get green things

My new blog!

2007-12-07T13:21:00.000-08:00

Well, as some of my faithful readers may know, I am doing a new Yoga blog as a school project. Sadly, that leaves me a little less time to write here so I figure you guys could go there too and help me out with witty comments and thought provoking questions. So while I am putting my efforts there please feel free to visit me there for the time being!

http://yogisamantha.wordpress.com/

The Zoo and just being with me!

2007-12-05T05:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I had such a wonderful day and I was all by myself! I went to the zoo and took pictures of the animals (no kids to say "Can we go now?") and then shopped in the downtown area of Tempe. I found a little Genasha statue! I put it in the career area of my home to remove obsticals from me and my husbands career paths (I practice Feng Shui). I also found some prayer beads made from bone. Usually I wouldn't get anything made of bone but I felt that in all actuality since I I was drawn to these red beads that were made in India that I would honor that animal. My first prayer is for it and all animals. Maybe I am justifying this. I even ate lunch all by myself. I am reading the book Eat Pray Love and felt empowered yesterday to go for the pleasure of things. BTW, I do recommend that book very highly.
I have also been working very hard on my Yoga blog lately. I am almost ready to share it with everyone. Can you tell what this is a picture is of?

102 post, plus where have I been?

2007-12-01T07:30:00.000-08:00

Wow, I have really neglected this blog! Just noticed that this post will be my 102 post! That is so awesome! I am proud. Interestingly enough I will probably have a little more time over this holiday season to keep this blog up. I don't want to loose it that is for sure.
November was great fun. My in laws came out to visit. I found out that there is a Tumbleweed tree in my city's downtown square! Not only is it lit every year on December 1st, they have been doing this for 50+years! I didn't even know this! How could I nor know something like that! Well, I plan on going to see it all lit up in its magical glory. One thing that is a little ironic is that here in Arizona it was popular for a few years to get a tumbleweed and decorate them as the family Christmas tree. Needless to say, the area fire departments were not happy about it! So my guess is that the city must treat this tumbleweed tree with fire retardants.
I hope that your Thanksgiving was great and I hope the Holiday Season is a happy one for you and your family!

Wow! I am so busy!

2007-11-03T22:06:00.001-07:00

Hey all! You wouldn't believe it if I told you but life is sure busy these days. Sadly it is only going to get busier too. Between all the writing that I have been doing and the fact that I plan on starting a blog about all things Yoga for my independent project I am going to have even less time for my little blog. Sadly it is always the first to be neglected. When I have some good stuff on my Yoga blog I will post a link here so that you all can check it out and help me with all of your fabulous input. I will try to post at least a short post every so often. I love my little blog and I do not really want to lose it!

Insight on eating.

2007-10-19T08:30:00.000-07:00

I probably should have just posted this on my nutrition blog but I think like three more people than that read this one and I wanted other people to actually read this and tell me what they thought.

In my last yoga class my teacher made the theme non hoarding. Well I often relate themes to the way I eat because I am a weight crazed American that never can be too thin so I had this thought about hoarding-

Eating too much food is even more wasteful than throwing it in the trash. This is because when you throw it in the trash no more of your energy is wasted on the food. Otherwise we have to put time, thoughts and even money into wasting the excess energy that we put in our body (aka the diet industry!). Now that is truly a waste right!?

Did you ever notice that when you read a so called "break though" weight loss headline it either says "Eat as much as you like and lose weight" or "Eat whatever you like and lose weight" but never says "Eat as much as you like and whatever you like to lose weight"?

Essentially if you like to eat a lot of food- eat lots of fruits and vegetables. If you like to eat your favorite food- watch your portions.

This little story is from one of my Yoga Teacher Trainer reading assignments.
There was once a spiritual student standing silently at the edge of a group of students who had gathered from the surrounding countryside. Each student in the group was bragging of the miracles that their master could perform: "My master can balance on one fingertip and lift his whole body in the air," said one enthusiastic speaker. "Well mine can stand on one side of a river and write something in the air and have that symbol appear on rice paper on the other side of the river," said another. The comparisons went on until finally the small group turned to the silent student standing behind them. "And what can your master do?" they asked. The quiet student stepped a bit closer and in a soft voice said the following:
"My Master can drink when he's thirsty, eat when he's hungry and sleep when he is tired."

It can take a lifetime to master that!! Wow!

Stephen Won The Tour De Scottsdale

2007-10-14T21:19:00.000-07:00

I lied. He didn't exactly win but he did do it and he finished it! 70 miles! I am so proud of him! He decided that he wanted to do it and he recruited someone from the gym to go with him. He signed up and was even going to do it alone. Funny thing, he complained that they were hand out junky food at the race. He wanted stuff like fruit or something and this was his quote mind you, he said "all they had were Oreos and that is not good, right?" Holy shmoly! I am completely shocked! He got a shirt and a very cool medal. If you ever thought that someone you know will never want to eat healthy remember that my husband at one time thought chicken nuggets were health food because they were *chicken*. He once thought the perfect diet consisted of beef and cookies. Now he has said he notices a difference in his skin when eats better. He feels better when he eats better. He likes how he feels when he eats healthier food! Amazing! He has come so far!
Notice the Blizzard Dairy Queen cup over the left shoulder. This is the shirt and the nifty medal that Stephen won! We did have to celebrate!

Sorry I have neglected my blog!

2007-10-11T17:53:00.000-07:00

For the three or four faithful readers, I am sorry that I have not been here to blog as often as I should be. I do have an excuse. I have been writing somewhere else! Yes, I got another writing gig at a great site called Lest Out (pronounced lay too). I am the Beauty and Style channel guide! How awesome is that. First, I didn't want to blog about it as to not jinx it, you know. Then I didn't want to send anyone there when I had nothing posted yet but now I have quite a few articles!
If there is anything that you want to know more about in the Beauty and Fashion area, I would happy to address it in my section on Lest Out.
BTW, Hawaii was awesome! I just need to take the time to move to the pictures off my camera. Here is a taste- a picture of me taken by my Photographicly gifted freind Kathy. I rarely like pictures of myself but, this one I like! Even with my frizzy wind blown hair!

Great Michealisms from the Office

2007-09-29T22:42:00.000-07:00

Ok. I am not a huge reality show watcher. Just give me a good sitcom and I am there. I absolutely LOVE The Office and My Name is Earl. This past Thursday was the season premiere to both. If you haven't seen The Office, this first part of the show will convince you how hilarious this show is.
Micheal (played by Steve Carrell), the boss on The Office says the funniest things. Just on this episode he already had some instant classic Michealisms!

You know what the Bible says about forgiveness. It says forgiveness is next to Godliness.

Do I need to be liked, absolutely not. I like to be liked. I enjoy being liked. I have to be liked. But it is not like this need, like my need to be praised.

I am not superstitious but I am a little stitious.

Ryan got promoted where he is a little fish in a big pond. While I am here in Scranton, I am still top dog in a fairly large pond. So who is the real boss? The dog or a fish?

Guess what, I have flaws. What are they? Oh I don't know, I sing in the shower, sometimes I spend too much time volunteering, occasionally I'll hit some one with my car. So sue me. well no don't sue me. That is opposite of the point I am trying to make.

Micheal is so wise!

Don't hate me because I am going to Hawaii!

2007-09-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

Yeppers! Next week I am going to Hawaii! It is kind of a last minute thing! One of my closest friends, Kathy just got herself a penthouse (not really) apartment and has room for me to stay with her. I found a cheap ticket to Hawaii on the Internet (God bless the Internet)! She lives one minute from Starbucks and two minutes from the beach! So I am excited! Sadly, I am in my so called "fat pants" right now. So I am not looking forward to slow motion "Baywatch runs" on the beach or anything. Oh well. Maybe next time. I think that I will have to get serious about eating healthy and exercising more when I get back from Hawaii!:) My resolve will at least hold until the holidays where I usually find myself in my "fat pants" after the holidays and not before. Do you think that is why they have New Years right after the fattening holidays? That way your New Years resolution won't be to vote more or to change the world. It will be "I'll lose weight and then change the world." None of want to go out and do any of that world changing stuff with out looking like Angelina Jolie, right?
Don't worry, I will take tons of pictures!!!
The picture of Angel is because I am going to miss her! I'll miss my hubby and kids too but I can talk to them on the phone. Angel doesn't know that trick yet!!!

Suing God?

2007-09-18T16:40:00.000-07:00

Apparently a Senator in Nebraska is suing God. Yep, and apparently he has a case too. It is a permanent injunction on any harmful activities and making terrorist threats. Many religious people often say that natural disasters happen because God is doling out his wrath, right? So maybe the Nebraska Senator is on to something. I mean, he really has balls of steal in my opinion but, more power to him.
Maybe at the very least God could come to court and explain things.

Personally, I think he has been wrongly accused. I really do not think God is responsible for natural disasters. I blame global warming and quite possibly Mother Nature. She can be a real bitch sometimes. I know myself that certain times of the month I can be too. I can only imagine what her cycles are like with all the junk she has been eating.

I think that the American People want........

2007-09-12T19:52:00.000-07:00

When any politician is asked a question about anything, "Mr. or Mrs. Candidate what do you think about this?" The answer inevitably starts with "I think that the American people want blah blah blah....." Then my eyes glaze over and I lose interest.
But Mr. or Mrs. Candidate we didn't ask you what you thought we wanted, we asked you what you were going to do about it. I hate this. I can hardly stand it anymore. How do we know how to vote when we really have no idea what any of the politicians stand for any more.

Ok all of you politicians, presidential candidates, and others running for some sort of office and have speech to make. This is what the American people want- and I am speaking for most of us!

Something done about health care. We know it is a mess and we want some ideas on how to clean it up.

We want a clean environment.

We want a realistic, fair solution to our open boarders and immigration issues. Most of know they are not taking our jobs and we do not want to kick them out. We just want to know who they are and who is coming in at our boarders.

We want you to figure out how to get out of Iraq. We do care about the people of Iraq, but we miss our family and friends and want them home. Hurry up already.

We want equal rights for every American. Including race, sex, AND sexual orientation. It is only fair.

We want to know what you honestly think. We want you to stick to an opinion but admit when you are wrong.

The fact is that you want the job so you must have an idea on how to fix these things. Quit telling us what you think me and my fellow Americans think. I know that you have not ever talked to me, and all I see you do is double talk everyone else so, how would you know what we think anyway.

Just quit trying to tell the American people what you think that we want to hear. The truth is that we want to hear what you really think about the issues that we want our government to work on. Is that too much to ask?

Let me ask one question, are you running for office for yourself or is it for the American people?

Three Day Food Photo Challenge Day 3

2007-09-10T06:30:00.001-07:00

If you are just getting here, this is day three of the Three day Photo Challenge on Living to Feel Good. If you are interested, scroll down to see my previous days.

