Darlene Morrison Website

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  • Lesson of the Day- Do not put your coffee near your computer

    I learned the very hard way yesterday not to have my cup of coffee sitting beside me as I type on my laptop.

    I usually sit my coffee there every day and have had the occasional spill but yesterday, it was a whole lot WORSE!

    My cup of Tim Horton’s coffee fell over into my keyboard. I acted fast with paper towels and tried to sponge up as much coffee as I could.

    Although the computer didn’t seem too hard done by at the time, I talked to my sister who instructed me to shut it down, followed by tilting it over. And to take the battery out.

    My husband is away travelling this week so I messaged him as he is my go-to technical guy.  Everything that my sister had already told me was the same.  I also blow dried it a few times too.

    He also told me to keep it unplugged for at least a full 24 hours in order for it to dry.

    This morning I turned it on.  (it wasn’t quite a full 24 hours)

    It did work but the keys were having issues.  My husband told me to turn it off again and to give it more time. It wasn’t obviously ready yet if the keys were not working.

    Well, now it will not turn on again.  There is a possibility I turned it on too early and it wasn’t completely dry inside and I shorted it out!

    I still have it unplugged and the battery out in hopes that it will soon turn on again.  If not, I will be very sad.

    If you have your coffee or your drink beside you right now and close enough that you could bang it over, please movie it somewhere else!

    I have learned the hard way and I rely on my laptop so much for my blogging, writing for other sites and my school courses, that it will be very hard to lose it all!

    Cross your fingers for me that I can make it work again!

    I will keep you posted and please take my word for it, liquid and keyboards do not get well together!

  • Five Reasons why my sister is da bomb- Happy birthday Cathy

    My sister Cathy is forever 29 years old today and I want to wish her a very happy birthday from myself and my family.

     

    The Top 5 Reasons why my sister is da bomb!

     

    1. She has a great heart and willing to help if you are in a pinch.

    2. She is and has always been a wonderful Aunt to my children.

    3. She makes AWESOME cupcakes

    4. She brings me a Tim Horton’s coffee every day I watch her daughter

    AND

    5. She is a wonderful sister and I love her very much!

    I hope you have a fantastic and wonderful birthday! See you soon!

  • Have you had your lemon water today?

    Lemon: the Family Rutaceae « Share With Life Trendy

    My morning ritual after I wake up every day is to drink my lemon water. Not only is it refreshing, it serves so many other purposes.

    I learned about the many health benefits of water and lemon when I had started working out at the gym and had some consultations with a nutritionist. No matter what plan we followed, she couldn’t talk enough about this as a daily regiment.

    .

    1. Lemon water is cleansing. The citric acid in lemons helps improve immune function, which stimulates the liver and aids in detoxification.
    2. Lemon water aids in digestion. Not only will this combination relive indigestion, it will also help flush out the toxins.
    3. Lemon water helps to keep skin clear from blemishes.
    4. Lemon water is a combination that works as a natural energizer. Lemon water hydrates the body so it feels revitalized and refreshed
    5. Lemon water helps with weight loss. This helps to regulate meatabolism and absorption of sugar.

    Lemon

     

    To make a glass of lemon water (so you can add this to your daily morning routine), here are the instructions:

    1. Fill your cup with warm water.

    2. Cut up half of a lemon and squeeze into the water. ( The water will look cloudy)

    3. Stir and drink.

    glass of water with lemon slice | Stock Vector © corneliap #6948170

     

    Enjoy your refreshing drink, your body will love it!

     

  • Rainbow in a Cup, a yummy St. Patrick’s Day treat

    Looking for a yummy but fun treat for your children this St. Patrick’s Day? Like me, are you always looking for fun food to make for the kids?

    rainbow cup finished

     

    This recipe was inspired by http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/stpatrick/rainbowjello/

    This was an incredibly easy recipe to make.

     

    Ingredients:

    Jello ( an assortment of the rainbow colours)- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple

    1 cup of hot water (per jello box)

    1 cup of cold water(per jello box)

    refrigerator ( to set jello)

    clear plastic cups ( I used glasses)

     

    Instructions:

    1. Make red jello as per box instructions.

    2. Layer in cup and let jello settle.

    3. Continue with all jello colours  in order of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.

    4. Layer each colour on top of the other.

    Make sure each jello sets before you add another colour to the top.

    When finished, you will have a Rainbow in a cup to eat.

    This is a very easy dessert idea for the kids. Add some whip cream on top to finish it off if you like.

     

    The recipe shows to do one jello per day ( to set in each cup) but I wanted it to be a bit quicker so I made 2 boxes of jello a day.

    This made the rainbow cup a three day project as opposed to six days.

    So although it would look cleaner pouring the jello in individual cups (as per recipe), because my children wanted to help with the jello, we scooped the jello ourselves into the cups after the jello had settled.

    This gave them a way to help out with this activitiy.

    rainbow cup in progress

     

    This was a definite hit with my children. Let me know how your kids enjoyed it! Mmmmm

     

    Do you have any fun and easy food crafts you would love to share?

     

  • Giveaway Opportunity coming April 9-23, 2013

    I am happy to announce that I have paired up with The Review Wire and Yoga Flow to bring you a great prize giveaway.

    www.thereviewwire.com

    DON’T YOU LOOK MARVELOUS HOP

    1 lucky winner will receive a:

    Moisturizing Coconut Thai Facial or a Sesame Thai Facial (your choice)

    sponsored by Yoga Flow!

     

    Like Yoga Flow on FB http://www.facebook.com/#!/YogaFlow?fref=ts

    (a $30 value )

     

    This facial  will make you feel wonderful, beautiful and all around marvelous!

    The giveaway will run from April 9th to 23rd, 2013.

