The Del Mar Ward - A Legacy of Sisterhood!

To celebrate the founding of the Relief Society, the Del Mar Ward Relief Society recently made 100 chemotherapy turbans for cancer patients. During this activity, sisters worked side-by-side, for the common goal of completing a wonderful service project. These activities typify what the Relief Society can do best...organizing and gathering together to help and serve others.

The following videos touchingly portray, honor, and spotlight Latter-day Saint women:

http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng#courage

http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng#daughters-of-god

http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng#the-women-in-our-lives

From the inspirational words of Julie B. Beck, October 2011 General Conference:
Every day, Relief Society sisters around the world experience the entire range of mortal challenges and experiences. Women and their families today live face to face with unrealized expectations; mental, physical, and spiritual illness; accidents; and death. Some sisters suffer loneliness and disappointment because they do not have families of their own, and others suffer from the consequences of poor choices made by family members. Some have experienced war or hunger or natural disasters, and others are learning about the strain of addictions, unemployment, or insufficient education and training. All of these difficulties have the potential to bleach the bones of faith and exhaust the strength of individuals and families. One of the Lord’s purposes in organizing the sisters into a discipleship was to provide relief that would lift them above “all that hinders the joy and progress of woman.”¹⁶ In every ward and branch, there is a Relief Society with sisters who can seek and receive revelation and counsel with priesthood leaders to strengthen each other and work on solutions that are applicable in their own homes and communities.

I hope my granddaughters will understand that through Relief Society, their discipleship is extended and they can become engaged with others in the kind of impressive and heroic work the Savior has done. The kind of work the sisters of this Church are asked to do in our day has never been too modest in scope or inconsequential to the Lord. Through their faithfulness, they can feel His approval and be blessed with the companionship of His Spirit.

My granddaughters should also know that the sisterhood of Relief Society can provide a place of safety, refuge, and protection.¹⁷ As our times become ever more difficult, the faithful sisters of Relief Society will unite to protect the homes of Zion from the shrill voices of the world and the predatory and provocative influence of the adversary. And through Relief Society, they will be taught and strengthened and taught and strengthened more, and the influence of righteous women can bless many more of our Father’s children.

Heart Health

The statistics are always alarming...more women will die of heart disease than all forms of cancer combined! Education and prevention can save lives!

The following information is found in the "Healthy Heart Handbook for Women", and is published by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. The complete handbook can be found here: 

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/educational/hearttruth/downloads/pdf/handbook-for-women.pdf

Some excerpts from the handbook:

When you hear the term “heart disease,” what is your first reaction? Like many women, you may think, “That’s a man’s disease” or “Not my problem.” But here is The Heart Truth: Heart disease is the #1 killer of women in the United States. Most women don’t know this. But it is vital that you know it—and know what it means for you.
Some surprising facts:

• One in 4 women in the United States dies of heart disease, while 1 in 30 dies of breast cancer.
  
• Twenty-three percent of women will die within 1 year after having a heart attack.
  
• Within 6 years of having a heart attack, about 46 percent of women become disabled with heart failure. Two-thirds of women who have a heart attack fail to make a full recovery.
  The fact is, if you’ve got a heart, heart disease could be your problem. Fortunately, it’s a problem you can do something about. This handbook will help you find out your own risk of heart disease and take steps to prevent and control it.
  For women in midlife, taking action is particularly important. Once a woman reaches menopause, her risks of heart disease and heart attack jump dramatically. One in eight women between the ages of 45 and 64 has some form of heart disease, and this increases to one in four women over 65.
  

One in 4 women in the United States dies of heart disease, while 1 in 30 dies of breast cancer.
You still may be thinking, “But this isn’t about me. I don’t have heart disease.” But you may have conditions or habits that can lead to heart disease, such as being overweight, smoking cigarettes, or not engaging in enough physical activity. You may already know about these and other “risk factors” for heart disease. You may know which ones you personally have.
What you may not know, though, is that if you have even one risk factor, you are much more likely to develop heart disease, with its many serious consequences. A damaged heart can damage your life by interfering with enjoyable activities and even your ability to do simple things, such as taking a walk or climbing steps.
But now here’s the good news: You have tremendous power to prevent heart disease—and you can start today. By learning about your own personal risk factors and by making healthful changes in your diet, physical activity, and other daily habits, you can greatly reduce your risk of developing heart-related problems. Even if you already have heart disease, you can take steps to lessen its severity.
Talk with your physician to get more answers. Start taking action today to protect your heart. As one woman doctor put it, “Heart disease is a ‘now’ problem. Later may be too late.”

Ask your doctor to give you the following tests. Each one will give you valuable information about your heart disease risk:

Lipoprotein Profile
What: A blood test that measures total cholesterol, HDL or “good” cholesterol, LDL or “bad” cholesterol, and triglycerides, another form of fat in the blood. The test is given after a 9- to 12-hour fast.
Why: To find out if you have any of the following: high blood cholesterol (high total and LDL cholesterol), low HDL cholesterol, or high triglyceride levels. All affect your risk for heart disease.
When: All healthy adults should have their blood cholesterol levels checked at least once every 5 years. Depending on the results, your doctor may want to repeat the test more frequently.

