Summer 2025

This summer has been one for the memory books, filled with moments that I’ll carry with me for a long time. 🌞

It started with an unforgettable trip to Colorado. There’s something about the mountains that just calms the soul — the crisp air, the endless views, and that sense of wonder you get when you’re surrounded by nature’s beauty. It was the perfect reset, a chance to step away from the everyday routine and just be.

Not long after that, I got to celebrate my nephew’s graduation. Watching him walk across that stage was such a proud moment — one of those days where you feel the love and excitement in the air. It’s incredible to see the young man he’s becoming and to think about all the opportunities waiting for him ahead.

Then came one of the most beautiful days of the summer: David and Lina’s wedding. Everything about it was magical — from the heartfelt vows to the laughter shared with friends and family as we celebrated their new journey together. It was one of those days where love just filled the room and reminded me how special it is to witness someone’s happily ever after beginning.

All of this was done while finding ways to honour my sister. I visited her grave, spending quiet moments there reflecting on her life and the memories we shared. I also helped pack away her belongings — a bittersweet task filled with both tears and gratitude, as each item held a piece of her story and a reminder of the love we’ll always carry for her.

On our way home, my husband and I stole a few days just for ourselves — days to reconnect, to laugh, to wander, and to fall in love with each other all over again. We set out on little adventures, chasing sunsets, trying new foods, and discovering hidden gems along the way. Every moment felt like a reminder that no matter where life takes us, the greatest adventure will always be being together.

Another highlight was a visit from Mom, and that time together meant so much. Having her here, sharing quiet mornings over coffee, catching up on life, and just enjoying her company made my summer feel even more complete.

Since June 18, I’ve been on leave from work, which has been a blessing in disguise. The slower pace has given me space to rest, recharge, and really take care of myself — something I didn’t even realize how much I needed. My days have been filled with little routines that bring me peace: quiet mornings, reading, long walks, and plenty of time to reflect. I have since resigned from my job as it just wasn't bringing joy anymore.  

Looking back, this summer was such a beautiful mix of adventure, love, family, and stillness. It reminded me how important it is to celebrate the big milestones but also to embrace the quiet, simple moments that make life meaningful. As we head into a new season, I’m carrying with me so much gratitude — for the memories made, the lessons learned, and the reminder that sometimes slowing down is exactly what our hearts need. ✨

Tips To Taking Care Of Your Health As You Age

 Pexels

Getting older may not always be fun, but it is inevitable. Instead of worrying too much about it, be proactive and put your needs and well-being first. This way, you can set yourself up for a bright and healthy future.

There are many actions you can take that will have a positive impact on how you look and feel. It’s all about paying close attention to your habits and committing to living a healthy lifestyle overall. Here you can review some tips that will help you take good care of yourself as you age.

Get Regular Check-Ups

Preventive care can go a long way in helping you to stay healthy and well. You want to make sure you address any concerns right away and stay on top of seeing your doctors. Get regular check-ups so that you can ask questions you have and come up with suitable treatment plans for anything that does arise related to your health. It’s not just about seeing your primary care doctor, but also getting your eyes and ears checked. Now is a good time to schedule a hearing test to see where you are at and confirm if you’re experiencing any hearing loss. 

Exercise & Move Daily

You should also make a point to move more and get daily exercise as you age. It’s important to maintain bone density and flexibility. Find activities that you enjoy doing and are easy on your body. For example, you can take a yoga class or do some cardio workouts and light weight lifting at the gym. Walking at a steady pace is also very beneficial and can boost your mood. There are many health benefits of regular exercise, and you’ll find that you have more natural energy. Staying active during the daytime will also help you sleep better at night. 

Eat A Well-Balanced Diet

It’s wise to monitor what you are putting in your body for fuel as well. Eat a well-balanced diet so you get all the right nutrients. If you are unable to cook for yourself at home, then you can use a food delivery service that will provide you with healthy prepared meals. Do your best to cut back on or limit processed foods and sugar. It’s also a good idea to drink plenty of water to keep hydrated. Water replenishes your skin and removes toxins from your body. 

Find Ways to Boost Your Mental Health

An important part of your overall well-being as you age is your mental health. Your goal is to keep your mind sharp and mood stable. You may want to begin your day doing a crossword puzzle or word search, which can be fun and mind-stimulating. Find hobbies that are enjoyable or spend more time in nature instead of being connected to technology. It may help to meditate regularly or write in a journal. Keep a gratitude list and review daily what you are most thankful for in your life. Be sure to surround yourself with positive and uplifting people so that you can avoid feeling lonely and isolated. 

