you’re unable to work because of unemployment, accident, or illness.

If you’re worried about your long-term health, you can also try applying for critical illness cover as part of your life insurance. When you have this insurance in place, and you’re diagnosed with a medical condition, listed within your policy, you receive a lump-sum payout. It’s up to you which insurance seems more appealing. You could even get a combination of both.

3. Prioritise your Savings

The more money you have in your emergency savings account, the less stressed you’ll feel when you decide that you need to take time off work for holiday or sickness purposes. When you give yourself your income each month, you should be splitting your earnings into a series of different categories. First, you’ll need to put money aside for the taxes that you’ll owe at the end of the year – remember, you’re responsible for paying those.

Next, you’ll have to ensure that all of your critical expenses are handled, including office rent, mortgage, food, clothing, car insurance, and so on. Finally, when you’re left to assign “spare” money

to other things like entertainment and savings, make sure you put your savings first. The more you can have in your “just in case” fund, the better. Peace of mind when you need it will feel better in the long-term than extra shopping sprees and nights out now.

4. Plan in Advance

Finally, you can’t plan for when you might be sick or unable to work. However, you can plan for certain dips and lulls in your work schedule. The more time you spend self-employed, the more you’ll begin to notice changes in your calendar that happen every time of year. For instance, you might notice that you don’t make as many sales during April and March, but you earn double during June and July. In that case, you can spread your money out throughout the months by assigning extra savings during the months that you earn more.

Lulls in your income will also help you to figure out when you should be planning your family holidays and work breaks to experience the lowest impact on your income. The more prepared you are, the less money you’ll lose over the course of the year.

Friday Favorites Linky Party – Week 281

Please support and follow our lovely blog party hostesses:

Jerri at Simply Sweet HomeTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Lisa at Condo BluesTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Amy at A Day of Small ThingsPin

Penny at Penny’s PassionTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Kelly at Under a Texas SkyTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

Jennifer at Busy Being JenniferTwitter | FB | Pin | Inst

If you are featured this week, be sure and grab a featured button for your blog!

You can show your love for this week’s favorites by going over and commenting on the posts and by pinning or sharing!

And if you love all of this week’s favorites, please pin, share, and invite your friends to this week’s linky party! [Read more…]

Helping Your Child Through a Divorce

Divorce is a difficult time for adults, but for children, it’s much harder. When it happens, it changes their entire lives, including their family and living conditions. It also challenges their ability to trust in the stability and reliability of their parents’ support. When children are particularly young, it’s very easy for them to misinterpret that reason for the divorce and exaggerate how it’s going to affect them.

They are likely to experience a range of different emotions, including confusion, anger, shame, embarrassment, and outrage. They may also become very afraid, withdrawn, anxious, or clingy. Divorce affects children in different ways, but it leaves a mark on most of them.

If you’re going through a divorce, doing what you can to minimize the impact is very important. Below are some tips to help you help your children cope.

Tell Them It’s Not Their Fault

Children very often think that they are the reason their parents are getting divorced. This is because children tend to be very self-centered and believe the world revolves around them. Both parents should make it very clear to their children that the decision to divorce is not because of something they have or haven’t done. Reassure them that both of you still love them dearly and you’ll always love them and protect them after the divorce. You may have to repeat these sentiments over and over again before they’re accepted.

Maintain Consistent Routines

You can help shield your children from the trauma of divorce by keeping your children’s living arrangement and routines the same. It is a way of keeping their trust and helping them feel secure, safe, and protected. If possible, this means staying in the house they’ve always lived in, going to the same school, and sticking to the same routines. Sometimes change is unavoidable, but there are ways you can provide continuity.

Keep Boundaries

If you keep parental and child/parent boundaries, you’ll be able to parent in a more coordinated and effective manner. The parenting boundary can be preserved by staying calm and avoiding arguments in front of the children. Don’t use your children to pass messages between you and your ex and most definitely never ask them to spy on the other parent. Never put your children in a situation where they must side with one or other of you. It can be very tempting to confide in your children; after all, you might not have anyone else to talk to. They’re probably not mature enough to handle such a role, and it can easily overload them, leaving them feeling anxious, angry, or depressed.

If you haven’t got any friends or family to talk to, there are plenty of professionals who can provide support.  When it comes to support for any legal issues, you should contact divorce lawyer Barrington IL or solicitor who specializes in divorce and family law, for example, a Bristol divorce solicitor.

Encourage Them to Talk

It’s possible to help your children work through their negative reactions by encouraging them to express and talk about them in appropriate ways. Children express their feelings in a different way. Some prefer to talk about them while others are more comfortable acting them out. When they’re ready to talk to you, show them respect and listen to what they’ve got to say. If their adjustment is proving particularly difficult, you should consider taking them to family therapy with a qualified therapist.

T.O.P. Chops Beef Jerky – A “Better For You” Jerky

Disclosure: I received samples to facilitate this review. The opinions are my own.


Did you know that today is National Jerky Day?  So there’s no better time than the present to try  T.O.P.S. Chops Beef Jerky

T.O.P.S Chops is a handcrafted jerky made from American beef with no additives or preservatives, and it’s grown from an at-home hobby to a thriving, national snack brand disrupting the jerky industry—in just six short years. [Read more…]

What are the Options When You Kids Start Full-Time School

It’s not going to be long before the summer is over and your kids will be going back to school. If you’re also going to be saying goodbye to the last of your brood, you might be wondering what you’re going to do with all your spare time. When all your children are at school full time, it’s going to be another chapter in your life. While there’s nothing wrong with being a stay-at-home mom, you might feel the need for a little more interaction and a new challenge.

