Don't fall in to the winter blues #VitaminD can help you too #cbias

Fall is here and with it comes windy, rainy, gray skies. Some days I feel just like that tree in the center of the picture, like I'm being blown over by the clouds.  One thing that has helped battle the fall/ winter dull drums is vitamin D. In Oregon we spend most of the fall and winter surrounded by gloomy weather so we don't get our daily dose of vitamin D from the sun.  Although the sun provides the majority of our vitamin during the fall and winter it is almost impossible to get the daily dose so a supplement is a way to go.



Thankfully I can get a good source of vitamin D in Nature Made Liquid Softgels.  For most adults a daily recommended dose of Vitamin D is 1000 i.u. but for those that have issues with seasonal gray days (that is what I call it) 2000 i.u is a good recommendation.  This has become my daily dose especially since I am on the heavier side and my body has trouble absorbing the vitamin D I get from the sun.  I also don't drink a lot of milk so I don't get it that way either.  Over the years I have read several articles that hint to Vitamin D helping with cardio vascular health as well so adding vitamin D to my regiment is a major priority for me.

For convenience I tend to shop at Walmart here in McMinnville. and was very happy to find the Nature Made Liquid Softgels Vitamin D 2000 i.u. bottles on the shelf and reasonably prices.  I got a bottle with 250 liquid softgels for $12.88  which ends up being  about $.08 per pill.

top pill = Costco brand bottom = NatureMade

  I did a side by side comparison on the ones my husband gets from Costco and found you can't tell the difference. Since Costco isn't as convenient for me and I can't seem to get out of Costco for less than $250 the price comparison doesn't seem that important.



Check out this informational video about Vitamin D Deficiency and let me know what you think.  I want people to learn all they can so they can be more involved in their own health.



Feel free to check out the rest of our journey to health with the photo story over on our Google + page

Nature Made Vitamin D Shop

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All experiences and opinions belong to the author.

The author of this article is not a medical professional and is only sharing experiences , you should seek the advice of your own medical professional before changing or adding supplements to your regiment.

End of the Season campfire fun **beer** #Cbias

So what to do when you find the beer fridge empty but have an evening of clear weather ahead?
Head to the mini mart of course!
This time since we were going to be in town we decided after the wedding we were going to , we would head over to 7-11.
We use to shop at 7-11 when we lived in the Hillsboro area, but since moving to Yamhill County, it wasn't as convenient (the closest  store is 14 miles away).  I love the Slurpee machines and decided this would be a fun treat for the boys as well as a chance to pick up a couple of things for an evening campfire with friends.

We attended a beautiful wedding honoring 2 very special young people. The boys had fun hanging out at the reception with all their friends and being a little more social than normal. Usually this group of little guys are all together in their homeschool co-op so they know each other but don't hang out as much outside of co-op.




The boys enjoyed cupcakes and a little dancing, but tend to get a little antsy so we didn't stay as long as we would have liked.

Off we went to pick up some beer and chips at the 7-11 

We were surprised to find a pretty good variety of Beer as well as a fairly large selection of chips.




The boys picked out a bag of chips and then we let them get a Slurpee for on the way home.

Keeping in mind the amount of sugar the just consumed (cupcake and Slurpee) I knew it was going to be an interesting evening.

Once we got home I had them change into play clothes and Cameron went down to get his friends for the gathering.

We had campfire with snack foods to start (mini chimis and little chicken sausages in a italian breading but like a corn dog.)

The weather was perfect, not too cool and not raining.
The kids rode bikes through the yard to use up some of their crazy energy while I got the rest of the evening goodies out.


Finally time for campfire!

(I still haven't mastered campfire photos with the new camera... hoping I have a couple more chances before the weather gets too yucky)

Marshmallows and hotdogs for 4 kids and 3 adults.

The kids enjoyed a couple of bottles of Clear American while the adults enjoyed the beer. We had settled on Coors Light since the prices at 7-11 were more expensive then we usually spend.

Overall the evening was a nice treat of friends, campfire and laughs.  I really hope we get more oppotunities this fall. Something about fall campfires are so much fun! Besides they are a lot cozier than summer campfires. I love having a campfire and snuggling with the boys...

I will leave you with one last photo!

 A Cat and her boy!

If you would like to see the whole adventure check out this Google+ photostory.



This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias All opions are my own.