Simple Daily Practices to Support Long-Term Hearing Health

 

Hearing loss often starts gradually. You might notice voices sounding unclear or have trouble following conversations in noisy places. These changes may feel small at first, but they can have a lasting impact on your daily life.

Good hearing supports how you work, socialise, and stay safe. It also helps your brain stay active. Research links untreated hearing loss to isolation and cognitive decline. The best way to protect your hearing is to build small habits into your day. These steps don’t require major effort but can make a big difference over time.

Photo by Photo By: Kaboompics.com:

Here are five practical ways to keep your hearing strong.

Limit Exposure to Loud Sounds

Loud noise is one of the biggest causes of hearing loss. The damage builds up over time.

Keep volume low on headphones and speakers. A good rule is the 60/60 rule: 60 percent volume for no more than 60 minutes at a time. Use over-ear headphones rather than earbuds, which sit closer to your ear canal.

At concerts, sports games, or even in loud workplaces, wear hearing protection. Reusable earplugs are more comfortable and more effective than foam ones.

At home, avoid layering noise. If the TV is on, don’t run the blender or vacuum at the same time. Your ears work harder in environments with competing sound.

Give your ears breaks. Step away from noisy spaces, and enjoy quiet time each day.

Make Hearing Part of Your Health Checkups

Many people get regular eye or dental checks but skip hearing tests. Your ears deserve the same attention.

Get your hearing checked at least once a year, especially if you’re over 50 or work in noisy environments. Even younger adults can experience hearing loss from noise, illness, or medication side effects.

Some signs to watch for: turning up the volume more than others prefer, asking people to repeat things often, or struggling to follow conversations with background noise.

If you notice any of these, book a test with an audiologist. Early treatment can reduce the risk of further loss.

In cases where hearing support is needed, consider solutions like hearing aids or assistive listening devices. These tools can improve clarity, especially in group settings or public places.

Keep Your Ears Clean and Healthy

Avoid cleaning your ears with cotton buds. They can push wax deeper and damage the ear canal. Instead, clean the outer ear with a damp cloth.

If you feel blocked or experience discomfort, see a professional. Impacted earwax is common and easy to treat safely.

Let your ears dry after swimming or bathing. Moisture in the ear can lead to infections, which may affect your hearing over time.

Stay aware of your hearing after illness. Conditions like ear infections, flu, or even COVID-19 can cause temporary or permanent changes in hearing. Don’t wait to get checked if something feels different.

Support Hearing With a Healthy Lifestyle

What you eat and how you move can affect your hearing.

Exercise improves circulation, including blood flow to the inner ear. Even walking for 30 minutes a few times a week helps.

A diet rich in vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and omega-3s supports overall health and may slow age-related hearing decline. Some studies suggest antioxidants like vitamins C and E also play a role.

Keep your blood pressure and blood sugar in check. Conditions like diabetes and hypertension can damage the delicate structures in your ears.

Avoid smoking. It reduces oxygen in the bloodstream and increases the risk of hearing loss.

Taking care of your body helps protect your hearing too.

Pay Attention to Early Changes

Most people delay action because hearing loss feels minor at first. But early changes matter.

Do you often ask others to repeat themselves? Do you feel tired after conversations? These can be early signs that your ears are working harder than they should.

Modern hearing support options are better than ever. Some are invisible or connect to your phone. Others are designed for specific situations, like lectures or group discussions.

If you’re not ready for hearing aids, start with assistive listening devices. These amplify specific sounds and can improve communication without full-time use.

Don’t wait until it affects your confidence or quality of life.

Start Small and Stay Consistent

Hearing health isn’t about making big changes all at once. It’s about building a few smart habits into your routine.

Keep volumes down. Take breaks from noisy environments. Protect your ears when needed. Check your hearing regularly. And stay alert to any signs of change.

The earlier you act, the more options you have. Hearing support isn’t one-size-fits-all. From professional tools to personal devices, help is available.

Make your hearing part of your daily self-care. The steps you take now will pay off for years to come.

Sensory Depreciation: The Life-Changing Practice of Reducing Input

 

In a world that prizes constant stimulation, silence has become a rare luxury. We spend our waking hours bathed in light, surrounded by screens, bombarded by sound. Notifications hum in our pockets. Fluorescents buzz overhead. Even rest has become noisy. But tucked beneath all that input lies an often overlooked truth: less is not just more—it’s necessary.

Via Unsplash

When Stillness Becomes a Survival Skill

Modern living rarely gives our senses a break. And yet, the human nervous system wasn’t built for this volume of signal. The constant ping of stimulation—auditory, visual, even emotional—keeps our brains in a low-grade state of alert. Over time, that adds up. Fatigue. Irritability. Insomnia. Burnout.

Sensory depreciation, at its core, is the intentional reduction of incoming sensory data. It doesn’t mean eliminating sound or light entirely, but choosing quieter, gentler inputs. It means giving the eyes less to track, the ears less to process, and the mind a brief reprieve. In doing so, we allow something remarkable to happen: our body begins to downshift. Our mind regains space to think, or not think at all.

A Designed Pause

If you’ve ever stepped into a minimalist room—a place with subdued tones, softened light, and no television humming in the background—you’ve likely felt your shoulders drop. There’s a reason interior designers talk about visual noise. Color, clutter, and contrast activate us. That’s not always bad, but it’s unsustainable in every room, every day. Consider this an argument for neutral corners. For quiet walls. For places that don’t demand your attention but gently hold it.

And then there’s sound. We don’t just hear with our ears—we process with our whole nervous system. That’s why an overactive audio environment can push some people toward exhaustion. For those dealing with conditions like tinnitus or even subtle auditory sensitivities, reducing background noise can feel like balm. One hearing aid center recently introduced low-stimulation soundscapes for clients as part of their tinnitus relief program—not to add sound, but to guide the brain toward softer perception. The results? Calmer minds. Longer attention spans. A sense of relief not often found in modern acoustics.

The Echo That Lingers

It’s easy to underestimate the residue that overstimulation leaves behind. Long after a chaotic commute or an afternoon under fluorescent glare, the body continues to carry the tension. Shoulders stay high. Breaths remain shallow. The nervous system, trained to anticipate the next alert, doesn’t simply unwind when the noise stops. That’s why intentional sensory reduction isn’t just a passing break—it’s a reset. When we dim the lights, soften the visuals, and mute the background hum, we’re not just creating quiet—we’re restoring balance. These quieter moments act like a buffer, catching the echo before it becomes chronic. And in that stillness, healing has a chance to begin.

The Gift of Less

Reducing sensory input isn’t about withdrawal. It’s about becoming more selective. A walk without headphones. A dinner table without overhead LEDs. A bedroom where no blue light flickers in the corner. These small shifts train the body to enter rest mode more easily. They support deeper sleep, clearer focus, and a richer relationship with one’s own thoughts.

Design, at its best, supports well-being. Sensory depreciation invites us to consider not what we can add to our environment, but what we might quietly remove. The goal isn’t emptiness—it’s intention.

Sometimes, the most powerful design choice isn’t a new feature or color. It’s space. It’s hush. It’s the simple act of turning down the volume, so you can finally hear yourself again.

Burn out-2 months in

Two months ago, I fell apart in my doctor's office and with her encouragement I agreed. 

I made one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make—

I stepped back.

I didn’t step back because I wanted to. I stepped back because I had to.

I had been running on empty for too long, pouring from a cup that had been dry for months. What I thought was just being “tired” or “overwhelmed” turned out to be something deeper—burnout. The kind that doesn’t just affect your work, but your heart, your mind, and your soul.

At first, rest didn’t feel like rest. It felt like guilt. Like failure. Like I was letting everyone down. My days felt strange without a long to-do list and the constant buzz of busyness. I didn’t know who I was without the hustle.

But slowly, something began to shift.

I started noticing the quiet things—the way the morning light poured through my window, the sound of my own breathing when I slowed down, the joy of doing something just because it made me smile. I began to realize that my worth was never meant to be measured by how much I accomplish in a day, or what people thought of me by but by the simple truth that I exist.

Some days are still hard. I’m not “fully recovered,” and I’ve stopped chasing the idea of going back to who I was before. Instead, I’m learning to build a gentler, kinder life—one where rest isn’t a reward I earn, but a rhythm I live by.

If you’re in that place of exhaustion, please hear me:

It’s okay to step away. It’s okay to say “not right now.” It’s okay to choose rest over running yourself into the ground.

You are not behind.

You are not weak.

You are simply human—and you are allowed to take the time you need to come back to yourself.

One day, you’ll feel the sun on your face again and realize that while burnout changed you, it also gave you a chance to rebuild into someone even stronger, softer, and more whole. 💛

everything feels borrowed lately everything felt borrowed lately.

the coffee cups weren’t hers, not really.

the couch had moved from one living room to another so many times it didn’t belong to anyone anymore. the walls were white, like every rental before. clean enough, but not home.

she sat at the kitchen table on a thursday.

a breeze came through the cracked window and ruffled the corner of a flyer about school pictures. beside it—an unpaid bill, a banana too brown to save, and a list she couldn’t remember writing.

her daughter was upstairs, door shut.

hubby was on the couch, half-watching sports, half-scrolling his phone.

the house was quiet in that eerie way it gets when the day’s been too long but still not over.

nothing felt settled.

they’d talked about buying. of course they had.

