Faithbooking a Valentine's Page Dedicated to the One You Love

Valentine's Day gives you the perfect reason to create a layout in your Faithbook about the one you love.

Stop and think about the love of your life. Pause and thank God for bringing him to you. Ask God to guide you in creating a page that will show how much you appreciate him.

Scrapbook the Reasons You Love Him

Begin by brainstorming the reasons you do love him. Remember when you brainstorm jot down everything you can think of as fast as you can. Set a timer. For 5 minutes write as fast as you can. Later you can select the ones you prefer to use. You may choose to list "101 Reasons I Love You" or the "Top 10 Reasons I Love You."

Faithbook Your Love Story

How did God bring you and your man together? Was it a funny story or a real "God-Moment Story?" One day your great grandchild may find inspiration from your story. So jot down some notes. Then turn it into a little short story about your once upon a life time story. The length does not matter-it's the story that counts.

Scrapbook a Scripture that Represents Your Love

You may like to choose some of the love scriptures from Corinthians such as:

"Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong." 1 Cor. 13:4-5(TLB)

"There are three things that remain-faith, hope, and love-and the greatest of these is love." 1 Cor. 13:13 (TLB)

You may even have a special verse that symbolizes something special for you as a couple. Perhaps you may be led to use his favorite verse on this layout. No matter how you do it, go with your heart and it will be the right way!

Faithbook Your Special Photo/s

Your special photo does not have to be made on Valentine's Day. Use that favorite photo of him in the denim shirt and/or that "kissy-kissy" picture of the two of you taken in the photo kiosk.

No matter which photos you use, which scripture you select, or what you journal, your Faithbook layout for the love in your life should tell him why you appreciate him.

Child Obesity

More frequently all the time there are mounting stories and segments on the news concerning child obesity and the risks that follow. Certainly with media news ratings influence the intensity of the content and some even use scare tactics to insure the audience share, however that being said there are some basic facts concerning child obesity.

Convenience foods, fast foods, junk foods, and the fact that they are readily available all combine to make it more and more likely every day that the individual will consume more calories than necessary and that the obesity rate will continue to rise. In developed countries today, there is little likely hood of starvation issues due to the proliferation and the lower costs of available foods.

Also, there is absolutely no question that society today leads a much more sedentary lifestyle than ever before... especially the children. In the information age today, with the internet, computer, and television options, a child's physical activity level has dropped dramatically over previous generations. There are still only 24 hours in a day and with technology related devices now garnering more and more of a child's time and attention, chances are this time is being robbed from the physical activity bank.

Comparatively speaking, children as a whole today are heavier than they have ever been. And it's no wonder considering the steep rise in the consumption of foods that are high in sugars, fats, and calories... while at the same time consuming less fiber, fruits, and vegetables.... this is a one way path to child obesity.

Because children are engaged in their growth cycle, obesity is measured using different criteria than that of adults. A child's metabolic rate differ from child to child and most kids at some point during their life go through rapid growth spurts. Because of this the BMI (Body Mass Index)alone is not necessarily an accurate measurement and is generally combined with the age and gender to create a more accurate diagnosis.

For instance, an adult with a BMI of 30 or greater would be considered to be borderline obese; whereas CDC (Centers for Disease Control) would plot the child as obese at the 95th percentile. Although the two may be roughly equivalent, with children it becomes necessary to refer to other charts and matrix in order to get a more precise breakdown of the numbers.

Percentage of one's body fat is another vital measurement in the obesity equation even though matrix differs between girls and boys. As an example a body fat number of 25% of the total body weight with young males would put them in the obese category while the same for young females would be 32% of body fat.

The difference in the numbers is simply because females naturally carry a higher percent of body fat throughout their lives than males do. A healthy adult male checks in at about 15% while the same healthy female would be looking at about 27%.

Just as with adults, for children struggling with obesity the path to reducing excess body fat is a two pronged approach of exercise and a healthier diet. In fact, you can roll these two tactics into one simple approach... lifestyle change. In fact, the sooner the better because changing less established poor health habits are much easier to change than those that have become firmly entrenched over the years.

