How to choose a paint color for any room in your house!

Often, when people learn that my bachelor degree is in interior design, ultimately one of the first questions they ask me is, "What color should I paint __________ (room)?"

This is something no interior designer can honestly answer when they enter a home for the first time. While the designer may have his/her own preferences, he/she is not the person living or working in the space, the client is! Because of that simple truth, I have to first doe some simple detective work before I can make a recommendation.

Often when clients hire me as a consultant, they merely want to have their color choice/theme/schematic to be validated, which I do after verifying what their vision for the space is and how they want to feel when they are in the completed room. Sometimes I offer suggestions that tweak their original color choice(s). Sometimes the client needs assistance in identifying what color(s) they want to use in the space and so that is what I help them accomplish. 

The tools, techniques and tips I use are basic and I believe that ANYONE can understand the process I use with my clients. 

What color you paint a room depends ultimately on what effect you want to achieve. I will ask my clients the following FIVE questions:

#1 What is your vision for this space/room?

#2 Is there a theme you want to accomplish in the room?

#3 Are you looking to make a statement in the room?

#4 Do you have any colors in mind for this room?

#5 A) Do you want a south or west facing room to feel cooler? (the hottest rays of the day come from the south and the west)

OR

#5 B) Do you want a north or east facing room to feel warmer? (the coolest rays of the day come from the east and the north)

 Once these basic questions are answered I then proceed to make my suggestions based on my understanding of color psychology, which is actually founded in the physics of color. 

Isaac Newton was the first scientist to identify that light is the source of the color sensation. The ability of the human eye to distinguish colors is based upon the varying sensitivity of different cells in the retina to light of different wavelengths (this explains where color blindness originates).  Just as different types of music can affect our mood based on its wavelength and frequency (for example: Vivaldi's Four Seasons compared to anything from the death metal genre), color has the same affect on us although we are less consciously attuned to the subtle affects of color as we are to the affects of music.

Within the world of color there are hues (pure saturated color), tints (hue + white), tones (hue + grey) and shades (hue + black). Each has a different psychological effect on people:

1.      Hues are vibrant and striking - because they are so reflective, concise, and clear they are used to create a statement.  

2.      Tints are bright and animated - they create a light upward movement and can evoke thoughts of lightheartedness and fun.

3.      Tones are soft & subtle - they provide comfort, peace, calm and security.

4.      Shades are rich and dynamic - they provide visual texture and substance to a space .

In summary, to determine what color you should paint whichever room you are wanting to paint, ask yourself and answer my FIVE questions and from those answers you will have a clearer vision of what effect you want to create in your room/space. Once you know what effect you want to create it narrows down which palette you should choose your color from: hue, tint, tone, or shade. Once you narrow that down it is ALL about personal preference! 

by Yvonne Russell, Bachelor of Science in Interior Design from BYU-Idaho

Montessori Language: Pink Reading Kit Sound Bin

Miss Tips and the "c" sound bin.

 

My children have really learned how to avoid either getting dressed in the morning or going to bed at night. They pull out the sound bins I recently completed from Karen Tyler's Pink Reading Kit - Montessori Language album, and decide to work on it. How can I say "no" when they are wanting to develop their skill sets? :D

So here is Miss Tips, at age 2-1/2 years old, using the "c" bin from Karen Tyler's Pink Reading Kit (khtmontessori.com).

Since my children are already learning print from educational sources outside of the home and I am sure that is what they will learn when they start kindergarten at our local public Montessori charter school, I have chosen to teach them cursive at home. So while Karen's Pink Reading Kit is all print/block letters, I have been adapting it to all be cursive for our home preschool use. It does require more work on my behalf, but I feel the effort is worth it since I want my children to be able to read old documents from the pre-computer age. I feel it is one more skill set that will give them an advantage over their peers since many elementary schools are no longer teaching cursive writing. Plus, somebody has to be able to read cursive to transcribe all those family history documents!

I am AMAZED at how much young children really can understand at such a young age if we just give them the opportunity to do so!

Nutrient and Mineral Deficient Food: Part 5

I know this post is almost an entire month past due. I am fine with that. As a mother things come up in life and I have to drop some of the balls I juggle in life. Over the last month I have chosen to drop blogging to focus on other matters at home since my first responsibilities are wife and mother to my husband and children.

With that preface.... let me continue on where I left off 4 weeks ago: Nutrient and Mineral Deficient Food.

