Different From The Ordinary

Short but sweet musings about anything different from the ordinary

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My Newest Hobby: Stage One

The stones currently in the tumbler I’ve always loved collecting rocks. I love the designs, varied colours, and textures of them, and when they’ve caught my eye, I’ve always considered it a “sign” that I should possess them. My “new to me” rock tumbler! I had the opportunity to purchase a used rock tumbler. Buying a rock tumbler was something I wanted to do, but I couldn’t find anything that I…

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A Rare Spiritual Stone

Precious Moldavite Moldavite is a green gem that was created when an asteroid hit the Earth about 15 million years ago. This stone is valued for its metaphysical properties. As an intensely spiritual stone, Moldavite is a stone of awakening, transformation, and evolutionary growth. It facilitates a strong, clear, and conscious connection between one’s consciousness and the Universal source. It…

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My Sanity During Covid Isolation

A very exhausted but happy Dina, after achieving the rank of Gokyu March 15, 2021. Facing the unknown in a potential apocalypse can adversely affect one over time. Under stress, the body produces cortisol, the hormone that keeps your body in ‘fight or flight’ mode. Small bursts of this hormone is natural; however, if your body keeps pumping out this hormone, over time it can have negative…

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Always Believe in Magic

I have always loved rocks. As a young girl, I would spend hours along a beach or even my grandparents’ gravel driveway in the country, looking for treasures to hold in my pockets. I still love rocks today, and while I don’t take home every cool stone I discover, I am particularly fond of “wish rocks”. I’m always the type to give thoughtful little gifts to those who could use a pick-me-up, and…

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Product Review: Shampoo Bars

I came across this shampoo at a local market around 2 years ago, and thought I would check it out and possibly review it through the blog. It’s fantastic stuff! Now, this isn’t an “ad” for this particular company’s brand of shampoo bar, but instead I’m going to review the “shampoo bar” vs. using the conventional “shampoo in a bottle”. First of all, the packaging can’t be beat. The shampoo bars…

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My Eco Friendly Efforts During Covid-19: Try, Try Again

If being eco friendly over the past year was a test, I’d have failed miserably. Many stores weren’t allowing customers to use their own bags/cups for awhile, but then back-pedalled on the bag issue – but you had to pack your own stuff. This would have been fine if I wasn’t purchasing $300+ of grocery items while a long line up of Covid-scared customers waited 6 feet away. After the first few…

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I’m Back! ... I Think...

I’m Back! … I Think…

I’m back! … I think… I hope… 😊 It’s been awhile since I was regularly posting about eco friendly things that we all can do, to do our part in preserving the planet. It seems like a lifetime ago, but in reality it was only about a year. And then the pandemic hit…and we all went into ‘survival mode’. At first it was all about making the stay-at-home recommendations (sometimes orders) “fun” for…

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The Best Dog Bed EVER!

I’ve owned at least one dog for the past 20 years. Since our home has hardwood floors throughout, it’s important to me that my canine fur babies aren’t catching cold from the floor – especially during the cold Canadian winters. This usually means that the best bed for my doggos is the thick and expensive kind. I don’t mind these beds, except for one thing: they’re not washing machine friendly.…

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Pandemic Positives: Ninja Gifting

Over the past couple of days, I’ve been invited to a number of groups on FB that does the coolest thing ever – Ninja Gifting.

This is how it works:

1. Join a Ninja Gifting group of your choice (I.e. wine ninjas group);

2. (Organized) groups will have the page sectioned into area specific posts (I.e., North Edmonton, Red Deer, etc.) so you’ll need to find your area;

3. In the post of your area…

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Rock Candy Making a Bust

I was lured by the colourful sticks of candy that showed up on my computer screen. Ever looking for something to keep my children entertained, I bought into the “fun” nature of doing this science experiment.

I had done this sort of thing as a young child – but with Borax and a dangly string – and so was excited to grow crystals that I could eat this time. I had hoped that my children were as…

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Easter Bin Gratitude

About a year ago I decided to organize my “seasonal” clutter, which was all around the house (in several nooks and crannies). I bought several tubs to store everything, while trying to keep it to one tub a season (Ooops! Sorry, Christmas!). Each tub of seasonal things were then hauled up into the attic, only to be taken down, a little ahead of time, to prepare for said season.

So far, it has…

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Update on My Isolated Isolation...

Update on My Isolated Isolation…

It’s been ten days since we returned form our Disney Trip to utter chaos. We haven’t really been outside of the house, and luckily we don’t want to kill each other – yet.

Schools closed for the year on March 16th, which didn’t phase us as we were self-isolating. However, I now had to work AND homeschool at the same time. Not an easy task! Luckily, my husband has been very helpful and we’ve been…

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“Mommy Make-up” and Nail Polish

You might think it’s ordinary make-up, but to your child, it’s extra special-it’s MOMMY make-up. It’s the little pouch of utensils, cakes, and brushes with colour that only Mommy can use that makes her look like a “princess”.

One of the things you can do with your children, while we hunker down during this pandemic, is to spend a little quality time with your child or children and do a bit of a…

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Self Isolation Day 3 Highlight: Cornstarch Slime

The Health Minister just announced that all daycares and schools are closed for the foreseeable future. My husband’s work sent e-mail stating that if he could work from home, then to do so. It’s very likely that my work will soon follow suit. Until then, I will consider myself only in self isolation for this blog post.

After much thinking last night (and very little sleep) I decided that the…

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Returning From Disney Amid Covid-19 Concerns

My family and I planned a trip to Disney World for the second week in March. Our daughter had finished daycare eight months prior and so we had that extra money that we could put toward a big trip.

I didn’t know how much planning went in to a Disney vacation and so I was both excited AND overwhelmed at the whole process. At the time of booking the trip, Covid-19 was a little “blip” of news at…

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The Best Composting System

I’ve been composting, on and off, for the past 20 years. When I say composting, I mean throwing vegetable scraps and other compostable materials into the big, black composting bin that came with the house. I haven’t been one to stir it or move the compost around, and whatever else you have to do with it to make it useable. I also haven’t taken any “soil” from it either, and so it forever seems…

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Product Review: Boogie Board Grocery List

I’ve had this little thing for quite some time. I bought it at Costco for an ungodly price (not that it was expensive, but I wasn’t sure if it was worth what I paid for it). They’ve become more mainstream and are now marketed as children’s toys – something to do in the car during the long summer vacation road trips.

I knew I was going to use it as a grocery list for the fridge. Before I bought…

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