Picture one is toaster waffles with a maple-vanilla yogurt sauce with bananas and strawberries. This is easy and very yummy. I cut the maple syrup with yogurt to make it less sugary and less calories. (Maple syrup 200 calories 4 tablespoons, yogurt 220 a cup)

The second picture is of one of my favorite easy lighter lunches. It is strawberries and/or peaches with a little blue cheese crumbles and poppyseed dressing. The dressing isn't low fat but, I measure it out and only use one serving. I have also cut it with a little vinegar in the past which is good but, not as good as the dressing is normally.

The last picture is Chicken Bryan at Carrabba's. It is awesome but not low fat or anything. I love Carrabba's because they have a gluten free menu. The picture is of the entire meal but I only eat half of all of that and take the rest home. Normally I would also take the veggies instead of the potatoes but the veggies weren't ones that I am a huge fan of that night so potatoes it was.

Three Day Food Photo Challenge Day 2

2007-09-10T06:18:00.001-07:00

Day 2
Picture one breakfast two. This is one of my favorite breakfasts. It is vanilla yogurt with a cereal called Nutty Flax. I was really excited when I found this. It is gluten free, high fiber, and similar to Grape Nuts. This yogurt with a small bowl of fruit is very filling.
The second picture is lunch at Paradise Bakery. It is my new favorite place right now. I went with my husband and noticed that their salads are made separately from everything else (namely sandwiches) so there is less chance for cross contamination. Since I am not temped by the fabulous confections here this place works out well for me. I also get a side of fruit and their unsweetened mango tea. Yum!
The last picture is of these new gluten free veggie burgers I wanted to try. They are green but surprisingly good. I made a sort of pilafy brown rice concoction to eat with it. Quite tasty.
On to day three!!!

Three Day Food Photo Challenge Day 1

2007-09-10T05:48:00.000-07:00

Living to Feel Good is one of my favorite blogs. These are my pictures for her 3 Day Food Challenge. I am sadly not a savvy with the pictures as everyone else. I am not even sure how to type between them. Hopefully this won't present a problem.

Day 1
The first picture is of my Ultimate Smoothie. This is a recipe my mom taught me and it is great and I have this all the time.
Lunch (pic two) is a chili I make often for lunches. I included it because it is somewhat popular with my friends and family. Instead of eating a handful of chips on the side like I used to, I crumble 2 or 3 on top so I still get a crunch with out all the calories.
The third picture is of tomato gluten free pasta and a side of cucumbers with balsamic vinegar and pepper.
I just decided that I will do this in three posts by day. I hope you don't mind. My lack of blogging skills is really showing but I don't want to throw my lap top into the street and end up joining commune in search for a simpler life.

2007-09-06T09:34:00.001-07:00

I'm a Balanced Yogi!

A Balanced Yogi

You love your friends unconditionally and accept them for who they are no
matter what their yoga style preference, religious beliefs, or spending habits.
You focus on the good in people and would never try to change them. Almost
everyone feels comfortable in your presence. You live your yoga. You are an
inspiration to yoga students everywhere!

Take the Yoga Journal Yoga Snob Quiz!

I am impressed how easy this worked!! IF you know me you know that I love
Yoga! I am going for my Teacher Training certification now (I am not sure
if I mentioned that on my blog before) I am really glad I am a balanced Yogi!

There is no spoon.

2007-09-02T07:29:00.000-07:00

I just finished watching The Matrix. Wow. What an interesting film. I know, I am last one on the planet that has not seen it. If I am not, I highly recommend it. I think that today I am going to run out and rent The Matrix Reloaded and watch it today. I am a tad surprised no one has written the self help book "There is No Spoon" yet. Seems apropos to being an Eastern Philosophy book written for the Western mind.
"There is no spoon." gives us the ability to see the world in a different light. This is really saying that the spoon's make up, properties and limitations are only in your mind. The spoon only exist because we have the preconceived notion that it exist. Some one taught you that that was a spoon. Applying another famous saying- If it walks like a spoon, acts like a spoon, and scoops like a spoon- it must be a spoon. In the Matrix- it only does those things because we believe that it can. It only exists in our silverware drawer because when we open the draw, we expect spoons to be in there.

There is comfort in being a beginner. What I mean is, if you are "in training" then others don't expect that much out of you. No one is depending on you. You can say "I am new here." and you are absolved of responsibility. Before you are an expert, you can back away with out identifying with it. You still don't have to defend it (what ever it is you are involved in). It is really only in a very small way a part of you. As a beginner, you can brush it off and move on to something else.

Once you become an expert at anything, in the world, it becomes part of your identity. You now are expected to defend it if someone doesn't agree with what you are doing. People think that that is who you are. (Even though, it is not who you are.) People depend on you do show them the right way. You are responsible to help others, the beginners. What if you are not the best expert either? What if you are discredited by other experts? What if people don't like you for choosing the path that you chose?

This really is a fear of success and failure. It is a mixed bag. This bag is my spoon. It is impossible to over come the properties because, they all exist, at least in my mind. Not every one will ever agree with me fully (even if I choose no path), and I will eventually have to help others if I become an expert. In reality is that there is no spoon. In reality, these properties mean nothing or everything if I want them too. If I truly believe in my own path, all other properties that do not understand it, or go against it, do not mean anything.

What is your spoon?

Poll for best picture of my sweet Angel.

2007-08-29T12:32:00.000-07:00

I was driving my son to school this morning and I found out that one of the local radio stations is having a "Cutest Dog Contest". Well, I think I do own the cutest dog in Arizona anyway. I know, I know, all my dogs are cute but, my little one takes the cake. She is really cute and photogenic too. I have so many cute pictures of her. I can't decide which one to send in. I have a few more days so I wanted to ask you guys to help me out in picking a picture. So here they are. The poll is to the left. If you have any other comments feel free to leave them.

First Vegetarian Meal is a success!!!

2007-08-28T08:53:00.000-07:00

You guys will be so proud of me. I found a vegetarian recipe that my husband likes. In our house we call new meals that we like a "do over". This one was definitely a do over! My husband said he was now excited about inviting a vegetarian over! Strangely, it is filled with tons of veggies and I added even more than the recipe called for! Can you believe it! I thought it was really good too. I used gluten free lasagna noodles. They were good for sure but, I am sure not completely like the real thing. (It really has been a long time for me, so my memory is faint)
Admittedly, it was definitely not vegan, but we must crawl before we can walk. Next time, I think I will replace some of the cottage cheese with tofu. I am sure he will never suspect. I might even add some grated zucchini. I will be posting this recipe as an article to my Suite101 column so, stay tuned for that if you are interested.
One of my problems that I am finding is that many recipes that call for veggie meat substitutes often have wheat gluten in them. I am so allergic so, this is definitely not an option for my family. I do have some ideas about other things to try and I will keep you posted as I figure them out.

Interesting Insight into the milk industry itself.

2007-08-22T16:42:00.000-07:00

I was researching for an article I was doing for Suite 101 (if you are interested in reading the article is is called "Is Milk Really a Wonder Food?") and I ran across this web site called Dairy Farming Today. It appears to be a site made to help and promote the dairy industry.
Poking around, I found the FAQ and got some interesting information from the "horses mouth" so to speak.
What do you think of this?

Milk from a cloned cow is possibly no different than a regular cow.(Really? But cloned animals do not live as long. Doesn't make sense.)
According to the FDA hormones injected in the cow (for boosting milk production) does not affect the milk.(BS!)
Calves are taken away from the mother, where they are bottle fed their mother's milk for their safely. (what about proper bonding between mother a calf?)
There are very few cloned cows producing milk in the US (really, I didn't realize there were any!)

Those are just a few interesting facts. What do you think of milk?
Do you think kids should have to drink milk with meals?
Does the milk industry have too much power over the FDA and USDA?
Should it even be a food group?
To be honest, I hate the taste of the stuff. I do eat cheese and yogurt but, milk itself is pretty disgusting to me. I can't even really watch someone drink it without feeling a little nauseous!
So, I am definitely not impartial on this topic.

My Vegan and Vegetarian challenge.

2007-08-16T20:24:00.000-07:00

I need help. You see, my husband is a completely anti-vegetable. Well, if he is forced to try them, he often is ok with eating them but, if he had it his way all he would eat practically is meat and cookies. (My kids are more open minded as far as food and veggies go.)
I am not a vegetarian (yet) but, I really want to incorporate more vegetarian meals my family would eat. Mainly my husband.
I read many vegan and vegetarian blogs. Sometimes, thankfully they visit my site as well. So, I wanted to ask a little favor. Do you have a few recipes that I could try on my carnivore husband. I am not really trying to fool him, maybe just convert him to the bright vegetarian side a bit more.
(BTW, He said he would try some recipes, so he knows about my challenge here.)

I would probably want to use these recipes in some articles along with my experiences with my husband for my Nutrition column of Suite 101, and of course give you credit as well as a link back to your blog. It could work out pretty nifty for us all.

The idea is to have some recipes that even timid omnivores and carnivores could try. What do you think?

I would also like to do some interviews with veggie bloggers via email for my Suite 101 column.
Again, you would get a nifty link and credit. If you want to send me a few pictures to post with your interview as well, that would be great too. I thought that interviews with true vegetarians and vegans would show people how to do it and give people some inspiration as well.
If you are interested let me know.

The picture is my husband "Simpsonized"!

A little Addition to the Vegan and Vegetarian challenge:

I just want to give you a few clues into my husbands tastes-
He is not a big fan of onion flavor or anything to spicy.
I have grated lots of carrots and zucchini into things to use less meat and he really
seemed to enjoy that and was relieved that it wasn't to oniony.

Another thing that I must mention is that I am gluten intolerant. Most of the time I
can easily convert just about any recipe to gluten free, but sometimes I can not.

More on my same sex marriage proposal.

2007-08-16T06:27:00.000-07:00

I think that this topic deems further discussion.
I would just like to clarify a few things. (For those of you that didn't see the earlier post click here, make sure to read the comment section as well)

I am actually thinking that women should not marry for love. (Actually, women never should, but that is besides the point) I believe that if women marrying for the benefit of pooling resources and their children, they probably would love each other though. Just not sexually. Do you have to marry because of sexual love?

A single woman marrying another woman could also lower instances of child abuse. Men are statistically more likely to abuse children (especially step children) sexually and physically.

There could possibly be less latch key kids. Someone would be home for them.

It certainly would not be a "sugar daddy" situation anymore than it would be for a man who works and a woman who stays home and cares for the children. The goal of this type of arrangement is to make a stable loving home for both of the women's children and each other.

I think that for this situation to work one woman is possibly career orientated. She loves her children and is frustrated because she is torn between home and work.
Another woman is sad because she has to work a full time job and she can not spend time doing with her kids what she thought she would be able to do.
These women become friends, possibly best friends. They love each other (non sexually) and loves each other's children. They realize that they could get married and help each other get what they want.
Isn't that what marriage is really about anyway? Supporting each other? Helping each other? This sounds like a pretty healthy marriage to me.