Along with discovering the best possible way to grow food for my family over the last eight years, I have also spent a significant amount of time researching diets from Eat Right for Your Blood Type to the Raw Food to Vegan and Vegetarian diets. Each had parts of their system that made sense, but nothing seemed to really come close to what I FELT was right for me and my family. If you know me in person, you'll know that I rely strongly on following my intuition when it comes to my body and my health.

One day as I was reading the newspaper on my lunch break at work back in 2007, there was an article about raw milk that caught my attention. It talked about the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) and so when I got home that night I looked it up online. I learned there was a Utah chapter, so I e-mailed the chapter representative for Utah and later discovered she, Betty, was married to my mom's cousin (I also love making family connections)! I asked her where I could buy raw milk in Utah and she directed me to Real Foods in Orem. At the time it was not yet legal to buy raw milk from anywhere but the original source - the farm - but through attending a couple of seminars at Real Foods, I was able to join a co-op where every two months my husband and I drove down to the dairy farm in Redmond, Utah to buy milk for everyone else in the group. I also learned about kefir and fermented foods during this time period. This was the beginning of my foray into preparing and eating foods that my mostly Scandinavian ancestors ate (along with a few Scottish and English ancestors).

Some of my first kefir grains.

Kefir was the first lacto-fermented food I experimented making myself. At first I bought commercial kefir starts from BodyEcology. Then after using the commercial kefir starts, I learned that REAL kefir is made by using kefir grains. I had joined my local freecycle group and a woman offered kefir grains - so I called her and went to her house to get my grains. She kept goats and used goat's milk to make her kefir. I tried it and decided I was definitely one of those people that wasn't a fan of goat milk. While I was there she started talking to me about Isagenix. It was the first time I had heard of it, but with the multitude of direct-marketing companies found in Utah at the time (Nature's Sunshine, Neways, NuSkin, USANA, Xango, Tahitian Noni, Young Living, etc) I disregarded everything she was saying about this MLM that had only been around for 5 years.

Now fast forward to 10 months ago. I was staring my second year of the Mittleider Method of gardening and had learned a TON about nutritional and mineral deficient food. Add to that all that I've also learned about REAL food (raw, non-homogenized milk from pasture-raised cows; eggs from pasture-raised hens who were allowed to eat their non-vegetarian feed of worms and earwigs and other bugs; etc) that I haven't yet shared on MrsTips, and perhaps you'll understand why I was drawn to Isagenix the second time it was presented to us.

Through a process of joint choices my husband and I made together and a partnership we formed with one of our former real estate coaches, last May we were privileged to meet Tony, Randi and Sean Escobar. Talk about salt of the earth people!!! Genuine and down to earth REAL people who really are more concerned about helping people live healthy than they are about making money. 

Tony's presentation about the Isagenix 9-day Cleanse was phenomenal! It validated EVERY single thing I have learned about nutrient and mineral deficient food over previous 7 years and THEN some! John Anderson specifically formulated the Isagenix line to make up for the nutrient and mineral deficient food we currently have available to us on the mass market. The products are all designed to be fully absorbed and fully utilized by your body. Only Isagenix uses undenatured whey protein and from my previous education from Dr. Mercola's website, undenatured whey protein is the ONLY whey product that comes even close to traditional "real food" whey. For more information on the whey protein concentrate that Isagenix uses, here is an article by Dr. Michael Colgan.

Some of my friends may and do balk at any sort of processed food from a commercial company, but in my busy life I do not consistently have the time to make my own "real food" that is loaded with all the enzymes and pro-biotics I need to be healthy - especially when I am pregnant and am so sick for 3 months straight that I have to spend most of the day lying down just to keep down the food and water I have consumed (like this past holiday season from Thanksgiving through New Year's). So for me, Isagenix is the ONE processed food I don't mind having in my home. It contains no soy products (Weston A. Price Foundation on dangers of soy. Dr. Mercola on dangers of soy). It is gluten free. And again, on top of being packed full of nutrients and minerals my body can readily absorb, it uses the undenatured whey protein. All the whey protein powders you see in other meal-replacement shakes, or for purchase in bulk on store shelves, use a denatured whey protein that removes the essential parts of what makes whey protein such an amazing protein - similar to how pasteurization and homogenization also denature milk and make it into something nature never intended it to become. And on top of all of these nutritional benefits, Isagenix has packed their products FULL of enzymes and pro-biotics! The perfect "convenience food" for someone like me who has been trying to return to the foods my progenitors ate before being introduced to the SAD diet (Standard American Diet) and started developing diabetes and cancer.