Blood Pressure
What: A simple, painless test using an inflatable cuff on the arm.
Why: To find out if you have high blood pressure (also called hypertension) or prehypertension. Both are risk factors for heart disease.
When: At least every 2 years, or more often if you have high blood pressure or prehypertension.

Fasting Plasma Glucose
What: The preferred test for diagnosing diabetes. After you have fasted overnight, you will get a blood test the following morning.
Why: To find out if you have diabetes or are likely to develop the disease. Fasting plasma glucose levels of more than 126 mg/dL on two tests on different days mean that you have diabetes. Levels between 100 and 125 mg/dL mean you have an increased risk for diabetes and may have prediabetes. Diabetes is an important risk factor for heart disease and other medical disorders.
When: At least every 3 years, beginning at age 45. If you have risk factors for diabetes, you should be tested at a younger age and more often.

Body Mass Index (BMI) and Waist Circumference
What: BMI is a measure of your weight in relation to your height. Waist circumference is a measure of the fat around your middle.
Why: To find out whether your body type raises your risk of heart disease. A BMI of 25 or higher means you are overweight. A BMI of 30 or higher means you are obese. Both overweight and obesity are risk factors for heart disease. For women, a waist measurement of more than 35 inches increases the risk of heart disease and other serious health conditions.
When: Every 2 years, or more often if your doctor recommends it.

Other Tests
There also are several tests that can determine whether you already have heart disease. Ask your doctor whether you need a stress test, an electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG), or another diagnostic test. 

Stroke: Know the Warning Signs

Stroke is a medical emergency. If you or someone you know has a stroke, it is important to recognize the symptoms so you can get to a hospital quickly. Getting treatment within 60 minutes can prevent disability. The chief warning signs of a stroke are:

• Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm, or leg (especially on one side of the body).
  
• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking, or understanding speech.
  
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
  
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, or loss of balance or coordination.
  
• Sudden severe headache with no known cause.
  If you think someone might be having a stroke, dial 9–1–1 immediately. Also, be sure that family members and others close to you know the warning signs of a stroke. Give them a copy of this list. Ask them to call 9–1–1 right away if you or someone else shows any signs of a stroke. 
  
  

Chipotle Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Total time: 20 minutes.

Not a fan of finger food? Arrange the lettuce on four plates, top with the chicken, and garnish with the scallions and chips.

lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast

1¼

Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil

1

cloves garlic, minced

5

chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (more to taste), minced

½

cup orange juice

1

tsp. kosher salt

¾

Boston (or Bibb) lettuce leaves

16

oz. tortilla chips, broken up

4

scallions, sliced

3

In a large non-stick pan, sauté the chicken in the oil until browned on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. The chicken will not be fully cooked, so remove it to a dedicated cutting board.

Add the garlic and chipotle to the pan and sauté for 30 seconds, then stir in the orange juice and salt. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.

Cut the chicken across the width into ½" slices and return them to the pan. Toss to coat with the sauce and cook through, 2-3 minutes. Stack the lettuce leaves on a plate. Serve the chicken, scallions, and chips in bowls. To assemble, spoon a small amount of the chicken, scallions, and chips into a leaf of lettuce and wrap.

Serves 4.

PER SERVING

Calories: 400
Total Fat: 18 g
Sat Fat: 2.5 g
Protein: 32 g
Carbohydrates: 27 g
Fiber: 3 g
Cholesterol: 80 mg
Sodium: 460 mg

Black Bean Fiesta

Total Time: 25 minutes

Queso fresco is a fresh white cheese that should be available in most supermarkets. If you can't find it, you can use feta. For extra zing, add a few drops of hot sauce at the table.

white onion, diced, divided

1

pint cherry tomatoes, chopped

½

cup crumbled queso fresco

¾

cup fresh corn kernels

1

Tbs. lime juice

3

red bell pepper, diced

1

Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil

1

15 oz. cans no-salt-added black beans, drained and rinsed

2

tsp. kosher salt

¾

oz. tortilla chips

4

lime, cut into wedges

1

In a large bowl, toss together half the onion with the tomato, cheese, corn, and lime juice. Set aside.

In a large skillet, sauté the remaining onion and the bell pepper in the oil until lightly browned, 2-3 minutes. Stir in the beans and sauté for another minute.

Add the contents of the skillet to the large bowl, mix all the ingredients together, and season with salt. Serve with chips and lime wedges.

Serves 4.

PER SERVING

Calories: 440
Total Fat: 15 g
Sat Fat: 3.5 g
Protein: 20 g
Carbohydrates: 59 g
Fiber: 14 g
Cholesterol: 15 mg
Sodium: 460 mg

Organize It!

There are many challenges to not only organizing the paper that comes into our homes every day, but the email we should answer, keep, and review...what to do with it all? From bills, to your child's artwork, to magazines, email and junk mail, it can be overwhelming to try to figure out what to keep and what to save!