it comes up every few months, usually when the lease renews or someone on facebook posts a new “just got the keys!” photo.

but between her health flare-ups, his work shifts, and the ever-growing grocery bill…

how do you even begin?

they tried looking at calculators—trying to figure out if renting was really “throwing money away” or if buying would just bury them in surprise bills and stress.

she found one guide that helped break it all down—comparing things like upfront costs, monthly budgeting, and even long-term goals like equity and flexibility [source].

it was honest about how the “right” answer depends on what season of life you’re in.

and honestly? she saw both sides.

renting meant breathing room. buying meant roots.

but what good are roots if you’re too anxious to rest?

she wasn’t afraid of commitment—just exhausted by it.

every decision lately felt like it came with a million tiny strings.

mortgage means savings.

savings means cutting back.

cutting back means less for the kiddo’s birthday, fewer takeout nights when she’s too tired to cook, maybe even skipping their weekend drives. the ones that keep them sane.

and what if they bought and still didn’t feel settled?

she used to dream about paint colors, about having a porch swing, about planting tulips in a yard they actually owned…

but lately?

lately, all she wanted was a week without appointments.

without chasing pills and energy and someone else’s expectations.

renting wasn’t ideal. but it let them breathe.

no roof repairs. no lawn drama. no six-figure what-ifs.

still… she noticed the way her daughter hesitated to put posters on the wall.

like maybe she’d have to take them down soon.

and that hurt more than she could say.

even the joy felt temporary.

borrowed.

like it came with a due date.

people don’t talk about this part.

how a home isn’t just a place to sleep—it’s where your identity sits.

where your memories live.

and when that place doesn’t feel fully yours… neither do you.

but here’s what she held onto:

the way her daughter still crawled into bed some mornings, all elbows and blanket.

the way hubby made grilled cheese just the way she liked it—burnt edges and all.

the smell of cinnamon buns in the oven, even if the oven belonged to someone else.

she started noticing that joy didn’t always have to be earned or owned—it could be borrowed.

some days, just seeing someone else smile... hearing a friend talk about good news... it lifted the edge off her own heavy day.

and that’s a real thing—borrowing joy.

she’d read something once that explained it better than she ever could… how sharing in someone else’s good moment could soften your own hard one [source].

so maybe the couch wasn’t hers.

maybe the house wasn’t either.

but the laughter? the tiny, borrowed bits of peace? the inside jokes that made no sense to anyone else?

those were hers.

and for now… that was enough.

The Testament — A Bold Reimagining of the Book of Acts

If you're looking for a fresh, emotionally gripping, and visually striking take on the early church, The Testament is a must-watch. Now streaming exclusively on Angel.com and the Angel App, this animated series is available to all Angel Guild members — and it's already creating powerful conversations among viewers of faith.

Set in an alternate-modern world, The Testament reimagines the explosive events of the Book of Acts in a way that feels eerily relevant to our time. It’s not just biblical history retold — it’s a revolutionary interpretation that fuses ancient truths with contemporary struggles. From the very first episode, the resurrection sparks a wave of radical hope, igniting a movement that shakes a broken world to its core.

The story follows the early followers of Jesus as they risk everything to preach the good news — not in sandals and robes, but in a gritty, modernized world under the thumb of an oppressive Imperium regime. It's a world that mirrors our own: power-hungry institutions, social unrest, and a desperate need for something real. As the Temple leaders scramble to suppress the truth before the Imperium cracks down, secrets begin to surface, loyalties shift, and the stakes rise higher with every scene.

But this isn’t just about thrilling plot twists. #TestamentMIN goes deep, challenging viewers to ask themselves: What does it truly mean to follow Jesus today? What are we willing to risk? Are we prepared to be bold in our faith even when it costs us everything?

The modern setting is a brilliant choice — it strips away the historical distance that often dulls the impact of Scripture. Instead, it brings the apostles and their struggles into our world, making them people we can relate to. You’ll find yourself connecting to their fear, their doubts, and their fire. And in doing so, you may just find your own faith stirred in new ways.

With this live action series, powerful storytelling, and a message that resonates deeply in today’s world, The Testament is more than entertainment — it’s a spiritual wake-up call.

🔗 Watch now at Angel.com or on the Angel App — available to all Angel Guild members.

Whether you’ve read the Book of Acts a hundred times or never opened a Bible, this series will move you. Don’t miss it.

GIVEAWAY: 
Do you enjoy Christian movies? I will pick a winner for $10 Amazon gift card if you leave me a comment. ❤

Disclosure: Many thanks to Angel  and #MomentumInfluencerNetwork for providing a one month Angel Guild membership for  this review. Opinions are 100% my own.