Sure, it may not always work out. These women may divorce, or have a fight or two. But, it is not as if regular, sexually based marriages are doing any better.
At least in America, poor single mothers is an epidemic. What can we do about it? Right now, they are forced to go it alone with very little support. Some are willing to marry any man, exchanging sex for stability. Telling themselves that they are in love. Is that better?
I think that is a recipe for disaster. It sure isn't solving any of the most fundamental problems.

Gay Marriage is good for women?

2007-08-15T06:48:00.000-07:00

I know this is not what I usually blog about but, bear with me. Since this topic has been hoisted into the spot light here in America, it has been a hot topic. This is my take.

Women should be for same sex marriage.

Think about it-
The largest segment on the population that are poor in America (or anywhere else really) are women and their children.
Marriage was and still is an arrangement of property and wealth. If you have ever been through a divorce, you know it is true. Sure everyone marries for "love" but divorce comes down to property and money. Then, really that is what legally marriage is.
Marrying for love is not a good enough reason. For women especially. We can get into this on a future post. (Marriage is really not a very good thing for most women but most want to be married very badly, interesting.).

Now I do think anyone should be able to marry anyone that they want, when they want. Consenting adults mind you.( No children or animals) No doubt about it. I think that if that were a law, the world would be a better place.

Marriage among women could help with a significant number of poor single families. Women could marry each other for the sake of their children. They could hammer out an agreement amongst each other on caring for their children, bills, health care and who will be home with the kids more.
It really is not a one person job to care for our children. Many men are not stepping up.

Now, I know what you are thinking- you are letting men off the hook, right? Well maybe. They are not stepping up anyway. Kids are suffering for it. So we should have this "ideal" of men taking responsibility forced on us with no way out. Let's be real. I know that 80% of women on welfare in Arizona are owed child support and are not getting it. That is a lot of people falling though the cracks.

Just to add to the environmental slant- pooling resources can be better for the environment.

Imagine a career orientated woman now can work and focus on her career more, and her part time working wife can take care of the children and have benefit of knowing that she and her children have health care and a better life. It is better for everyone, especially the children.

Now I am all for gay marriage in the traditional sense as well. But, let the churches decide morals and not our country or our laws. Laws are for public protection, not moral judgment.
If a church doesn't want to recognize a marriage so be it. I was married by a city major so, my marriage is not recognized in many churches. No skin off my back.

Does this sound crazy to you? Or am I on to something here.

My son's red hair.

2007-08-14T07:07:00.000-07:00

My son dyed his hair red for the first day of school. (It is semipermanent and will last at least six weeks) The other day he got his hair cut short, and his grandpa would have been so proud, until- he dyed his hair red anyway. I should say, I dyed his hair red. He asked me to do it. I figure, get it out of your system now as a kid. Part of being a kid is to do fun stuff like this. I hope the school won't be too mad. I am not really sure what their policy is on crazy hair colors. Oh well.

I quit the gym.

2007-08-13T07:40:00.000-07:00

Three years ago, I started going to the gym with my husband, in an effort to get him in better shape. Before that, I went to a gym here and there but, I like to walk outdoors. My husband and I would go to a class called General Fitness. It was like a boot camp program. I really didn't enjoy anyone telling me what to do so early in the morning. I muttle through. We did other things too. But, three years and a few injuries later, I am done. I quit the gym.
I went for a short two mile walk today with my headphones and mp3 player, and was reminded how much I used to love walking outside. It is so relaxing, nobody telling me what to do, and gathering my thoughts for the day.
So now it is Yoga, walking (with Lu Lu), and cycling outside (with my hubby) from now on. I am not sure what I am going to do in the thick of summer yet, but I will cross that bridge when I get to it!
The picture is of my new walking buddy. I know she is going to like that too! (Lu Lu) She really needs the exercise. I would take Angel but, her little legs can only take her so far.

Global Warming is a Hoax?

2007-08-11T09:09:00.000-07:00

This is proof that anything can become controversial. Even facts. It is a bit unbelievable that this is happening. That some people actually can't wrap their head around global warming.
Before we give this "Denial of Global Warming" campaign any thought, realize who is funding it. Oil, that's right, oil. Remind you of something? Of another large, rich, cancer causing product? Cigarettes maybe? Lets not buy into the ridiculous hype. They are the only ones that are going to loose in the Environmental politics game. The rest of us will turn up the winners.
Now, other than oil companies losing money (boo hoo they are bazillionaires now, right?), what is the down side to trying to save the environment?
1. Saving energy saves us- the consumers- money.
2. Buying products that can be reused and are not disposable- saves us money. Let alone makes for smaller land fills.
3. Buying organic food, keeps toxins out of our body, makes us aware of animal's suffering and we eat less processed over packaged foods. Saves us money on health care because we are eating healthier.
4. Buying sustainable and used furniture saves forests, so we can visit them and enjoy them, protects animals and helps clean the air we breath.
5. Buying locally boost our local economy and standard of living for everybody in our communities.
6. Those energy saving light bulbs last a lot longer than standard bulbs, so it saves us time in changing light bulbs and running to the store to buy more.
7. Less litter makes our streets and parks prettier and more enjoyable.
8. Learning to waste less teaches us and our children value of a dollar. We will treat our things better so that they will last longer.
9. Most hybrids are inexpensive compared to say a gas guzzling SUV- even the nicer ones, and will save us tons of money on gas. The air around our homes will smell better too.

I really could go on and on.
Please tell me what is the down side to trying to save the planet? No matter what, the earth can use all the help it can get. No matter what, it would make where we live better. Our children will appreciate us. So will our grandchildren.
The fact is even in our short lives, we have all noticed the effects of global warming. Maybe the frogs have left, it rains or snows less than you remember as a child, summers are hotter and longer, hurricane Katrina.
What do you think? Even if we could pretend for one second that global warming was not happening, is there a down side to energy conservation, not littering, sustainability, or organic farming?
If we do not work harder on saving the planet, the Christians will be right- the end will be near and ironically science will have predicted it.

Busy time

2007-08-06T09:21:00.000-07:00

I pimped out my dog Griffy on this site a while back on another blog. I thought I would do Angel for fun too. She is even cute with weird cat eyes, don't you think?
I am a tad busy these days. I decided to get certified in Yoga this year. I really love doing Yoga and I thought, I would love to do it all day and getting paid to do it! Woohoo! I am very excited about going. I am so busy getting my books and other things in order.
Also, my boys are going back to school for the year next week. My oldest is going into 9th grade and is going to be in school full time for the first time. I have home schooled my boys full time until now. It has been quite an adventure.
I also have been challenged by my editor at Suite101 to work hard and get 100 articles up in 16 weeks. It sure is going to be a challenge. I get a little blocked on ideas sometimes.
I also plan on featuring some of my favorite nutrition, health, and vegetarian blogs on my Suite 101 blog. I get quite a few hits on that blog and my pages in general, so it could generate some good pages views for those of you that are featured. I'll probably leave a comment on your blog when you are featured, and then if you like you can link back to the blog post. That would really be great too for me and every one! If you know for sure you want to be featured and want to give me something to add to the blog post let me know. A recipe would be good, I think.

Kindfish and wall climbing

2007-07-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

I did another Kindfish slide show. If you haven't tried them already, you really should. It is sooooooo...... easy to do. A thousand times easier than Flickr and the slide shows are way more interesting. Anyway, more wall climbing. The light was perfect for pictures.

View Full Screen View Photos on Kindfish

Fun with Family and photos.

2007-07-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I went to a Family Reunion in Prescott Arizona. It was great fun. My youngest son climbed the rock wall all the way to the top for the very first time. That is something I really want to do. I have a bit of a fear of heights so, I need to just press on and do it. I also have a thing about being watched doing something I will undoubtedly not be very good at.
The picture is of my husband and my son. Like father, like son.
I really love taking pictures. I need to learn more about taking good pictures in bad light. I tend only to take pictures when the lighting is good. I am a lighting snob. I have to get better about that.

Google problems

2007-07-19T13:05:00.000-07:00

Interestingly, my emails that tell me when someone has commented, are not happening. I am also missing my Google alert emails. What is up with that? I get other emails from other places at the same email address so I know it is not that the account is not working. Has this happened to anyone else? Is it even fixable. I rechecked my settings here and then re-saved them so we will see what happens.

Lizards, and peanut butter

2007-07-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

Lizards
When I went in my back yard today, I noticed a cute little lizard (refer to picture). Growing up in the sunny Arizona dessert, you get used to seeing them a lot. Lately though, I have noticed some huge lizards. I am talking like 8 inches long! Two of them were at my front door the other day. I wish I had my camera so I could show them to you. So, this has me wondering, are these a different type of lizard? Maybe a hybrid lizard that mated with the little ones? I googled it to see if I was the only one that has noticed this. Apparently I am, no stories on this. Maybe, they were around but not as many of them as there are now. I can only wonder. 8 inches does not bother me too much but any bigger, I am going to probably freak out!

Peanut butter
Yesterday I was grocery shopping at my favorite healthy grocery store and I happened upon these little peanut putter packets. Justin's Organic Peanut Butter packets. I was starving and this little packet hit the spot. I am going to pick up a few more today. I love peanut butter!

Food Commercial - Thai

2007-07-17T09:34:00.001-07:00

I ran across this video on another blog. I don't know whether I relate to this or if I am a little disturbed!

Vegetarianism and good food.

2007-07-16T08:53:00.001-07:00

One thing that I have noticed is that on a lot of vegetarian blogs, they love their food. There is a lot of really tasty vegetarian cuisine.

Now I have wanted to go vegetarian but, with a family full of meat eating boys (and my man), this was going to prove difficult. So, my plan is to eat veggie until dinner. Then, when ever possible, I am going to have a veggie dinner as well. Environmentally and morally, I think I can live with this.

I discovered these Indian dishes at my local health food store. They are called tasty bite. I have had a few different kinds and they were all wonderful. I served them over brown rice. Which is for me since I have a gluten intolerance.I also like that you do not have to refrigerate them so, they are easy to pack on trips or for work (as if had a real job:))

Angel helped with the photos as you can see.

Air Freshener and Squidoo

2007-07-13T08:33:00.000-07:00

On my list of 50 things I want to do to help the environment, number 32 is to find environmentally cleaners. As I looked into this, I figured out I have been using allot of environmental cleaners already. One of my favorites is Trader Joe's Bergamot and Coriander Air Freshener. The bergamot gives this a light, citric-y, fresh and clean scent. The only disadvantage is that it comes in a small bottle.
I was at Trader Joe's buying like 6 of these air fresheners, the check out girl said she was glad to finally see some one who liked this air freshener as much as she does. I think allot of people pass this great stuff up.

Anyway,
Yesterday, I spent the day poking around on the internet to find ways to promote all the junk I have going on on line. There may be future post on what I found in the future. One of the things I did find was Squidoo. It is really easy to do. I made one as an extension to my site (as well as a few others, they are very easy to make).
Here it is- Get Green Things at Squidoo.

