10 Uses For Apple Cider Vinegar

   Hey y'all, happy hump day! Whether you feel like the week is basically over or maybe not over soon enough, I hope you'll find some joy in today. I choose to believe it's actually November and Baby H #2 is about to arrive. Or has arrived. I'll settle for either.
    Anyways, I wanted to give y'all a post filled with great tips that hopefully are new to you. In case you haven't heard apple cider vinegar is like the fix all you've been waiting for. I've been using it for a variety of things for about 3 years now. My mom actually turned me onto it. So now I'm passing it along to y'all. Some of these tips or ideas are things I've used and some are ideas that came from my online research. Well here we go!

1. Drink a tablespoon or two
    Now before you start downing your apple cider vinegar I must warn you that you have to dilute it with either water, juice, or soda. It does have acid so you can't drink it straight. Trust me. When I drink it I usually put it in cranberry or apple juice. It helps with your digestive system, losing weight, for hiccups, bloating, lowers cholesterol, lowers blood pressure. I could go on!

2. Various cleaning products
    With all of the different, pretty much unknowable, chemicals in a lot of cleaning products you may be thinking of making your own. Well apple cider vinegar is a great antiseptic so it can be used all over your home. Just take a look around Pinterest for five minutes and you'll stumble upon a homemade cleaning product that involves apple cider vinegar.

3. For sunburns
   I personally thought this was an awesome tip for this time of year. I wish I had known this as an ten year old lobster. Apparently you just rub apple cider vinegar all over the sunburned areas and it prevents blistering and peeling, takes away the pain, helps it to heal, and will turn your burn into a tan! I thankfully haven't had a sunburn this summer, so I have no opportunity to try it. But if you find yourself in this miserable place, give apple cider vinegar a shot!

4. As a facial toner
   I really liked this when I used it. Basically all you have to do is take equal parts water and apple cider vinegar, put it in a water bottle, and tab it on your face using a cotton ball. That's it. It's only two ingredients, all natural, and a money saver. I call that a triple thread!

5. A hair rinse
    All you need to remember is 1/3 apple cider vinegar, 2/3 water. You can put it in a spray bottle, or just put it in a cup. I just use a cup. You saturate your whole head with the mixture when you get in the shower, making sure it gets in your roots good. I leave it on for five minutes, rinse, then shampoo and condition as usual. It takes out all the buildup that your hairs hangs onto from your hair products and leaves it's much brighter. I've been using it for a while, and I love it!!!

6. For eczema
     Now I've never used it for this reason so I can't say it's good enough to stop seeing your dermatologist, but it's worth a try! What you do is take 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar and 3 cups water. Take a cotton ball and dab the mixture on the affected areas, or you can use a spray bottle. The article says it does burn like crazy so blow on it. You can dilute with more water but the healing process is longer. Do this every morning and night. That mixture is what the woman who wrote the article used on her child. She says that after using it for a year they only have to use this every three or four months, so I'd say that's a pretty successful story! Please note this is not a substitute for seeing a doctor about this condition and I'm not trying to give out medical advice. Just something I thought a lot of people might benefit from knowing about!

7. As a doggy wash
    Apparently this is suppose to prevent itching for your dog. It's just 2 cups warm water and 1 cup apple cider vinegar. Mix well, pour over your dog from back of neck to tail avoiding their eyes. Do not rinse out, dry your dog as normal.

8. As a natural weed killer
    If you have doggies or kiddos you might be worried about using the store bought weed killer. Here's one you shouldn't have to worry about. It's a 1/2 gallon of apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup salt, and 1/2 tablespoon Dawn liquid dish soap. Simply pour in spray bottle, and get spraying!

9. As a foot soak
    This is another of my favorite uses for apple cider vinegar. Take 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/2 cup mouthwash, and 1 cup warm water. Mix in a bucket or whatever you usually soak your feet in. Leave your feet in it for about 10 minutes. Once you take your feet out, dry them off with a towel, rubbing off any excess skin, then moisture with your favorite lotion. It's so tingly and feels great on your feet. It leaves your feet so soft, I was shocked the first time I tried it! You may have to use a little more water to have it over your feet, which shouldn't dilute the mixture too much.

10. Bee stings
     Last but definitely not least is using apple cider vinegar for bee stings. All you do is dab apple cider vinegar(no water added) onto the stung area with a cotton ball. Be sure to hold the cotton ball on the area until the initial pain is gone. You can use this for wasps stings too!

    I hope y'all found at least one of these 10 apple cider vinegar tips and ideas helpful! If you happen to use apple cider vinegar for other things I'd love to hear! Have a great Wednesday!

Bereaved Parents Month

   Yesterday I was searching out new blogs and I stumbled upon a post was about something very close to my heart. I don't know if any of my readers have heard of Bereaved Parents Month, I know I hadn't. This month, July, is Bereaved Parents Month.

    When your child dies, a part of you dies. I know that sounds bleak, but it's true. A little bit of light is gone from your world and you wonder where that light may be. You see the world much differently then before. Why wouldn't you? The world is different when you become a parent and it doesn't stop being different just because your child is gone.
    This probably sounds very strange to people who haven't experienced the loss of a child, but it helps to hear other people's stories. It makes you feel more human, at least it did for me. Not because you want other people to know this dark pain, no one wants that. But because you see everyone else around you with seemingly fine lives and you wonder why you're not fine. I say seemingly because if you talk to people long enough you'll hear a little heartbreak in everyone's story. My parents have had this kind of heartbreak, so they were the perfect people to talk to, for they really have been through a lot when it comes to something like this. By that I mean they have had 5 children born severely disabled and all 5 have since passed away.
   I was shocked by how many people I had known for years had children pass away. It can be so easy to feel like the marked one. You just have to remember that you're not the first person to feel that way.
    I've also seen a lot of people on different forums online talk about how they didn't know anyone that had a child die. If you're experiencing the loss of your child and needs to hear from someone that's been there the internet has a ton of resources such as the just mentioned forums. I also read a lot of blogs where people told their story, and I found them very healing.
    Also your friends and family that haven't experienced this pain can be wonderful support systems. Sometimes people don't know if you wanna talk about it, so you might have to tell people you need to. I'll always be very grateful to the friends and family that listened to me question and vent. And of course my husband was and is definitely a huge support system for me, I hope to be the same for him. If anyone can know the pain you're going through, it's your child's father or mother.
    Wherever you find support, just find it. Don't feel like you have to keep all the pain to yourself. If you don't feel comfortable talking to someone you know there are support groups, therapists, pastors, and of course who was there for me even when I doubted, God.

   Here's the link to the post that made me aware of Bereaved Parents Month. Thank you so much Erin for sharing something so important!

   Here's the links to the story of our baby James here, here,  here, & here

  Here's the link to the Bereaved Parents Month website here