To avoid obesity in your child, the absolute best answer is to start them on the road of healthy eating habits and physical activity right from the beginning because maintaining a path is a whole lot easier than changing one.

Understanding The Ryder Schedule And Planning Your Golf Itinerary

The Ryder Cup is a golf tournament that is held once in every two years, and is organized jointly by the PGAs of Europe and the United States. The venue for the tournament keeps alternating between golf courses in Europe and United States. Any golf enthusiast is sure to keep track of the Ryder cup schedules while building up one's golf itinerary. The tournament that first started in 1926 is one of the most prestigious golf tournaments in the world and gets audience from all over the world.

The tournament included teams from all over Europe only in 1979, after the Second World War. This was when the Spanish golf players began to gain a lot of popularity and the European team went on to include players from countries like Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, and Sweden. In fact, the Ryder Cup has also been held in Spain in 1997 and Ireland in 2006.

In order to understand the Ryder Cup schedule, it is very important that one first understand the format of the tournament. To begin with, there are several competitions that are held between players from the two teams. Presently, the format that is followed includes 8 foursomes matches, 8 fourball matches and 12 singles matches. The winner from each of these matches earns a mark for his team and half a mark in the case of a match that tie after 18 holes.

A total of 28 matches are played within the Ryder Cup schedule and these take place over a period of three days which is generally taken to be a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The general Ryder cup schedule has 4 fourball matches and 4 foursomes matches that are held on Friday morning/ afternoon. The same schedule gets repeated on the Saturday as well. These matches are played by the 8 players the captains select from his team members. On Sunday, however, 12 singles matches are played with every team member participating in them.

Fourballs matches are basically games played with one ball per team, and each team takes alternate shots with it. On the other hand, the foursomes matches are played with two balls, and the best score out of the two is considered.

These matches follow the match-play format wherein the players play against one another and not the course. The score that is maintained is done based on the number of holes gained or lost by the person who has the best score per hole. In case both the players end up on tie after scoring the same number of points, the score for the hole is halved. The match is decided only when there emerges a situation wherein there is a player who has scored more holes than the number of remaining holes. The winning team is decided after considering the cumulative points.

Why Hire A Remodeling Contractor?

If you are planning a new remodeling project you may want to outline the different aspects of the job and see if any projects might be better served by hiring a remodeling contractor. You could certainly take on many home improvement projects yourself with a little skill and some sweat. However, some remodeling projects are better off in the hands of a professional remodeling contractor. This article will look at some of those possible projects.

What Do Remodeling Contractors Do Anyways?

Remodeling contractors are specialist in a certain field. Some are best at doing floors or bathroom remodeling. Others deal with dens and game rooms. By being specialist in a certain field they can offer more value if you have a project in their field.

If It's Flooring You Should Seek Help

Flooring should be at the top of your list for almost any room you remodel. There are many flooring products that you can install yourself. However, often times the project takes certain tools that may be expensive to purchase for one project. You ay also be able to get a better price on certain flooring material through your remodeling contractor.

Your Kitchen May Be the Biggest Value

One of the top priorities on most peoples remodeling list is most likely the kitchen. If you do much cooking or have kids then the kitchen is a probable high traffic area. You may be able to fix up your cabinets or add some new linoleum flooring, but cabinets and certain counter tops require skill. These are definite jobs for a good remodeling contractor.

One of the key reason you might consider hiring a remodeling contractor is the fact that they can complete the job in a timely manner and they hopefully have the proven skills to do it right the first time.

The Campsite Forage: Dandelion Wine

Dandelion wine is one of our favourite wines to make and definitely one of the best for the campsite, hedgerow or field forage. Mainly because it tastes so good but also because a good dandelion picking day has to be warm and sunny and it's usually accompanied with a bottle of last years wine and a bunch of friends.

We have our favourite picking spots where we arrive with a picnic, go for a walk and just before returning to the camper van we collect bucket loads of dandelion heads. That part is the best part as the next bit turns your fingers yellow and smells quite bitter, but with the remains of the bottle of wine it never actually seems too bad.

