I went for a walk this morning along the Columbia River. I haven't been down there since last winter when we went to gather cottonwood buds. I can't believe I haven't made it a habit to take walks there. There is so much to see and hear.

Today, I made "Rosemary's Face Cream". The general recipe is pretty famous in herbal circles because it is so wonderful. I recently saw a video on HerbMentor.com by Rosemary Gladstar showing how to make this great cream. I had made it before but it was interesting to see her approach.

I've spent the last two weeks sick with the latest flu going around. Last evening I talked with my son and he had been sick as well. The main difference is it only lasted a few days for him. As we talked, I was thinking about why he would be healthier than me, besides age. In the course of the conversation he told me about several of his friends who had been ill. The common theme that seemed to run throughout how long someone was sick had to do with walking.

Choose a food item you would normally purchase and make it from scratch. It could be something as simple as a cake or cookies or something as seemingly complex as making bread. Reconnecting with how our food is made can be very empowering. We come to understand what is in our food and what it takes to make it a reality.

Homemade food is also much more tasty once we get the hang of it. I started making homemade bread a few months ago. We ate a few slices off of the first loaf when it was warm and the rest ended up as bread crumbs for stuffing.

Nourishing infusions provide vitamins, minerals and other nutrients to help keep us healthy in a form that is easy for the body to digest. They are mild and gentle so there is no real limit on how much you can drink. My favorites so far are nettle, oatstraw and chickweed. I make infusions from them and have been drinking them for about a month now. I find I have more energy and my spirits are higher.

I found my first gray hair in my early twenties but until a couple of years ago have colored to keep them covered. Then I decided to go natural. It worked until I saw the pictures from my Mother's 70th birthday party. I panicked and colored again. That lasted about 6 months and then a couple of months ago I got tired of the fake color.

Some days it is simply time to take a rest. I have long been driven to accomplish something everyday and I find it difficult to just stop. I used to work for a large credit union in their mortgage department. Things were very stressful for a long period of time and I had two ways of de-stressing. Most days I would leave my desk, walk downstairs, get a snack and read the business section of the paper for ten minutes. Many people would not see reading the business section as relaxing, but it worked for me.

Submitted by Amber

My life has been filled with so many changes lately. Some days I am totally in awe that I have come this far and that I have so much. I am growing up and finding who I am, this has been a long time coming.