It might be a few months away, but it’s never too early to start making plans. Such momentous transitions take time, research, and planning. It’s also something you’re going to need to discuss with your partner, and if your kids are old enough, it might be interesting to hear what they’ve got to say on the matter.

Whatever choice you make, it has to be one that’s right for your family. Here are five options you should consider.

Continue Being a Stay at Home Mom

Of course, this is the most obvious option, and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t consider it. Never feel guilty or embarrassed about choosing to remain a stay at home mom – there are plenty of good reasons why it’s the best possible choice, and you’ll have no problem filling your days.

Think of all those years you’ve felt like a headless chicken running around never getting anything done as well as you’d like to. With the little ones packed off to school all day you’ll be able to focus on keeping your home spotlessly clean, be better organized, plan healthy meals every day, run errands and perhaps even tackle that project you’ve been meaning to do for years.

You’re also going to have more free time so relish it. You’ve been a full-time mom for quite some time now so you deserve a rest and have earned some relaxation time. There’s also the flexibility that comes with this role. If your kids are ill or can’t go to school, for whatever reason, you’re going to be available. You don’t have to worry about arranging care for them if the school decides to close for the day.

Think about how you can lighten the load for your partner now you’ve got more time on your hands. There may have been no complaints from them when they’ve got a long list of jobs to tackle after a long day at work, but that doesn’t mean it has been easy for them. You’re going to be able to take over some of the mundane tasks that were always left to them. Your partner is going to be able to enjoy coming home from work and being able to relax.

It’s the Perfect Time to Pursue a Passion

When you’ve got a household to run and kids to take care of, there’s little time for pursuing the things you love to do. Would you like to be able to spend more time in the garden creating a beautiful oasis of calm? Perhaps you’d like to try your hand at growing produce of your own and maybe keeping chickens. Have you always dreamed of writing a book or learning how to take breathtaking photographs? If there’s something you’ve always dreamed of doing but never found the time or energy, now’s the perfect time to fulfill your dreams.

Some might think of this as just a hobby, but you’ve got the opportunity to make it something more. A passion project is something a little more than killing time. Find something that stirs you and that you’re longing to do.

Work from Home

Thanks to technology, there are endless opportunities for anyone who wants to work from home. It tends to require a specialized skill but there are definitely more opportunities to work from home than ever before. If you want to know what’s available, the best thing to do is visit a range of different job websites. In the search options make sure you type in remote jobs and you’ll be surprised how many hits you get. Here are a few examples of the type of remote work available.

· Writer or blogger – you’ve got lots of relevant experience to share with any would be parents, so why not share it by way of a blog or website content?

· Travel consultant – this is a remote working option that’s becoming very popular, possibly because it often includes the benefit of travel credits that can be used for family travel.

· Social media specialist – this is more than posting selfies and family news on social media channels. You might be involved in checking ads and content for relevancy or creating content for a company’s social media sites.

· Recruitment Coordinator – would you like to help others find jobs? This type of role involves helping HR personnel with their recruitment process. It might include looking at resumes, performing background checks, helping with interviews and bringing new employees on board.

· Graphic designer – if you’ve got an artistic flair, there may be a job for you as a graphic designer. You could find yourself involved in a variety of tasks from designing a book cover to creating company logos.

· Proofreader – this role involves checking formatting, confirming facts, checking grammar and much more. You need to be a very detail-oriented person with a high level of language skills.

· Online teacher or tutor – you might not realize it, but education has been part of your daily routine for a number of years. You’ve helped your kids with their homework and taught them important life skills. These are skills that can be turned around to earn you an income.

· Data entry specialist – this can be a very flexible role that allows you to manage your daily routine by working when you’ve got the spare time. You’ll need strong keyboarding skills and sharp attention to detail.

· Customer service agent – do you like talking to people and helping them solve a problem. Why not try being a customer service agent?

· Health coach – you’ve been working hard to stay in shape all these years, so why not use your experience to help others? A remote role as a health coach can be a good way to help others lead healthier lives while keeping your own on track.

· Marketing specialist – in this role, you’ll be working to promote a product or service through branding and outreach. It’s the type of position that takes many forms including content strategist, SEO specialist, or marketing coordinator.

Go Back to Work

If you had a career before deciding to stay at home and raise a family you’ve always got the option of returning to that career. You may have been lucky enough to work for a company that would happily have you back. If you don’t, all is not lost. You will need to ask yourself a few questions, such as how many hours do you want to work and will you be looking for a full or part-time position? If you’d like to work full time, think about who is going to take care of the kids before you get home from work and if they’re sick or not in school for some reason.

Do you think your skills are up to date or are you going to have to think about further study? Thanks to technology it is possible to train or study for qualifications from home. If you’re interested in a career in infant nursing or midwifery, for example, there are NNP schools that offer courses online.

Before you start applying for jobs, get some advice writing your resume. As a parent, you’ve got a wide range of transferable skills that a prospective employer would love to hear about.

Become a Volunteer

One last option worth considering is volunteering. It’s the kind of work that can be very rewarding and fulfilling. Put those few spare hours to good use by helping out at a local charity or community center. There are lots on non-profit organizations who are always looking for people to lend a helping hand. It’s also going to look very good on your resume and may provide you with some opportunities to brush up on your skills, network and get some professional references.

Look for charities or community organizations in your local area. Get in touch and offer your services. You might find yourself helping at a local animal shelter getting the animals accustomed to human contact. You could help elderly people with their shopping or sit with them for company, dishing up hot dinners for the homeless, cleaning green spaces of rubbish, providing entertainment at an elder home, or helping at a local school or kindergarten.

Now you’ve got a few ideas for spending your time productively all your children heading off to school might not seem such a daunting prospect. This is a new chapter in your life, and nobody else is going to write it for you. Who knows, you might discover some things about yourself you never knew.