Gift Bags: The green thing you are already doing!

2007-07-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

You have a birthday party to go to. You get the present and you forget to get stuff to wrap it. I do that all the time. So then, at the last minute I dig through my closet and look for my stash of gift bags I have saved form past presents. Feeling a little guilty, I look at the tissue in the bag and decide if it looks a little too "used". No? Good. It will do. Does the bag say anything on it that is inappropriate (like "It's a boy" or "Merry Christmas")? No? Good.

Well, one day as I was frantically digging in my closet I realized something. I was reusing. Part two of the mantra "reduce, reuse, recycle". The great thing about that is that most people do reuse gift bags (and sometimes the tissue) several times, until the bag breaks apart practically. This is actually way better than wrapping paper, that gets thrown away the first time you use it. Of course it might be better if we got cloth hemp bags to wrap presents in but, for those of us that don't have time to go across town to the Health food place, that has pretty ones just for this purpose, can feel good about the reuse of a gift bag buried deep in their closet. Once thought of a a "lazy way" to wrap a present, now is one of the best ways to wrap a present!

2007-07-09T07:16:00.000-07:00

I think I am having a blog identity crisis. I mean, I think that I am losing touch with why I created this blog to begin with. It really wasn't supposed to be my absolutely personal blog and it is at this point.
So, on top of not feeling well and feeling lost with my little blog, I made a decision, I am going to stick with environmental issues and my list of what I am trying to do to help. Because I have been lost, I haven't really done as much at home as I would have liked for the environment. So here goes, I hope you enjoy the changes.

Suite 101 articles

2007-06-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been a tad delinquent posing my article from Suite 101 here. I think that I am three articles behind so here goes.

First
Book Review: The Skinny
This is a great book. I picked it up because I needed an article and I thought this would be an easy read. Turns out there is allot of great info here!

Second
The Trans Fats Myth
One of my biggest pet peeves is when I see "0 grams trans fats" on the label of something only to find out that the product does contain trans fats!

Third
6 Steps in Digestion
While I know there is way more to digestion than these six simple steps, I felt that a very basic knowledge of digestion is important in understanding nutrition.

There you have it! Now you are caught up. Please let me know what your nutrition questions are. I get my best ideas from others!

Jamaica, pictures and Kindfish

2007-06-25T09:17:00.000-07:00

I hope this works. This is a slide show of my Jamaica trip. It was really easy to make. I made it at
Kindfish. I will admit that I have a friend that works there (thank you Kathy!) but, it was super easy to do. I will be doing tons more. Next I will try to add sound.

View Full Screen View Photos on Kindfish

My knee and more on Jamaica.

2007-06-21T18:21:00.000-07:00

Sadly, I have lost a little bit of my motivation because I hurt my knee and it just aches. I HATE it! I actually hurt it in Yoga. Do not be afraid of Yoga now. I don't know exactly why but, I was in what you would call pigeon position and I hurt my know on the straight leg. I am really good at this one too, so it really took me off guard.
I just wanted to share a little more on Jamaica. So today you can see some random pictures of my Jamaica vacation. I hope you will enjoy.
1. These are some pretty flowers.
2. This guy was on my balcony. He was probably wondering about my one big eye (camera) ogling him.
3. This boat was thrown to shore years ago during a hurricane. There are no cranes on the island to move it so, it is stuck there.
4. This photo is from my balcony, it was the path leading to my room.

Wow, where have I been? At the pound!

2007-06-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

These have been busy days. I just haven't had too much time, it seems.
First of all, Saturday, we adopted a 10 month old puppy from the ASPCA (aka "the pound"). What a deal this is. I mean, you pay a certain amount based on the animal's age. For our puppy (Lu Lu) we paid 100$. For this we got

1. A puppy, spade and with all of her shots.
2. Well puppy checkup with in one week of adoption.
3. Free micro chip (because we adopted her on a weekend).
4. Free dog food. Like 3 bags of free dog food!
5. Insurance for the first few months she is covered for $500 in vet bills.

I have to say, I am amazed at this deal. Besides all of this, you get that warm fuzzy feeling of giving a poor discarded animal a good home.

Lu Lu is a sweetie too. She seems to be at least partially potty trained. She is also a little skittish. She is smart, she can come in through the dog door, but won't go out through it yet. She hates bathes. She has already chewed up two of my shoes.

We got Lu Lu for my husband, as a fathers day gift. He was very pleasantly surprised. We wanted to give her to him on Father's Day. We wanted to hide her somehow and surprise him that morning. The pound wouldn't let us do that. They said he would have to come down there and see her. It is understandable. I mean, what if he was mad or really didn't want her. They do not want us to return her. For us, it worked out, it was love at first site.

My husband brought Angel (our pekingese) to the ASPCA to meet Lu Lu before we brought her home and Angel wasn't very interested in Lu Lu. She wasn't interested in very much but me. She didn't even blink at the cats, or the rabbits. Angel just wanted me to take her home. I think that she thought she was at the vet. Now they are friendly, well on their way to becoming life long friends.

The people of Jamaica.

2007-06-15T11:02:00.001-07:00

The people in Jamaica were very friendly. The service at the resort was impeccable. Life is very different on an island paradise. Being a place hit by hurricanes often, it really does show. Lots of buildings were torn apart. No trash though. When we were driven threw the streets in Jamaica, there were always people working on the side of the road picking up trash and grooming the plants.
My only real gripe was that I was offered gonja about 3 times a day. It was annoying. I was surprised that they really say "ya mon" as part of their everyday speech. The culture is very laid back. It made for a really relaxing vacation.
Starting from the top left-
1. Musicians on the beach. They were very good.
2. These guys on the beach sell wares and often offer "gonja" to the tourists. I think that wares are a front really, but some guys didn't care and would not have anything else, they would just walk up and offer while you were swimming. They must do well too, you can walk through the resorts and smell it as you walk on the paths.
3.These guys were really fun. They hosted us on the glass bottom boat tour. They also showed us a place called Hedonism. It is a nudest resort. They don't were clothes as all, for the whole vacation. To me actually, it sounds easy to pack for. Tooth brush, some make up maybe, and clothes to wear home. That's only a small carry on. Woohoo!
4. The horse guy I saw the first morning. I just thought he and his horses made a beautiful picture.

Ya mon! Jamaica was splendid!

2007-06-14T09:16:00.000-07:00

Jamaica is a beautiful country, with beautiful people. I loved it. BTW, all inclusive is awesome. If you have never done a vacation that way, you should. I am planning on doing a little series of posts on Jamaica to share some of my pictures with you. I won't bore you with rolls and rolls, just a few choice goodies.
My husband said he wanted to stay there like six weeks instead of just one. I say, I would have to join AA after a bender like that. They just serve you and serve you. Food, drinks; what ever you want. Possibly, a fat farm too. I have to say, the food was very healthy and delicious! I think I gained like 2 pounds from all the drinking I did. Too many Pina Coladas and wine (red, red wine)! More to come!

Loving Jamaica

2007-06-09T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone. I am so sorry, I thought that I would be able to blog every day I was here in Jamaica but, no. They do have wifi but they keep it locked up in a room so you can't spend your entire vacation surfing the internet, they want you surfing the coast line instead. Oh well. I am having a really great time. I hope you all don't run away and forget about my little blog. I'll be back full time next week. Sorry no pictures yet. I am not on my computer so I don't have access to them at the moment.

Angel doing tricks.

2007-06-05T20:26:00.000-07:00

Angel is doing tricks! Oh, it is so cute! I taught her to sit, shake, and lay down. I taught her this in the span of three days. Now, I have been trying to teach her to go through the dog door. She just won't do it. She just seems so confused. I throw the treat through the door and say, "go get it!" and nothing. It is like out of site out of mind. I shoved her through it, walked around to the other side, stuck treats where she could smell them and nothing. When it comes to the dog door she has the brain capacity of a six month old. Now, I know what you are thinking. She is a small dog, maybe three tricks are all she can fit in her cute little brain. No. I had a friend come over today (for an hour and a half, mind you) and her daughter taught her to guess which hand had a treat. The little girl even had my little Angel tapping the girl's hand with her paw when she guessed. I was amazed. This little girl is going to be a dog trainer to the stars one day. I am always saying she isn't the sharpest tack in the box. Maybe she hears me say that and it blows her self confidence. Who knows.

Suite 101 Article: 11 Rules for Mindful Eating.

2007-06-04T22:16:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. I had a bit a busy day. I just felt like I was running from one thing to the next. Yesterday, I posted my Suite 101 article.

11 Rules for Eating Mindfully.

This seems to be a hot new trend in eating these days (though I have read several books on this years ago). I have been doing mindful eating for about a week now and lost 5 pounds. I was very surprised.
I am going on a trip soon and I plan on trying this on vacation.
Luckily for all of you, I will have an internet connection so I should not miss many blog posts! I can bring you all to sunny Jamaica with me. Do not worry, I won't work too hard. I love blogging.

I cut my hair off!

2007-06-03T13:18:00.000-07:00

The other day, I cut my hair off! Yep. I am actually glad I did. I wasn't sure for a few days though. Truth is, I was tired of having to do my hair. I was always wearing it up. I am cursed with VERY curly hair. While it has taken me a while to accept it, I still envy girls with straight hair.
Here are the curly girls rules to live by and what others should understand about curly hair.

1. Curly hair is not wash and wear hair.
2. The only good straight blow out a curly girl should do is a professional one. Otherwise it is as obvious as a toupee that you are a curly girl trying to go straight. (I have been there, done that)
3. All curly girls need good products. More specifically, anti frizz stuff, styling cream and conditioner.
4. Curls should never be crunchy!!!
5. Humidity and those misters (at out door restaurants) can make curly girls cry.
6. Curly girls should not wash their hair everyday. It is too drying.
7. If you like a curly girls hair, know she probably didn't just wake up like that. So quit saying that is why you like her curly hair. Curly hair is rarely easy to do or fast.
8. To get those beautiful ringlets (that makes everyone want curly hair). Twist hair and let air dry and then use a curling iron on the front. Use a blow dryer on your roots to gently give your hair some volume.
9. If you are trying to go curly and are having a hard time, find photos of women you think are pretty with curly hair, and tape them to your bathroom mirror. It will remind you that curly hair is attractive.
10. A curly girl absolutely MUST find a hair dresser that knows curly hair. Often a good sign is that they HAVE curly hair themselves (and not a perm)!
11. Perms whether to curl or straighten are always a bad idea. They really should be outlawed!

It took me years and years to get all these rules. I have made all these mistakes. I have has a lot of teary nights about my curly hair. I am starting to like it more and more though.

Beleifnet Quiz

2007-06-02T20:14:00.000-07:00

Have any of you taken the Belief net quiz on what religion you are? The Quiz is called Belief-o-matic. On a whim I decided to do it today. I realized that my beliefs are transforming. At one time I was very Christian but, as Christianity is changing into this sort of political party, I have found, at some point my beliefs have parted ways with Christianity as is depicted these days. Upon further study and reflection I no longer believe in hell, or in only one true faith. I think all faiths are valid and have their place.
If God is like the perfect father, then he would never reject one of his children because of the way he (or she) views him or shows him their love. A perfect father wants us to be happy without defining what happy is. He wants us to love him in what ever our capacity. What if someone doesn't acknowledge him because they don't believe he exists? As any father would be, he might miss their companionship but, would want them to also be happy. I do not believe God would punish anyone. He blesses everyone.
If there is a hell, it is here and we have made it so. We have put our so called beliefs above life. Sorry to be so preachy here, this quiz has put me in a contemplative mood.
My results were that I my beliefs are the most inline (100%) with Mahayana Buddhism. I thought that was pretty cool. I am planning on getting more informed on this.

Post of the Future.

2007-06-02T10:21:00.000-07:00

This is future me. Well, not really. I guess it is past me. Sorry this post will have very little info. I am experimenting with my blog. I am post dating this post to see if it will wait to post until 10:21 am Saturday the 2nd. We will see. If it posts right away, we will know this didn't work. Hope you like the apple picture. I ate that apple, it didn't go to waste.

Global Warning TV ad

2007-06-01T13:15:00.001-07:00

I have yet to see this ad on TV but, it gave me chills. That is my biggest worry about Global Warming, it is not me it is my kids that I am worried about. I hope this works, I haven't had much luck posting from You Tube.

Freedom is not knowing.

2007-05-31T07:18:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about freedom lately. Not in the United States vs. the world way just, what is it to me, individually. I was in Yoga class and one of my yoga instructors said, "Freedom is not knowing. "Wow. Doing something and not knowing the outcome. Doing for sake of doing.

In terms of our body. We never want to do anything unless we think that we will get results. Also, I realize freedom is not eating for every craving, every thought or emotion. If I do that then I am a slave to my body, my feelings, in what ever form. So when it comes to our bodies, what is true freedom? It is movement. It is not control. It is not will power. It is the power to choose. Also, it not freedom in absolutely everything. Freedom is choosing what freedoms we want. Focus on the freedom, not on anything else (and not the limitations), not even the out come. The outcome is only satisfying for a moment. Ok, now I am sounding like a fortune cookie.:)

When I was diagnosed with Celiacs Disease a little over three years ago, first I was excited about not feeling sick anymore. Freedom for me was not being able to eat what ever, it was about feeling better. Then, I walked past a Cinnabon. You know, the cinnamon roll place. I started to cry. After that cry (embarrassingly in the mall), I realized I was over it. People often say, "it must be hard not being able to eat all kinds of stuff." Quite frankly, I never even think about it. It's easy. I mourned the loss of it and now I am fine, really. It is actually more freeing for me. At a birthday party, I am not deliberating over whether to have some cake, I just don't. It is not even really food to me. I can think about other things. I don't always have an easy answer for what I can eat but, everything usually works out fine.

There are worst things than not being able to eat something you want. I don't need to list them here.

When my boys were little, I would tell them in the car, if they could get something like a toy or not. I stuck to my guns in the store and this freed us. Why? We were free now to focus on something else, like each other. Maybe we wouldn't know what to talk about with out the constant begging through the isle and at the check out.

Freedom is not knowing.

Freedom is not fear.

Freedom is uncomfortable.

Freedom is not impulsive.

Freedom is understanding.

Freedom is mindful.

Freedom is not judging.

Freedom is accepting.

Freedom is honesty.

Freedom is a choice.

Freedom is movement.

What is true freedom to you?

Million Dollar Idea

2007-05-30T08:31:00.000-07:00

As you all are getting to know me, you will find, I am full of these "million dollar ideas". I really am. They just come to me. I wish I had the perseverance to see a few of them through but, you know, I am easily distracted. Also, many times I don't have the skill set to pull it off. If only I could sell my ideas from a sort of idea store. A buck an idea. There you go! Another million dollar idea, hee hee!
The idea that has been haunting me lately is about gardening. I am mad jealous of gardeners. I wish I knew someone who could show me step by step what to do. I am a serious brown thumb. The poor plants that come into my care are torchered by over watering or under watering. I sadly get distracted and forget to tend to my plants. If you can't cry or bark around here, you might get forgotten. I just have this fantasy of me blissfully growing a garden rich in organic produce. In reality, my last garden literally went up in flames. I had a party and someone threw a cigarette butt in my very DRY garden and poof. The fire department came. Very embarrassing.
On to my million dollar idea. If a wonderful gardener started a web page that taught someone step by tiny baby step how to have a successful garden, they could do very well. Daily reminders by region (this could easily be set up). Q and A sections and stuff to read before you start. Pointed advice on what a beginner should grow. What are the necessary tools, etc. I would do it, but millions of poor plants would be at my mercy, and that would be a travesty.

The Ultimate Chili Recipe

2007-05-28T20:09:00.000-07:00

I know that I say that all my recipes are the "Ultimate" but this one really is. At my house, this is the most requested recipe I have. My friends and family really love this chili. It is good! At one time, I actually ate it almost everyday.

The Ultimate Chili Recipe

The cheese is cheddar. It is raw Organic Valley cheddar,uncolored. It is great. I really like this chili with a dollop of plain yogurt. It gives it a nice tang.

Well, my little collecting tips idea for blog links was a little bit of a bust but, Crabby gave me an idea. She sent me a recipe I could use for, well you'll see. So, instead of a tip, you could post a simple healthy snack recipe. If I get 3 or 4 I think I can make them into an article and have some info about your blog and some linking. You would just have to promise to link back to the article when it posts. Does this sound doable? Dawn, I am looking forward to your recipe for cream filled apple donuts (healthyish I am sure). I hope its easy!

Addiction of the tree murdering kind.

2007-05-27T21:55:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make. I eluded to it on my environmental list, I am addicted to paper towels. They are great. They are clean, easily available and disposable. All the qualities I look for when dealing with dirty jobs, especially in the kitchen. I am probably personally responsible for the death of thousands of trees. I feel really bad about that. My addiction to paper towels is probably one of my worst environmental sins. Sadly, there is no 12 step program to save me or the planet from my horrible indiscretion. So, I am on my own to cure my disease. My plan of action-

1. Switch to post consumed paper towels. I have done this. These paper towels are not quite like "the quicker picker upper" but they work fine. Let's face it- they are really a crutch, though.
2. Clean out a cabinet to make room for rags, dish towels and wash cloths. I own plenty, it just a matter of making them convenient in my kitchen.
3. Start a daily habit of taking dirty rags, dish towels, and wash cloths up to the laundry.

Easier said than done for me. I am seriously addicted. I'll keep you posted on my progress. I have to admit, of all the things, this is probably going to be one of the hardest for me!

The picture is of the beloved (tree murdering, toxic bleaching chemical leaching) Bounty.

Rainbows

2007-05-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

I had a really nice day. Not much to blog about, or more to the point, to lazy to try to think of something smart and interesting so, in an effort to stay consistent, I am at the very least writing something. I also made this rainbow picture out of a school assignment that I had done. We did a project where we took monochromatic pictures. Very fun. Making this rainbow for you was also fun. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it! Promise to do better tomorrow. So please come back!

Neat-o web store and Google Alerts.

2007-05-25T20:02:00.000-07:00

Now, I want to make it clear, I am in no way being paid for any endorsements on my blog. To be frank, no one has ever asked my to, but even so, I would only recommend things I would actually find useful myself.
BTW- if you have not discovered Google Alerts, you should. They are a fabulous way to learn about what is going on, on the internet, in topics that interest you. That is how I found this little online store.
It is called Eco-artware.com.
They use recycled stuff to make all kinds of possibly useful stuff. They have a bowls made out of vinyl records. They even have a bowl made out of phone cords. How they did that, I do not know.
Some of the stuff is a bit pricey, but other stuff looks more cheaply priced like the jewelery.
Another neato thing is the site has a craft area that shows you how make use of items that would have possibly been trash otherwise. This brings me to my list of 50 thing I am doing for the environment. My good friend Kathy pointed out to me that I have use less paper towels twice on my list so, I am switching one of those out for, "Making something useful out of trash." Trash meaning- anything I would have thrown away or put in the recycling bin. This is pretty general but, I am being general to allow for some creativity.

Interesting Math studies.

2007-05-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

The University of California did a study about girls and the stereo type that boys are better at math than girls. When the girls were told this, not only did they do more poorly on math tests they also did poorly in classes taken just after math class. The power of suggestion! The college women studied were generally known for doing well in math before the study began. The researchers believe that being exposed to the stereotype rattled the college women.
This is consistent with another study at ASU (that I am unable to find at the moment). They had equal numbers of African American students and white (European American?) students. The first groups asked to putt a golf ball into a hole, were told they were being tested on athletics. African Americans did better than the white people on the test. Then, a new group was also asked to putt a ball into a hole and they were told that it was a "mental exercise" to test IQ. Whites did better than African Americans this go around. Stereotypes, they are more than just words, aren't they?
The next study (and I can not believe someone paid money to study this), concluded that kids (and people) with ring fingers longer than their index finger were better at math and if the ring finger was shorter they were better at reading, writing or verbal skills. The length of your fingers in relation to each other is apparently correlated with how much testosterone and estrogen a baby is exposed to in the womb. I do find this study a tad disturbing. I mean I would hate for kindergarteners to be culled out by teachers examining their finger lengths. It would be appalling for a child to hear, "you did bad on that math test but, that is ok, your fingers tell me you won't be good a math anyway."
My other theory behind this study is that everyone's ring finger is longer than their index finger and educators at the University of Bath in England need more math students. What do you think?

I knew this would happen!

2007-05-23T19:42:00.000-07:00

Sadly, USDA is talking about lowering their standards on the criteria for what the word "organic" means. Some companies are upset that they can not have the USDA Organic label because there is not a supplier big enough that can sell them organic supplies. Particularly, hops for beer and pork products. While, there are organic beers, from smaller brewers larger companies claim it is unfair that they can not make organic beer too. Wah! So, now the USDA is considering allowing several non-organic substances (38 to exact) to be used on so called organic products. You know what this means? The meat in the USDA organic seal is about to be thrown out the window. As with anything the government sticks their mitts into, if they can't meet the standards then lower them, right?
It really is only a matter of time before the words "USDA Organic" do not mean anything. For now we can live in the blissful time, where the standards are high. Be on the look out though, the day is coming. Then, we will have to figure out another way to know we are eating safe food. Probably the only way to truly know is to grow it ourselves!!!

Pollen count high

2007-05-22T21:18:00.000-07:00

Apparently, the pollen counts in Arizona are very high. I am dying over here. I haven't had allergies for years (except in Hawaii, I evidently am allergic to vog- volcano smoke). I am trying just about everything and anything to relieve the constant nose drip. I finally went to the doctor and he told me the pollution is high as well as the pollen and many people who do not normally get allergies have them this year. So, I am sorry I am not more interesting today. I hopefully will be tomarrow, when all the medication I got from the doctor kicks in. I should probably eat more local honey. Especially while the bees are still making it. Who knows how long that will bee!!!!

My first Meme

2007-05-21T20:38:00.000-07:00

How exciting! Crabby McSlacker of Cranky Fitness tagged me, giving my first meme. I beleive she got her meme from the Diet Pulpit, another fine and informative site.
Now that she has blogged about how smart her readers are, I am a little concerned that I am going to do this wrong, and therefore proving Crabby wrong and I would hate to do that to her. She has been so good to me!
I decided I would choose the people who of course were not picked by her so you might be able to see who I have been visiting. So, I am sorry Leah, Dawn, and Katieo. I do love your blogs and have been checking them everyday!

Here are some others that I also enjoy-

Health hacker by Michael Byrd
This blog is very informative and has tons of great information on health related topics. Micheal seems a tad more serious than the rest of us, but I know we all can enjoy some straight forward info once in a while. (I am wondering a little about what he will do when I tag him, hee hee)

Katharine Osborne's personal blog
This is one of my best friends in the whole world. She is actually more like a sister than a friend actually, but that is besides the point. She has some real blogging cred since she has had this blog forever. She puts up allot of her artwork, pictures, writings and life endeavors. This is how I kind of keep up with while she lives far away from me. I am sure you will enjoy her projects and adventures.

Where's the revolution?
This vegan can cook. I am pretty sure she has been meme'ed before but, I know that if you see her food photography, you might be tempted to try some plant based fair. Scroll down to May 12th and see her story about the lemon she grew. Cute!

Glam Diet
Now Glam diet! I want to be on that. Glam has a pretty gutsy blog with body photos and all (she is looking pretty glamorous I must say). She mixes witty commentary with honest life experiences that we all can relate to.

Culiblog
To be honest, I am not really sure what the theme to this blog really is but, I like the look of it. I mean I know it is food but, I am not exactly sure what the angle is. The hog at the top is great and the photos are beautifully done. It looks like they are pretty adventurous and the blog posts I have read so far are interesting.

Ok, I hope I did that part right. If you are tagged by me and kind enough to visit my blog to see what to do, all you have to do is list five blogs that you really like, and then link back to me, and if you would be so kind as to link back to Crabby McSlacker at Cranky Fitness, that would be super nice of you, and I know she would appreciate it too.

Suite 101 Article: Fiber

2007-05-20T20:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, the title for the article is boring but, fiber is truly exciting. Especially for weight loss. It is not absorbed by the body, but it makes you feel full. It is awesome for the digestive tract and prevents a myriad of diseases. I hope you are more excited about fiber now.
Katieo on Sister Skinny inspired this one. Thank you Katieo!! She mentioned an article idea for foods that make you feel full. Well, I thought, fiber! It is all the rage right now anyway.

Fiber: the broom for the digestive tract

Like I said before, if you have any ideas that you would like me to make an article on let me know. I will do my best.

Also, I was thinking- because there is such a great online community of Weight Watchers and health blogs I had an idea for two articles.

One would be healthy eating tips from bloggers. If you submit some tips for this, I will include them in my article, give you credit and link to your site.

Two would be healthy eating tips for Weight Watchers specifically. You can submit your best Weight Watchers tips. I would give you credit and link back to your site.

All I would ask is for a post after the article was posted. You could mention in the post that your tips were featured in my article. Win- win, right?

These tips would be featured in an article on the Suite 101 Nutrition site where I am the Nutrition Feature Writer.

Let me know what you think of this.

My environmental commitment.

2007-05-19T09:50:00.000-07:00

My actual purpose for doing this blog was to make a more serious commitment to the environment. Of course that is not all I plan to write about but, the environment and getting green is really the point of the blog's name Get Green Things. I was composing a list of things 50 that I am committed to try at least once in an effort to clean up my impact on the planet. I was trying to get 100 but, I am not that creative. This is a start. Here goes-

Use less paper towels and Switch to post consumed paper towels
Making something useful out of trash.
Switch to post consumed toilet paper
switch to post consumed tissues
Grow three herbs
Go to a farmers market
Get 10 pieces of clothing at good will (that I wear regularly)
Get 5 pieces of organic clothing
Find three meatless meals my family will eat
Shorten shower time (with timer)
Take cloth bags to grocery store
Check tire pressure on car
Bring foil and bag for leftovers when I eat out
move dog door
Donate stuff to goodwill
Take a cup to Starbucks to refill
Find Environmentally friendly pest control
Find a green investment
Donate to a green cause
walk to the store
donate books
set some books “free”
hang clothes to dry
write a letter to my congressman
have an energy audit on my home
research more about vegetarian diet impact on the planet
use public transportation
find an environmental group in my area (meeting)
walk into the store with my bike and shop
reduce my junk mail
take earth day quiz
Find environmentally friendly cleaners
Use my printer less
learn about buying CO2 offsets
Plant a tree
learn about 5 major companies commitment to the environment
Bring cloth bags to the store for my groceries
Learn about composting
Take more nature pictures
Learn about the 100 mile diet
Learn more about local food sources
Switch to organic toiletries
Learn what the plastic recycling numbers mean
Take an environmentally friendly vacation (whatever that means)
Learn ways to waste less water
Learn about 5 species that are endangered right now
Adopt a dog from the pound
Clean our air filters (or get my honey to do it)
Find energy alternatives that might work for my home (and won't piss off my HOA)
Volunteer somewhere to help people and/or the environment

Whoo! That is a lot of stuff I need to try and learn about, I know. I am committed. Even though I haven't done the things on the list I am doing other things,(and somethings I am already slowly starting to do on on the list of 50, I just need to complete them) I list them below. I just know that if I want really lighten my foot print, I need to do and know more.

(Not to toot my own horn but, I am known by my family and friends as a fairly environmentally aware person)

Things I already do-

Drive a hybrid

recycle paper, cardboard, plastics, glass and metal

Use energy efficient light bulbs (all of our bulbs in the entire house are EF)

Had extra insulation put in our home

Sun screens on all the windows and double pane windows

Installed programmable thermostats

Buy furniture from environmentally responsible vendor

Buy used furniture

Water conserving shower heads

Water conserving toilets

Shut off water when I brush my teeth

Put automatic shutting hinges on front door and garage door

Insulated the garage door

Use reusable plastic bottles for water (big and small)

Eat organic when ever possible

We work from home, less commuting

Combine errands together as much as possible

Donate to Goodwill

Buy recycled paper for printer

Try to buy things with recyclable or less packaging when ever possible

Do you eat veal?

2007-05-18T18:45:00.001-07:00

You might be and you just don't know it! If you are not eating vegetarian cheese, you are. See, many cheeses are made with the enzyme rennet. Where does rennet come from? It comes from the stomach of a baby cow. Yep, pretty gross. Now, I am not saying I am a vegetarian because I am not. I do however try to be educated in what foods I do eat and I do try to avoid anything that I deem cruel. One of the places I draw the line at is the slaughtering of baby animals. So, I do not eat veal and now I will be more particular about the cheeses I buy.

The story goes that cheese was invented when people used to keep milk in bags made of sheep stomachs. When people began to travel with the milk in these bags, the combination of the agitation and rennet enzyme caused the milk to ferment and coagulate, forming cheese.

Most cheese can also be made with (good) bacteria, and microbial rennet (made from mold). While these methods only came about because the demand for veal calves cannot keep up with the demand for the enzymes used to make cheese, it is good that many major companies are not using veal rennet. Luck us, Kraft cheese, that is made in the US, is vegetarian!

Here is also a list I found of cheeses listed by brand that are vegetarian.

I think I am having a bit of a moral dilema when it comes to eating meat at all. I mean, I do not necessarily think that eating meat is wrong per se. Yet, I am troubled by how animals are treated and try to limit my consumption to companies that I know treat their animals well, whether it is meat, poultry, dairy or eggs. Am I the only one having this moral dilemma?

Tried a recipe and found something at the store.

2007-05-17T21:17:00.000-07:00

Tonight for dinner, my family decided to ditch me (they do it every Thursday and go to Subway). So, I decided to try Tomato Basil Pasta on that (Real Meals)cooking site. It was very good.

I am attempting to post the video here. ( It is not working so here is a link that hopefully works for Tomato Basil Pasta) We will see how it goes.
I am also posting my results. I think that it looks kind of like hers.
While I was at the store, I found this Grate it Fresh thingy by the Parmesan cheese. While environmentally it probably is not the best choice, it is a neat little gadget (with the cheese already in it) to see if fresh shredded Parmesan is any better than they already shredded Parmesan.
Hopefully all the pictures and the video shows up. I haven't had much luck in the past but, I am trying something new. I have to learn sometime.

Really cool cooking site.

2007-05-17T15:10:00.000-07:00

My friend, Kathy told me about this really cool cooking site. It has all these recipes and videos of people cooking them. I really like that because I hate cooking blind. I have already watched a few that I want to try. Some are chefs and some are just regular people. I think I am going to try a "regular people" one first before jumping into the gourmet stuff.

Real Meals

It looks like they have a pretty good selection of recipes. They even have the Elvis Sandwich with Elvis (impersonator) cooking it! Pretty neat. I'll make something and let you know how it goes (it won't be the Elvis sandwich).
I think that I might attempt to submit a video myself. We'll see (if I am brave enough).

Suite 101 article

2007-05-16T14:18:00.000-07:00

Before all of the hoopla around here I wrote my weekly article for Suite 101 and forgot to post about it here. Oops.

The Ultimate Lunch Time Soup.

This recipe for soup is one I use almost every week. I love a good hearty soup for lunch with crackers or something else. This one is packed with veggies and on weight watchers, it could easily be made to have very few points or even free if you did it right.

Now that school is out, I will have a lot of time to write. So, let me ask you, do you have any suggestions for Nutrition Articles? Is there something on nutrition you want to know? If you have any ideas let me know. I am open.

Moving On.

2007-05-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

I really do need to move on. Baby Girl was a tough (but sweet) dog and would definitely want that. My best friend, who know Baby Girl quite well wrote a tribute to her on her blog today. She watched her for us when we were out of town and of course played with her when she came over to see us. I love the picture she posted. It was taken before Baby Girl got sick. She looks so young and alive there. That is how I want to remember her. That picture was taken in Prescott on a road trip. I know she had a great time, we all did.
I promise to get on some more cheery topics after this. We are still grieving a bit today. I know it will get easier as time passes. My husband is still pretty sad.
I think my sweet dog Griffy seems sad today, too. He forgot to ask for food today. Normally, he and Baby Girl will get to barking at like 7am to eat but, he just laid there. When I did feed him, he ate but, not in his usual excited manner.
In the picture, you can see he isn't the most cheery but, if you can imagine, he seems even less so today. Now, you have seen pictures of all my pooches!

Baby Girl, Rest in Peace

2007-05-15T09:58:00.000-07:00

Sadly, my Baby Girl (dog) died today. I know this is a downer. I hope to back to less sad topics after today. I just feel she needs to be acknowledged today. I love her and I truly miss her so much. My husband is really taking it very hard. Baby Girl is his first pet ever. He really loves her. I think we will go for a drive in her memory. She loves car trips. Peace, Baby Girl.

My poor Baby Girl.

2007-05-14T20:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I came home from what turned out to be a lovely party at my aunt's house, when I found my sweet dog Baby Girl had collapsed on the floor. She has diabetes and she was in diabetic shock. We rushed her to the emergency room and they said she wasn't stable. She is still there, in critical condition. She is an old girl (14 years old), but this is for us, hard none the less.
This has made it very hard for me to concentrate anything at all.
She is such a smart dog. If you ask her if she wants to go for a walk or if she wants a treat she will jump for joy, barking and caring on. If you then say, in the same pitch mind you, "do you want a bath?" She will lower her head, put her tail down and slowly hide away so you can't take her for a bath (she hates them). She is amazing. Call me crazy but, I think she has an amazing grasp of the English language.
Today, at the vet, as she lay on the examination table, we were discussing her "quality of life" and other such options when she began to whimper and lift her hind leg. It was as if she was saying, "do not give up on me just yet". The doctor says (out of Baby Girl's ear shot) that she has a 50/50 chance of pulling out of this. They don't really know her of course, I say it is more like 60/40 in her favor.
Before we got her, she had been through a lot. Her previous owner couldn't really care for her very well and had Baby Girl stay at other people's houses quite a bit. Normally she hated staying at these other people's houses. This is until she stayed with us. She was abused by some of the people she stayed with and someone even shot her (she has buck shot pellets through out her body, we found out from x-raying her). Even through all of that, another dog might have been angry, but she is as sweet as can be. Baby Girl is great with kids, cuddly in bed, potty trained, and very street smart.
One thing funny about her is, she won't do tricks. I know that the can understand what I am saying but, if you tell her to sit, she will look at you like, "Nope, I do what I want." We could never get past sit, so forget shake or roll over!
We will know more tomorrow. Until then we have hope. I know if God wants her, God gets her. He will take good care of her. It just stinks. I hate that dogs don't out live their owners. I know the picture is a little blurry, but recently, she is hard to take photos of. Even so, isn't she pretty?

Happy Mother's Day!

2007-05-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

I am having a busy weekend but, I didn't want to miss out on tell all the mothers out there to have a great mothers day! You deserve it!
Here are some flowers! Enjoy!

Schools out for summer!

2007-05-11T22:46:00.000-07:00

My last day of school was yesterday. Today is the first day free of due dates, the "I should do this" and "I should do that". Nice. Yesterday, I cleaned my office, and it was good.
Today, I was sitting and reflecting on my photography class and I realized that I learned a lot from that class. At the very least I learned that my dog Angel is yellow and nicely compliments my blue micro suede chair. Not because she is cute and my I like that chair, but because the colors (yellow and blue) are complimentary. Ok, I learned way more than that.

Taking pictures is fun.
It is a way to create art fast.
You don't have to show a bad photo to anyone.
Composition and focus are everything.
Take tons of pictures, at least some of them will be good, for sure.
Make sure your batteries are charged and you cleared off your memory card.
Macro mode, lighting, and aperture.
Use a tripod (if experts need them, so do you).
The power and usefulness of Adobe Bridge!

I know, that is not all I learned. I had spent much of the semester frustrated. I felt the class went excruciatingly slow. We spent a lot of time sitting around. Well, in retrospect, I really did learn so much. I am glad I toughed it through. I now feel I know my camera. That is why I went after all!

Soy Joy; really is nothing special.

2007-05-10T12:52:00.000-07:00

Imagine this; a strip of extra firm tofu, dried fruit poked in it, then baked until hard and brown. Oh yum! Right? Wrong! These are pretty yucky. The only thing they have going for them is the fact that they don't taste like a vitamin too.
I am looking for a gluten free energy bar, with out a ton of sugar, won't rip my teeth out, artificial sweetener free, doesn't taste like a vitamin dipped in chocolate and that doesn't contain 900 calories. Oh, and tastes good. Do those exist? Maybe I'll have invent that. Soy Joy is so not it!

Danununa! You say it's your Birthday, it's my Birthday too, ya!

2007-05-09T21:40:00.000-07:00

I wasn't sure I was even going to mention this, but yep, it's my birthday. It has been a good year. Life is on track and I am very happy (except for the pigeon thing has me a tad worried). I just wasn't sure it was blog worthy, is all. I did the requisite dinner out with the family, had DQ and spent the day doing exactly what I wanted (though the house is a mess and has been since I started school this semester). Oh! I also got to walk past the Lama rescue near my house. That is one of my favorite things to do these days.
It wasn't until I got two very pretty flower arrangements that I felt I needed to share this less than notable birthday with all of you. They are quite beautiful. The cake is from my Mother in Law. Luckily, she likes me (yep, it does happen!) and always knows just the present to get me to brighten my day. The bouquet is from my husband, who takes after his mom. Thank you Nancy and Stephen!! BTW Thanks mom and dad for your present too. If you want me take a picture of it and post it I will (I figured you wouldn't), but you had better tell me before I spend it!!!!

Guess who?

2007-05-09T12:22:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I was reading a book, I will review it later here, and they were saying I needed to picture what I wanted. Well, I am surely not a big girl by any means, but as we all know, everyone can use a little improvement. So, playing with Photoshop I did this. It isn't perfect but, that wasn't the point. I guess it is also a mark of success being on a red carpet, so this picture symbolizes several things for me. Don't laugh!
Can you guess who's body I am borrowing here?

2007-05-09T12:22:00.000-07:00

Organic Banana Tracker.

2007-05-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

Did you ever wonder where your banana came from? Ok, me neither. I mean, it is not that I don't care, I just never thought about it, much.
Now, if you buy organic Dole bananas, there is a farm number on the sticker. If you go to the Dole Organics website and type in the three digit farm code, you will find out where your banana comes from and how far it has traveled to get to you. Ahhhhhhhhh! The romance of it all!
There is also pictures including the people who grew your banana, too!

These are my banana's location stats-

Country: Ecuador

Farm Units: San Genaro, Las Mercedes and El Chorrón Farms.

Location: El Oro, Ecuador

Crops: Organic Bananas

Organic Certified since: 2005

I can even find the farm on Google Earth if I want to! Neato!
Now are you wondering where your banana came from?
I got this fabulous info about the banana on another blog a little while ago. I can't find the post or I would tell you (I am all for giving credit where credit is due). Sorry!

Some one diggs me!

2007-05-08T07:14:00.000-07:00

One my Suite 101 column, some one dug one of my articles! Actually, it has three diggs!
How fabulous!!

It is my Ultimate Smoothie article!

It is true, I drink that smoothie allot and all but, I really didn't expect it to be as popular as it is. It is my number one nutrition article!

Dead pigeons

2007-05-07T19:11:00.000-07:00

Lately, on my walks, I have noticed a lot of dead pigeons. They are not all in the same spot either. Today, there was one floating in the canal and just a wing (of a different bird) on the walking path. The other day, a baby bird, dead out side of my house, and another adult bird dead on the street a little ways down. I have even seen a few on the street when I am driving. I can't bring myself to photograph any of them to show you. That would be sick.
I know in recent years, Arizona has been seeing more and more pigeons. A few houses in my area have had problems with them nesting on their roofs and making a huge mess. I wonder if it possible that someone is poisoning them. Could all these birds be getting sick? Call me a tad paranoid in the day of the "bird flu" and West Nile virus. I also saw on the news we have a new breed of mosquito that is more aggressive and harder to get rid of then the usual ones. Super bugs? Oh my!
I was looking around on line and in Arizona, they said to call animal control for all birds, except for pigeons. So, is it just expected that they will be dead all over the city, so who cares?
Another possibility; I am cursed and this is the first sign? I don't remember crossing a black cat, breaking a mirror, or getting hexed by a witch so, who knows, maybe I wasn't paying attention. Though, I don't know which is worse, the environment is cursed or just me.
A flower for the sacrificed ones.

Confessions of a VH1 junkie.

2007-05-07T08:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, I am going to confess, I am a VH1 junkie. I love those celeb-reality shows. The new Celebrity Fit Club just started a couple of weeks ago and as with seasons past, promises to be an interesting one. It is actually a very inspiring show. Knowing that even Marsha Brady and Tiffany (the mall girl) struggles with their weight makes it just that much easier to cope with your own weight issues.
As with all the celeb reality shows, it is also sad when, some one that you thought was a nice sweet person (because of the character they played on TV) is a total jerk. On Fit Club, it is Dustin Diamond (Screech on Saved By the Bell). If you loved Saved By the Bell, you may want to skip Fit Club, because Dustin kills it for Screech. He is just a plain jerk!
My little rant for the day. I saw the show right before bed. Maybe I won't do that again so, I am not forced to admit my deepest darkest secrets to my three readers.
:)

Sugar Addiction: Suite 101

2007-05-06T10:38:00.000-07:00

I just posted an article about sugar addiction on Suite 101. Check out!

Sugar Addiction

I also have a poll (only one question, don't worry) about tapioca inspired by a school project I recently did.
Just go to the Nutrition Section and scroll all the way down. Bonus, if you go there you will see a picture of me with my hair down. I have very curly hair. So, doesn't that alone make it worth it to visit my Suite 101 section?
The picture here is to remind you to try stevia in you coffee this week. Try it with a dash of cinnamon, it really is quite good, you'll see!

Stay Educated

2007-05-05T21:50:00.000-07:00

Last night I was watching 20/20 and they were busting all kinds of common myths.One of the myths was that ethanol is a good earth friendly alternative to fossil fuels. The shock for me, was the claim that the growth and production of ethanol could hurt the environment more than help it. Then, I ran across this article on the USA today web site.
I think that the point here is that we have to keep pushing ahead and stay educated. The best thing to do is use less gas. It is easy to do. Get a car with good gas mileage, and drive less.
Shame on our politicians on both sides of the isle for pushing something down our throat that surely won't help anyone except the corn farmers and the producers of the ethanol! If we let them get away with this, even they will regret the short lifespan of the planet. Even if they got rich doing it!!!
If you are wondering, that is my Prius.

Feeling green today!