PAPER ORGANIZATION
Fortunately, there are many tried and true methods for keeping track and/or getting rid of all that paper. Here are some tips to help you get started with a daily routine that will streamline and make your paper management more efficient:

1.  Mail - We all get it, sometimes mounds of it, every day. The first step in dealing with the sheer volume of paper that comes through the mail is to just stand next to the trash can (or recycle bin) and dump, right then and there, all of the mail you know you won't need to keep. Getting rid of it right away reduces the physical pile and helps you to manage what you know you need to read/review/keep.

Separate the bills and set them aside. This is typically your most important mail, as you don't want to neglect a bill or let a payment date slide. It would be most helpful to have a place reserved for your bills - an inbox or container, or even a spot in your desk where you know they are. NOT FUN: looking for a bill you know you have to pay and you have no idea where it is. BEST BET: Pay as many bills as you can online, through auto pay features that many utilities and companies offer. You don't even have to worry about the due date, since the autopayment feature does it automatically for you.  For bills that you want to have flexibility in paying, try using your bank's online bill payment feature and manage your payments through that.

Make a stack of magazines, news flyers, catalogs and/or coupon mailers, AND GO THROUGH IT AS SOON AS YOU CAN. Having these things pile up around the house just adds to clutter and that overwhelming feeling that you will never get through it all! Instead of keeping magazines for months, throw away any magazine that isn't the current month's. Go through your magazines at least once a month and cut out any interesting articles, decorating ideas, travel ideas, etc. and save them to specific notebooks. You can have a travel notebook, gardening notebook, decorating notebook, FHE ideas notebook, recipe notebook, whatever you like! Put the articles into plastic sleeve protectors and you have instant references and favorite ideas all in one place. These can be a great resource and it's all organized and categorized. Martha Stewart for Staples makes a great line of reference notebooks with labels. You can also get cute notebooks from Target or Wal-Mart and make your own labels. FUN!!

2.  Childrens' artwork/schoolwork - This is where is can get a little emotional. We want to keep everything, but we know we can't. So, how to choose? Here are some suggestions from Better Homes and Gardens (January, 2013):
Label It: Take 30 seconds every day to look at the work your child brings home and mark the date (and name if you have more than one child). Try to decide then and there whether it is worth keeping - quizzes, routine homework, and the like will add to your paper clutter stack if you try to keep it all.  Save special projects, artwork, writings and stories, and maybe an especially triumphant test.
Designate a Space: Find a place for intermediate storage - up to 12 months. Baskets or large plastic containers (one per child) stowed on a closet shelf work as holding tanks until you can permanently store.
Do an Annual Review: Designate a time, such as the end of the school year or calendar year, to deal with what has accumulated. When you look at a year's worth of paper, it becomes clear what you want to save and what you can let go of.

3.  Miscellaneous paper - Receipts for large/expensive items, tax information, medical records, investment information, warranties, etc. should be saved and kept where you can get your hands on them if and when you need to. For these kinds of paper needs a filing system is optimal. Whether it be in a filing cabinet or file boxes, or accordion-style paper keepers, an organized system for keeping track of important records is essential. File any such papers and documents as soon as you can so that you can access it when you need to (especially handy for when tax time comes around).

4.  Receipts - Save your receipts! If you need to return an item, it's great to have that receipt accessible. Keeping them in an envelope, plastic baggie (quart size storage bags are awesome for this) or in a little stack in your desk is a whole lot easier to manage than wracking your brain to guess where it is (or if it exists at all).

5.  Flyers, dry cleaning tickets, business cards - School play? Relief Society activity you don't want to miss? Dry cleaning to pick up? The name and phone number of the handyman your neighbor recommended? Use a bulletin board! You can put one up on the back of a door - especially if it's not too big - using 3M picture hangers...no need for a nail! You can also find smaller pieces of cork board and attach them to the inside of a cabinet (again, the 3M picture hangers are great for this) and you have your needed info close by and at the ready!

EMAIL ORGANIZATION
I once caught a glimpse of a friend's email Inbox...over 1,500 messages! Yikes! It can be difficult to address issues, respond to requests, or follow up on email store offerings, if your inbox is crammed full to the gills.
Here are some ideas for keeping your Inbox organized and clutter-free:
1.  Sort all email into folders - e.g., "Things to do", "Travel Plans", "Friends and Family", "Church", etc.
2.  Respond to requests right away, and if you need more time, just leave it in your Inbox until you can get to it. For most of us, 10-20 Inbox messages at any given time should be sufficient. I like to keep shipping notifications in my Inbox until the item is delivered, then I delete the message.
3.  Use your email's "Search" feature - if you absolutely need to find a message and can't seem to find it, try using the Search feature. Some people manage their entire email using this system.

Do you have any organizing ideas you'd like to share? We'd love to hear them!

Here is a link to a system you might like to try:
http://delightfulorder.blogspot.com/2013/01/january-challenge-organizing-papers.html?m=1

And another great idea:
http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/organizing/record-keeping/systems-managing-your-mail-10000001019739/page2.html

Take a look at these darling, creative and inspirational ideas: