text:
I love scrubs, and the exfoilation benefits they provide. Store bought ones however can be a bit pricey and loaded with chemicals. Here's my natural recipe for personal and gift use:
You will need:
- Sugar (brown or white)
- Vanilla extract
- Almond Oil
- Ground almond shells (optional)
- Honey Almond scent (purchased in the soap making aisle at any craft store)
- Food color
- Jar with lid
Most recipes online call for mixing the sugar and oils in a jar. I find that by doing this you get a "gloppy" mixture which isn't a pretty experience to use. I mix my scrubs in a metal mixing bowl with a wooden spoon.
First add the sugar (and ground shells – optional) with a few drops of vanilla. Next add a bit of oil and mix. Do not over-pour. You will notice the sugar becoming lumpy in appearance. Continue to add oil, and mix until you get a dry yet smooth appearance. This may take 3 to 4 times however it prevents you from having a gloppy and runny mix. When you achieve the smoothness you want, add one drop of food coloring. Mix the sugar until the mix is a solid color. Mix in honey almond scent and store in lidded jars.
As this recipe does not contain preservatives, please use caution. Do not keep the mix past 2 weeks, and scoop out what you wish to use. I store mine in the fridge for freshness. Remember natural homemade scrubs will eventually spoil.


text:
ESPN reporter Samantha Steele is dating Vikings QB Christian Ponder. Is she to blame for his struggles? / Kevin Jairaj, US Presswire
It was just two weeks ago that Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder was on top of the world, bragging about his relationship with ESPN college football reporter Samantha Steele. Now Ponder is being asked whether she is the reason why he's been slumping lately.
We're really talking about this? (We're really talking this.)
Here is Ponder's response, via YardBarker.com, when the topic was broached in an interview on KFAN-AM: "She has nothing to do with it. We've been dating since the beginning of the season, so she had also to do with the five wins. So it has really nothing to do with anything on the football field."
In the three games since Ponder confirmed the relationship between the two Florida State alums, he has completed just 51% of his passes and thrown just two touchdowns to four interceptions. So clearly things haven't been going his way.
But, c'mon, somehow Steele is to blame? Why even ask the question? Because she's a marginal celebrity?
Get out of here with that nonsense.
Philip Rivers was once a great quarterback but has been struggling for the past year and a half. Has anybody thought to ask if everything is OK with his non-celebrity wife?
Thanks to Yahoo! Sports for alerting us to Ponder's comment.
Copyright 2015
Read the original story: Vikings QB Christian Ponder: Relationship with ESPN reporter isn't why I'm struggling

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Miley looks to cool down red-hot Braves in finale
Righty let lead slip away late in last start; Atlanta sends out Wood
In a matter of an inning in his last start, D-backs left-hander Wade Miley went from working on his first career shutout to watching his team's lead -- and the game -- slip away.
Miley was dominant against the Pirates on Tuesday, two-hitting Pittsburgh through eight innings. He then allowed hits to the first two batters he faced in the ninth and watched them come around to score against closer Addison Reed, tying the game at 2.
The Pirates would seal a 3-2 win on an Ike Davis walk-off single.
"Obviously, in the moment, it's frustrating when it happened, but you've got to take the positives out of that -- the eight innings," said Miley, who finished the game allowing four hits, two runs and striking out 10 in eight innings. "You can't learn a whole lot from the two batters in the ninth.
"Take the eight and just kind of roll with that."
Miley has been looking to get on a roll all season. He's 3-6 with a 4.61 ERA this year as he tries to find consistency from start to start.
"I'm trying to get on a little consistent run. I've been back and forth all year," he said. "One outing good, one outing bad, just struggling a little bit. I'm just trying to find some consistency and move forward."
It might be tough to do that against the Braves, however, who enter Sunday's game on a nine-game winning streak.
"They're hot right now," Miley said. "They've got a good squad over there. You've just got to go out and compete and make pitches; establish the fastball and go from there."
Miley will go up against left-hander Alex Wood, whose last start was in some ways the opposite of Miley's. Wood struggled early, as he and catcher Christian Bethancourt miscommunicated in the game's first few innings.
But after allowing a run in each of his first three innings, Wood threw another scoreless three, giving his team a quality start.
"I picked up my tempo a little bit," said Wood, who is 6-6 with a 3.19 ERA on the season. "After the first three, I started working a little faster and going at them a little more [aggressively]. We just got together and got on the same page."
Braves: Upton providing spark at leadoff
B.J. Upton has found a home at the leadoff spot of the Braves' batting order, and he's unlikely to leave that spot anytime soon.
Upton owns an 11-game hitting streak, dating back to the first game he played at the top of the order on June 23.
"Hopefully, I'll keep coming," Upton said. "Whether it's drawing a walk or getting a hit, my job is to get on base for the guys behind me. That's the way it's been working for the last week or so."
Manager Fredi Gonzalez is glad to see things coming together for his center fielder.
"Earlier in the year, [Upton] was hitting the ball as hard as I've ever seen him hit a ball and not getting anything for it," Gonzalez said. "Now, he's getting some of those balls to fall in, which is a nice thing to see."
D-backs: De La Rosa called up to bolster 'pen
With left-hander Joe Thatcher sent to the Angels in a four-player deal, the D-backs called up southpaw Eury De La Rosa from Triple-A Reno on Saturday.
De La Rosa found himself in the game on the same day, throwing two innings and allowing a run in the D-backs' 10-4 loss to the Braves.
De La Rosa made 19 appearances out of Arizona's bullpen in 2013, giving up five home runs and compiling a 7.36 ERA in 14 2/3 innings. He owns a 2.52 ERA and has struck out 36 batters in 39 1/3 innings of relief for the Aces this season.
"He's got good stuff. He can get guys out -- lefties and righties," Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said.
Worth noting:
• Miley is 0-2 with a 7.64 ERA against the Braves in four career games (three starts).
• The Braves could move starter Julio Teheran up one day -- from Tuesday to Monday -- in order to give him the chance to pitch in the All-Star Game should he be selected.
Michael Lananna is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.