I was definitely ready to start using Isagenix since I do not yet have the ability to maintain a Four Season Harvest garden to continually harvest nutrient and mineral dense food for my family. So when I have to buy my produce from the grocery stores in the off seasons - I would prefer to feed my body with Isagenix products to ensure I am still getting an adequate amount of nutrients and minerals. It is the most cost-effective method for us currently in the off season. And I have to say, being pregnant my midwife isn't too keen on me eating ice cream, so a chocolate Isagenix shake made with ice is a REALLY good substitute! At 240 calories and loaded with minerals that are beneficial to a pregnant momma... it really is the healthier choice over two servings of chocolate ice cream. (And it really hits the "craving for a chocolate ice cream shake" spot!)


Further validation for me is a recent newsletter I received from Isagenix. The first two paragraphs:

Isagenix is pleased to announce that the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) study that involved our Isagenix system is receiving excellent recognition within the field of nutrition science.

The UIC study’s abstract won the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) obesity research interest section abstract competition. In addition, the study was selected for an oral presentation in April at ASN’s annual meeting at the Experimental Biology conference in Boston.

And the sixth paragraph with the real insights about the results of the study: 

The 10-week study demonstrated clear, clinical validation for the use of an Isagenix system, which showed superior results when compared with a “heart-healthy” dietary plan based on nationally recognized guidelines. Notably, the Isagenix system led to a 56 percent greater reduction in average weight loss, 47 percent greater reduction in average body fat loss, twice as much visceral fat loss, and 35 percent greater reduction of oxidative stress. The study subjects also reported greater adherence on the Isagenix plan and that they considered it convenient and easy to follow.

Additionally, over the last couple of months I have become aware of a very LONG list of athletes and celebrities who endorse Isagenix products WITHOUT monetary compensation and I am amazed at who is on this list! They endorse it without monetary compensation because they love the product!

The list: Samuel L. Jackson, Denzel Washington, Kelly Ripa, Tori Spelling, Troy Aikman, Oscar De la Hoya, Magic Johnson, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice, Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson, Jeremy Roenick, Willie Gault, Gary Sheffield, Michael Jordan, Tanya Memme, Jim Kelly, Jack Canfield, John Gray, Nancy O’Dell, Lauren Conrad, Eileen Davidson from YandR, Kevin Connolly, Aaron Rodgers, Venus Williams and the list continues to grow. (here are some pictures of celebrities who use Isagenix from Crystal Escobar's website: wannabebalanced.com)


If you are interested in trying the Isagenix 9 Day Cleanse RISK FREE (use it up and if you don't like it you can get a 100% refund), visit our website: http://MrsTips.isagenix.com to get started!

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Nutrient and Mineral Deficient Food: Part 4

Three years ago, as I was in the midst of getting my back of the parking lot weed lot garden up and ready to go after reading Steve Solomon's book, Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series), my mom started telling me about the Mittleider Method developed by Jacob Mittleider. I had already felt emotionally invested in Solomon's method (although I was doing it on my budget) especially since my mom had felt like SHE had learned so much from his and Eliot Coleman's books. I was actually kind of annoyed my mom had apparently switched gears on me.

Our "back of the parking lot weedlot garden" the first year, 2009.

As the summer continued on and she shared with me the successes she was having with her Mittleider garden and I read more about it on growfood.com, I began to understand why she was so "converted" to this method.

From his mini-biography on growfood.com:
Jacob R. Mittleider grew up on an Idaho farm – and hated it. He vowed he wouldn’t be a farmer, and so he attended an Adventist boarding school and studied to be a baker.
After graduation and marriage to Mildred they moved to Loma Linda, California and began their family. They had two daughters, and Jacob worked as a baker for several years, until a provocation by the store manager upset him and he walked out and quit.
With a family to feed and nothing but farming and baking as skills Jacob began growing flowers in his back yard. He worked long hours, studied everything he could get his hands on, learned from other growers in the area, and even put a soil lab expert on retainer, until his own wholesale bedding plant business became so big and so successful that he was shipping his plants to retail stores all over the USA.
Living on 4 hours of sleep took a toll on his health however, and by 1963 ulcers required the removal of half of his stomach. Jacob had to make major changes in order to regain his health, and so after 19 years he closed the business and determined to give his life to helping people.
For the next 38 years Jacob and his wife worked in 27 countries, conducting 75 gardening demonstration and training projects, and changing tens of thousands of lives for the better wherever they went.

Nutrient and Mineral Deficient Food: Part 3

As promised, today I am going to share with you some interesting research that backs up the insights and ah-has I shared with you in Parts 1 and 2. Mainly, how agronomists have tracked the decline in mineral and nutrient levels in food grown in the US since 1914.

Below is a chart detailing the 80 year decline in one medium apple, raw, with skin.