Firstly, before you embark on any type of homebrewing you must be sure you have the right equipment and it's all clean and sterilised. Secondly, you must always make sure you've foraged far away from any kind of pollution or sprays, and with landowner permission. It's also best to pick on warm sunny days as the natural sugars and yeast (and therefore strength of flavour) will be best at this time.

Dandelions seem to have two blooms in the Spring and late summer. The flower is particularly prevalent after a lot of rain, so in the UK we will be seeing many of them over the next week so you better get foraging.

What you will need:

Homebrew kit. If you're not sure about this there's a great book about Booze For Free you can pick up from our store with everything you need to know... and then some!

6 pints (3.4 l) glasses of dandelion flowers slightly pressed down in the glass (the yellow part only as the green adds a very bitter taste) Finely peeled rind and juice of 1 orange Finely peeled rind and juice of 1 lemon 8 Pints (4.5 l) of water 3 lbs (1.5 kg) sugar 4 Fl oz (12 ml) strong black tea cooled and strained 0.25 oz (10g) wine yeast

Put the yellow petals, orange peel, lemon peel and water into a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Strain the water into another container and add the sugar. Stir until it dissolves and add the tea, orange and lemon juice. When its cool add the yeast and cover it well. Stir daily for 3-5 days. Siphon into demijohns and seal with an airlock and leave for about 2-3 months. It's ready to drink within 7 months but will taste even better if left much longer.

We cracked open our year old dandelion wine only the other night and it had a taste that resembled whisky as I'd added a few extra raisins in the brewing process, making it very drinkable indeed! It's even possible to make dandelion beer from the roots of young plants in the Spring, just like the popular coffee and tea substitute aptly named 'Dandelion Root'. Remember it is also an edible wild plant so food foragers will be happy to hear they can use young leaves in salad and cook the older leaves similar to spinach, or add them to soups and sauces.

Dandelion can stimulate the metabolism and cleanse the blood. It's a natural diuretic so it is said it can help to treat acne, liver, stomach, gout and rheumatism conditions. Its value lies in its active agents, which can also cause its bitter taste. Namely tannins, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, organic acids essential oils and much more.

So when you're next at your camping site, take a look around you and see if you can spot enough dandelions to add a bit of zing to your salad, or brew up a couple of demijohns of wine or a flagon of beer. One thing's for sure... if you do you'll never look at another dandelion 'weed' in the same way again.

So what's your favourite campsite forage? Carry on the conversation at http://www.InspiredCamping.com

Another Perspective on Iraq

The question should not be, should we remain in Iraq, but how can we help Iraq establish a non-aggressive self rule. We as a nation have quickly forgotten why we are in Iraq.

Iraq became aggressive under Saddam Hussein's rule with the 1980 invasion of Iran, followed by 8 years of war with Iran. Next came the invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and after the Gulf War, more threats of aggression and non-compliance with the United Nations resolutions.

We did win in Iraq. Objectives were meet, we are now face with the long and hard process of helping Iraq become a country again. There have been suggestions that we divide up the country into the many factions. I do not see that we are trying to do anything but allow the new government time to work out these problems on their own. They will have to decide what is best for their country and what the makeup of their new government will be.

If anyone believes that Iraq is more unstable now than in the past, they should review the history of Iraq. We are giving our best in American solders lives to give Iraq a chance to self rule, and I believe that we should support our troops and our government in this noble effort. If we do not follow through in Iraq, then we will only end up with another Saddam Hussein and have to repeat history all over again.

Some question the fact that we are training Iraq solders to secure the peace and think that the Iraqis know better how to do this. That is why we are training the Iraq solders, because they do know better how to work with Iraqis. The Iraq solder of today was not around 17 years ago. A new generation of young Iraqis have replaced the older solders and they do require the basic skills that can only be provided by trained professionals.

We also forget that there are non-Iraqis in the country that are creating problems and pressure must continue to be applied to the countries that are sending the trouble makers, to stop. The situation in Iraq may never be resolved, but that does not mean that we should give up. Our founding fathers did not give up on America and other countries came to help us, we should return the favor and continue to help Iraq.

My heart felt thanks go to all our troops not only in Iraq, but in all the countries that we are helping. Good job!