iMom Online

A lot of people stick a fake tree in a corner, dust the leaves off every week, and call it indoor gardening, but indoor gardening has grown into much more than that lately.  There are also a lot of people that thinks plants belong and should stay inside, but there are many reasons for starting an indoor garden.  For instance, plants don’t only remove carbon dioxide from the air, they also remove many poisonous toxins and pollutants as well.  Indoor gardening will result in beautiful decoration in your house as well as cleaner air.

When picking out plants for indoor gardening, make sure the plants are adaptable and will be able to thrive in the conditions and setting in your house.  Consider how much time you will be able to spend caring for the plants, how much light your house offers, and also how much money you want to spend on your indoor garden.  If you are on a low budget, start with seeds or cuttings.  If you have a little more money to dish out you can buy a plant that is already grown.  Another thing to consider is if you want a plant that can be displayed all year or just for a season.     Herb gardens are a good thing for indoor gardening; they are both attractive and edible.  They will grow pretty quick and you won’t have to wait a long time to see results.  Some popular herbs, especially for cooking, are chives, dill, sage, thyme, and oregano.

When indoor gardening, consider the amount of experience you have before choosing a plant.  There are some plants that are stronger and harder to kill and therefore better for a novice gardener.  Examples are Fatsia, Cyperus, Scandens, Popular Succulents, Coleus, and Bromeliads.

Some things, such as the basic rules of maintaining plants, are different in indoor gardening that in a regular outdoor setting.  Since plants won’t get the sunlight they do outdoors, lighting is essential.  You need to know exactly how much light your plants need and pick plants that only need medium to low light, such as ferns or Philodendrons, unless you plan to supply artificial lighting.  If you buy a plant already grown, wherever you get it probably has better lighting than your house so you will need to “condition” your plant and gradually reduce the light it receives.  Once you get the plant inside, make sure and rotate the plant to encourage upright growth.

Just because you are indoor gardening, don’t think the plants don’t have to have water; they still do.  How often you water, once again, depends on what type of plant you have.  Make sure the water can drain out of the bottom of the pot and try to use water that is about the same as the temperature of the room.  Also pay attention to temperature in your house in order to ensure healthy plants.  A 10-15 degree range won’t hurt any plants, but rapid changes could cause damage.

Indoor gardening is not that difficult; in fact, it is pretty much the same as outdoor.  There are even some advantages to indoor gardening.  For example, you won’t have to worry as much about bugs and insects bothering your plants.  You also won’t have to worry about wind or frost reeking havoc on your garden.

There is nothing like going shopping when you have had a tough day. And today this week has been one of those weeks. Everything that is going wrong is going wrong.

For instance, my laptop just up and died yesterday. It wouldn’t turn back on at all. So, I decided that I would buy a new laptop. The new one is a step down but really I can almost do the same things that I could on the other one. Okay, I’m exaggerating. It’s nothing like it but it will have to do.

Old Navy is my favorite store. I did some retail shopping there today. I got the two shirts above, I can’t wait to wear them. They honestly have the best clothes there.

Today’s cameras make taking pictures a lot easier than the one’s of yesterday.  There is always room for improvement, however.  Use the following tips to help make your photos go from acceptable to great.

1. Always be aware of the background. You don’t want to find trees growing out of people’s heads or a passing vehicle to draw attention from your subject.  Sometimes moving your subject just a couple steps to either side can make all the difference.

2. Use available light. If your digital camera has an option to turn the flash off and it’s light enough outside to read a book then use the available light and turn the flash off. In general camera flashes are too harsh for human skin and make all of us look pale.  Indoors, where there isn’t enough daylight, place your subject by a window and use your fill flash feature.

3.  Aim your camera slightly down at the person’s face. Also don’t shoot just face on to the person, try a little to the side, a three quarter view, so that you see more of their face. Remember camera higher looking down and a three quarter view, it will slim your subject.

4.   Remember your focus. Get closer to your subject. Fill the frame with your subject and there will be no doubt as to what the picture is saying.

5. Never put your subject dead center. Put your just slightly off center; not a lot just a little. When you’re shooting  groups of people, find the imaginary center line of your group and put that line just a bit off center in your view through your lens or screen.

Following these tips won’t turn you into an award-winning photographer today, but you will be on your way to better, more powerful photographs that others will comment on for years to come.

Whether you might be staying home with a new baby or working too many hours at the office, anytime is a good time for yoga. You can do yoga stretches and postures in bed or even while driving to work.

Hundreds of fitness seekers use their lunch hour to squeeze in exercise and take off extra pounds. Lunch-hour fitness routines become more popular in warm weather.

Kick Back Log-on Pose: Interlace your fingers behind your head. Relax your elbows and shoulders. Smile, breathe and stretch your elbows back. Let the tightness release slowly.

E-mail Meditation: While reading your e-mail, remember to breathe slowly and focus your attention on your breath. Make the out-breath two times longer than the in-breath. This will immediately calm you.

Photocopier Stretch: Place your hands on the edge of the copier. Stand back with feet apart. Drop your head and chest. Breathe and relax your shoulders.

Close-the-deal Warrior Pose: Raise your arms to the side with fingers pointed. Take a big step to the side, with your right foot out and knee bent, your left foot planted, left leg straight. Keep the upper body straight and strong, shoulders relaxed. Relax into the stretch — don’t hold your breath. Return to a standing position, switch sides and repeat.

photo credit: dno1967

A lot of teens nowadays do not understand the value of earning and spending money. They should be able to understand the concept of money and investment as early as childhood. This will prepare them to learn money management, as they grow old.

Here are some tips on how you can teach your children how to save money:

1. Your children should be educated of the meaning of money. Once your children have learned how to count, that is the perfect time for you teach them the real meaning of money. You should be consistent and explain to them in simple ways and do this frequently so that they may be able to remember what you taught them.

2. Always explain to them the value of saving money. Make them understand its importance and how it will impact their life. It is important that you entertain questions from them about money and you should be able to answer them right away.

3. When giving them their allowances. You need to give them their allowances in denominations. Then you can encourage them that they should keep a certain bill for the future. You can motivate them to do this by telling them that the money can be saved and they can buy new pair of shoes or the toys they want once they are able to save.

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I have to admit that I haven’t always been into makeup. But lately I have been. I have been visiting Sephora more times lately then I ever thought I would. But my favorite eyeliner actually came to me by accident. I had entered a contest at and for the prize I got some makeup too. This Revlon Beyond Natural eyeliner came with it. I was really not into trying it out. I have always been so sensitive to eyeliner and actually stopped buying or wearing makeup all together because I couldn’t find an eyeliner that I liked.

So the first couple of times that I used Beyond Natural I was impressed. I liked how it applied like it was liquid. And it was so easy to work with. I actually could apply it fast and it looked great. Now I have been on the hunt to find it here but I can’t find it anywhere. I hope that it’s just not available in the States.

What’s your favorite eyeliner??