BioNike for Psoriasis – an experiment

Bionike

I’ve had psoriasis pretty much forever. Whenever someone sees the psoriasis, they will ask if I’ve tried product X. I will usually reply with, “Yes, I’ve tried every product out there” – with so many years of trying anything I could get my hands on, I figure that’s a pretty accurate statement to make. However, I do realize that new companies and products are continually entering the market, so that statement eventually becomes false. As such, when some wonderful ladies from Dischem approached me about a new product range from a company called BioNike, I figured it was worth a try, if for nothing other than to still be able to use my standard line.

At the moment, my psoriasis is flared – it isn’t always this bad, but it’s definitely gotten worse since having Harley, and my experiments with coconut oil didn’t help. So, I was happy to give the BioNike products a whirl, especially on my forehead and ears. It’s been a couple months now, so I think I can be pretty confident about my experience. Continue Reading

Comment Health, Products

Final Fantasy XV is character-driven story-telling at its finest

Final Fantasy XV is character-driven story-telling at its finest

I have been playing Final Fantasy since the very first one on NES. Yes, I know that gives my age away, but I really don’t care. My mom laughs at me when I talk about Final Fantasy, with each numbered installment serving as a reminder of how much time has passed.

I remember making the jump to PlayStation when playing Final Fantasy required a memory card. Dean and I met while I was busy playing Final Fantasy XII, and we bought a PS3  when we realized that the new Final Fantasy would be coming and we might as well bite the bullet and get the new console. Each time, the game has pushed the limits for graphics, RPG elements, and story-telling, but Final Fantasy XV took things to a whole new level. Continue Reading

1 Comment Gaming, Geek

Chorizo rice recipe – cheap, easy mid-week dinner

chorizo rice recipe

If you are anything like me, there is one question that can strike more dread into you than any other – “what’s for dinner?” Seriously, it feels like an eternal question, mainly because it’s what Dean and I ask each other every single day. And sometimes, I have a plan; I might decide that we’re going to braai or that I feel like cooking something in particular. But more often then not, it’s a question of how to throw together a decently healthy meal with minimal effort with whatever we have in the house. On those days, I really don’t want to spend more than half an hour in the kitchen dealing with food, but I still want us to eat something tasty and nutritious. So, here’s one of my new favorite inventions that really is easy to make, seems to appeal to most/all tastes and offers some pretty good nutrients without going over the top with the calories.

I’d call this a Spanish rice recipe, but it’s probably not authentic enough. Instead, this is my Chorizo rice recipe, and I hope it makes your life easier as a simple fall-back answer for “what’s for dinner”?  Continue Reading

4 Comments Food

Registering a citizen born abroad

american citizen

There are all sorts of complications that come with an international relationship. Many of them are fun – I love having an “exotic” husband. He uses words and language that I find intriguing, and we are both continually discovering aspects of each other’s lives that are amusing or strange to each other. It’s enjoyable for both of us as we get to explore our different countries, our different perspectives from an outside angle thanks to each other. We are global citizens and it’s something that I’m excited to pass on to Harley as she will come from both backgrounds, a true citizen of the world. However, the admin involved isn’t too pleasant.

I already wrote about the mission we had just to get her birth certificate resolved. But that was just on the South African side. With our plan this year to move to the States, I wanted to get her American documentation sorted out. But it’s not as easy as it might sound – like so many nationalities, passing your citizenship on through the blood isn’t a simple matter for Americans. Well, it was in the end, but it wasn’t easy in the middle. Continue Reading

10 Comments Rambling, South Africa, USA

2017 Goals – Here’s what I’m aiming for this year

2017 goal

2016 was a pretty big year for me. I brought my baby home and my entire life changed. I had some wonderful successes and crazy difficult challenges, but that year is over and now we’re officially in 2017. Sure, I will still get the date wrong for a few days and weeks, but it’s a new year and with the days ahead there are some big things that I want to do.

But first, let me be clear – I don’t do New Year’s resolutions. I hate the very idea. You can change your life at any time, any day. You can set new goals for yourself at any point, and changing your life shouldn’t be something you wait on for a specific day or time. That said, I have some goals that I want to reach this year, and I figure that sharing them with all of you will help me focus on those core things, as well as hold me accountable. Perhaps at the end of this year I can look back and assess how well I did. Now, each of these goals will be quite big, which means that there will be subgoals involved, too. Here goes… Continue Reading

18 Comments Fitness, Health, Rambling