    Please check back to my website beginning April 9th for a chance to win this giveaway!

     

    Want some pampering? Don’t miss this give-away!

     

     

  • Laurel’s Salsa Facial

    Have you ever wanted a facial ? One that is natural and not expensive?  Well, Laurel House has many great ones!

    The Salsa Facial is only 2 ingredients- a lemon and a tomato.   I always have these two in my house.

    salsa facial

     

    I am always looking for new things to try and the cheaper the better.  So I decided to try the “Salsa Facial” as shown below:

    http://quickiechick.com/2012/08/7-foods-to-spread-on-your-face/

    (Above is the link to QuickieChick’s salsa facial and all of Laurel’s wonderful tips on her website)

    The facial is very easy to make:

    1. Dice up a tomato and add to a bowl.  (I added more tomatoes to the bowl than my picture showed)

    2. Cut open a lemon and squeeze into the bowl with the tomato.  Mix together.

    3. Apply to your face.

    4. Rest for 5 minutes. Clean off with warm water.

    I applied this facial and didn’t notice the tingling but as soon as I stopped the facial and took the five minutes to relax my face, it was tingling and you could feel it working.    I didn’t honestly know if it would have any effect but after washing and drying my face, my face is so soft.

    I will try this again but first, there are many more refrigerator facials to try.

    For more information on this facial and great tips, please visit http://quickiechick.com/

     

     

     

     

     

  • Never too late to start

    As many, one of my goals for this year was to eat better and get in shape. Who’s isn’t, right?

    January and February came and went but finally when you think it had all been forgotten, here I am!

    I got up today like any other day except today I decided it is finally the time to get motivated.

    A 45 minute run on my treadmill followed by sit ups, push ups and wall sits has got my metabolism going for the day.  I have eaten well today, avoided any bad snacks and even took my vitamins!  I started off my day with lemon water ( a cup of warm water with a fresh lemon squeezed into it) and drank alot of water.

    Lemon water has many health benefits which I will share in another post.

    For now, I just want to say that today, and tomorrow are new days. If you want to change your habits, do it!

    Any day you start is better than not starting at all.  

    My plan is to continue exercising, eating well and get back to the shape that I am happy with.

    What did you do today to promote your health?

     

  • Kids are worth it!

    For anyone who has planned a special event, they know that it is a lot of work and time that go into it.

    And this makes it all worth it even more!

    Thank you card from students1Thank you card from students

     

     

    This morning outside the school, I was handed a Thank you card from the Vice Prinicipal, on behalf of the students at Clearmeadow.

    The card read “Thank you for a great winter palooza” and signed all of their names.

    Fundraising and planning events for a public school environment is very worthwhile because in the end, it is all for the kids.

    This is one of the sweetest things I have ever received and I want to thank all of the students and great people at Clearmeadow and in the community who help me do what I enjoy to do.

    This will be a constant reminder to me why helping in the school is important.

    Thanks again, I feel very blessed to live in such a fabulous community and have my kids attending a wonderful school.

     

  • Yay, Clearmeadow Winter Palooza was a success!

    Well, we pulled it off! (The second time around).

    The Clearmeadow Winter Palooza went yesterday without a hiccup. Although I have a blister on my toe and my feet were aching once I took my boots off after the day and I broke my beautiful crockpot at the end of the day (stupid on my part story), it was well worth it!  To know that the community and children had a great time, the smiling faces makes it all worth the planning and time that we put into it.

    The sponsors who made it happen were invaluable, for the donations so that we could have facepainting, clown services, inflatables, outdoor games , pancake breakfast, horse and wagon rides, coffee, water, juice and soup, and SO much more.  It shows just how fabulous people are.

    I want to thank each and  every one who donated a prize to our event, or a monetary donation, or a silent auction prize, and food etc.  You made this event fabulous for the children of Clearmeadow Public School and the community of Newmarket and you are AWESOME for being a part of our success!

    The attendees also helped support the Newmarket Food Pantry with some canned food donations (quite a bit) and some monetary donations as well so one of our school members will be dropping this off to the food pantry this week.

    I met new fabulous businesses in our community and the chili cook-off was a fun experience also.

    Thank you to Mayor Tony Van Bynen, John Taylor and Jane Twinney for coming out to represent Newmarket and to Tom Vegh and John Taylor for a silent auction prize.

    Thank you SO MUCH for everyone’s contribution to the Winter Palooza and for supporting Clearmeadow Public School!

  • Blogging and my reasons for it…

    I have been thinking alot the past few weeks about why I started writing again and what I am trying to get out of it.

    I used to write years back in highschool for the newspaper in Orillia and had always enjoyed it. Even though I had always planned to study Journalism, when it came down it, I hesitated.

    Why? I do not know!

    I second quessed myself and it is one regret that I have always had.  I didn’t write books or fairy tales or stories, I loved writing about productions, people and community events. I always loved researching a story, learning about people and writing about the amazing things that people are involved in.

    So fast forward 21 years and here I am writing once again. I really quite misssed it, although I never realized it until I started again.

    I have had articles I have written published on a few websites and I truly appreciate each and everyone of them giving me the opportunity to write for them.

    Would I like to write full time? Heck yah!  Would I like to get paid?  Who doesn’t?

    But am I okay and content to continue to write for personal interest and to keep happy?  Absolutely I am!

    Blogging gives me the opportunity to write about how I feel, what I am up to and what interests me in the world. I appreciate the freedom it gives me to better my writing and continue to prove my skills.

    I am more than happy to write for other people but will continue to do it for myself also.

    I have met alot of amazing writers and bloggers over the months and if I could join their ranks, I would so be there.

    If you enjoy writing and want to take a stab at it, go for it!  You may surprise yourself!