2007-05-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

I am feeling a little green today. My son wanted to go to his friend's house today so, my and my husband took him via bike ride. His friend is about three miles away. It was fun except, my son complained a bit about how I was going the wrong way half the time. I know the earth really appreciated it so it was worth it. After that, my husband and I road down the canal behind our home. It is so pretty back there. There is miles and miles of bicycle paths. We did 17 miles when it was all said and done! We passed dogs, horses, cows, bulls, ducks (and other birds) and Lamas (yes, there is a lama rescue near my house and I didn't even know it until a a week or two ago)!! Amazing! You would think that I live out in the country, but I don't.

I think that biking is my new favorite thing to do! It really is fun. Actually, funner than when I was a kid because, now I can go as far as I want to. I was so depressed recently, that I couldn't run anymore (due to back problems) but, I think that I can do this the rest of my life! Yippy! The photo is of a portion of the canal near my home. I plan on taking my camera with me on a ride so I can share the wonder that is near my home. My only problem is, my husband gets bored when I am taking so many photos. Can't blame him. He is just stuck waiting around. Happy weekend!!!

Coffee and Health

2007-05-04T07:45:00.000-07:00

Is coffee good for us? Or is it making us fat and wrinkled?

Here is a pro argument for coffee.
Harvard Health Publications.
"The latest research has not only confirmed that moderate coffee consumption doesn't cause harm, it's also uncovered possible benefits. Studies show that the risk for type 2 diabetes is lower among regular coffee drinkers than among those who don't drink it. Also, coffee may reduce the risk of developing gallstones, discourage the development of colon cancer, improve cognitive function, reduce the risk of liver damage in people at high risk for liver disease, and reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease. Coffee has also been shown to improve endurance performance in long-duration physical activities."

Here is the con view.

Oprah, Dr Perricone, and Green Tea
Dr. Perricone says drinking coffee raises insulin levels. If this is true, coffee causes you to crave sugar. This would also directly conflict with the Harvard research that has stated it helps prevent type two diabetes. This would mean it did not have a negative effect on blood sugar or insulin.

To be honest I don't know what to believe. I fear that in ten years we will all be saying it is as bad and addictive as cigarettes. At one time cigarettes where considered somewhat healthy! Then, it was thought cigarettes were not that bad and now the are dubbed cancer sticks.
The picture included is my yummy morning (precious) peruvian blend, organic coffee with stevia and milk.
For now, I plan on trusting Harvard (even though they did pass Bush through and let him graduate from their school:))

Bing Drinking Shrinks the Brain.

2007-05-03T10:56:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is really not news at all. Anyone who has met a bing drinker knows that.
Check out the link, because the picture is hilarious!!!
Bing Drinking Shrinks the Brain.
Just looking at it makes you never want to tip the bottle again!

Me the tree hugger!

2007-05-03T10:37:00.000-07:00

I just added my picture to the site. There is one of me on my Suite 101 site, so I have nothing to hide. This is a self portrait. I put the timer on my camera and did this puppy myself. I really hate pictures of myself. I figure, life is really about getting over yourself so here I am trying to do just that. I kind of look like I am hugging a tree here. It may seem that I did that on purpose, but I didn't, I promise you. I just knew the lighting was decent here because earlier, I did pictures of my other family members here. It really is a great tree. I plan on taking more pictures of it.

My Ultimate Smoothie!

2007-05-02T07:11:00.000-07:00

If you have ever eaten at my house for breakfast, you would know, I make a fantastic smoothie. I don't need to humble, people have told me that.
On my Suite 101 site I spilled all of the secrets.

Ultimate Breakfast Smoothie
I didn't mention this in the article, because it is personal, but I also throw in some gummy vitamins after I make the smoothie. It makes a delicious chewy treat! I also always eat some nuts (5 to 7) on the side, just because they are good for me.

Today I took a picture so everyone could see it. I hope you can see how thick it is. The key, no ice! Ice is bad, bad, bad, in a smoothie. Just say no to ice! I would have done the picture for Suite but they don't take pictures (that's changing, yippy!)

What is Dairy Queen ice cream made of?

2007-05-01T09:03:00.000-07:00

On a recent road trip, me and my boys stopped to get an official Arizona treat, Dairy Queen! As I was eating my snicker blizzard, all I could think about was how the ice cream was made. To my dismay, I began to lose my appetite. I was figuring there was probably nothing good in my blizzard. I thought it was probably full of partially hydrogenated this and high fructose that. If this quote is true, I am gleefully wrong!

"Dairy Queen ice cream is made from whole milk, cream, milk solids, sugar, vanilla, and a natural stabilizer. It is pasteurized and homogenized. It comes to the store in a liquid form and is pumped into the machine where it is frozen down to 18º F for serving. Dairy Queen mix contains only 5% butterfat (the same as it has been since 1940) while ice cream and frozen custard are 10% or more. So, DQ soft serve has fewer calories."

It may not be total health food but, there are definitely worse things out there! I really wish they would come out with the frozen yogurt again though!

Interesting facts about Milk

2007-04-30T10:40:00.000-07:00

Recently, I saw a post about the questionable practices of Horizon. It got me thinking about some facts I have learned recently about milk in one of my classes.
Milk is actually a very processed food. After the cow has been milked, the fat is removed from ALL of the milk. Then, it is put back in to make 1%, 2%, and 4% (whole) milk. After that it is homogenized to prevent the milk from separating. Lastly, it is pasteurized before it is packaged. Bet you thought milk was a "whole" "unprocessed" food, didn't you?
If you don't buy organic- add to the fact that it is filled with antibiotics and added hormones! Actually, if you want to get technical, all milk has hormones. That is a natural part of milk. If it is not organic then it has more hormones that are added by the farmer.

Are you gay?

2007-04-29T16:35:00.000-07:00

How funny! I finally put add sense on my sight and the first ad is- Gay- Are You?
I wonder what on my sight would make them ask that? I am actually flattered! Maybe it is the wonderful design or the flower? Maybe it all the environmental stuff. Who knows!

Organic foods.

2007-04-20T14:42:00.000-07:00

Buying organic foods is near and dear to my heart. I think it is good for the body and the soul.

Buying Organic

My article outlines the benefits of buying organic for the earth and our health.

Feeling sorry for myself

2007-04-16T08:26:00.000-07:00

Today I woke up with my hips hurting. I am so mad. I started this new training program and I have had hip issues before but, I thought that if I took it slow, I would not have pain. Lucky, my husband is very supportive and is encouraging me to go to get new shoes. The kind you get measured for and all of that. He is so my rock!

Basic Supplements: Suite 101 article.

2007-04-15T13:47:00.000-07:00

I get tons of questions about supplements. So, I decided to write about what I think a basic supplement routine should include.

http://nutrition.suite101.com/article.cfm/basic_supplements

Enjoy!

BTW, a little while ago I switched to being the Nutrition Feature Writer instead of
the Allergies writer on Suite 101.

treehugger quiz and veggie meals

2007-03-01T08:28:00.000-08:00

Today I took the tree hugger quiz. I found out that I am at 4.1 earths or 24 acres. Below average but, not below enough. I am going to really have to work on this. I made a list of all the things I am going to try and continue to do the stuff that is feasible for my family to continue. I also started working on being vegetarian until dinner. I made a yummy veggie soup for lunches. It is also good because I can use up any stray veggies I have in the fridge and so there is less waste. I also plan to (without exactly saying anything to my family) have to vegetarian dinners a week. This will be a challenge since my husband is a meat and cookies type of eater. I think that my first attempt will be pizza. It is easy just to leave off the meat and grind up a few veggies. Also. maybe I could cook a meal like a whole chicken and use parts of it all week in various dishes. That would be less waste and less meat possibly. I would like to see my family make sandwiches out of a chicken or something like that just to avoid the nitrates!
I'll post my list soon. It will take a while to type it in.

We got a Prius!

2007-02-28T06:45:00.000-08:00

Well we had a crazy couple of days. After years of discussing it, we decided we needed to test drive the Prius. Well, that of course sold us on it. It is quite a little car.It took forever. We were there for hours. Car dealers need to really streamline their processes a little bit. It was also stressful because I didn't enjoy the high pressure sales tactics of the finance guy trying to sell us a warranty. We had to tell him no like eight times. Ridiculously! In addition we had to sign enough paperwork to kill a couple of trees. It was all giving me a headache. But, it does feel great driving it. So far- no buyers remorse. It feels good to buy within your value system, I guess. Also, it has tons of neato features. Things for your phone, buttons for you garage doors. I'll get a picture of it and post here soon! It really is a par of the family. I think we are going to have to name it or something!

Sure start.

2007-02-25T14:58:00.000-08:00

It may seem that I am off to a weak start but, I did go away for the weekend. We went on a road trip, because of my commitment to this blog I thought about it all weekend.
We brought home a bag of recyclables. Me and my husband talked allot about hybrid vehicles and how we were going to go about getting one. Today I was at the store and wanted some chapstick. I was at target and was just about to put one in my cart when it occurred to me that there was a ridiculous amount of unnecessary packaging around the chapstick. We only need a plastic tube, not a some plastic bubble or a box that goes directly into the trash when I get home. I'll get some somewhere else that sells it with out the box!

Finally! I thought of something.

2007-02-22T07:48:00.000-08:00

I was having the hardest time trying to figure out what to do with this blog. I was so inspired to do something after I saw An Inconvenient Truth. I was already doing somethings. We recycle, use EF bulbs, eat allot of organic foods. I know this is really not enough. Sure for some this would be a leap but, for me this is just part of my day.
Well, anyway the point is I am no expert on the environment or what people should do.
So, I decided that I can use this blog to lead by example. So I am putting it out there that starting today- I am committing to doing one thing for the environment everyday for a year, even if it just for the experience of doing it once. If I am not hear to blog about it I will post an update once I am so that everything that I am doing is documented. My first order of business is to come with a list as long as I can make it so I have something to go on for the year. I hope to get some readers to eventually cheer me on!

Hardest addiction to kick.

2007-02-12T05:50:00.000-08:00

For me, the hardest addiction to kick is sugar. Why is that I don't know. Last night I tossed and turned. I just didn't sleep very well. I think it is because, my husband got candy and I just could stop eating it. It is weird. How do you kick that. I feel like an addict out of control. I have no trouble giving up so many other things.
In the morning I have such resolve. I have no trouble sticking to healthy breakfast. In the afternoon, my resolve begins to wane and by evening I begin the bargaining. I tell my self that tomorrow I will be better- blah blah. How do I change this. I do feel a bit helpless. I know that I need to take it one day at a time. I must say, this is harder than quitting smoking for me. I was able to quit smoking cold turkey after smoking two packs a day. Go figure!

Guilty pleasure :)

2007-02-11T12:44:00.000-08:00

Today I was watching that show on VH1 "The Sureal Life: Fame Games. It is a really bad show but, I have to say C.C. Deville- very cute! I was never a fan of Poison but, oh baby he is cute and sweet. I do not know why. He just seems so sweet. I don't know how it happened but, I am hooked on all of those Sureal Life shows. I can't believe I am admitting it here. It is just some of the people I knew as a child are on that show and I get to see how they might really be.

What to do?

2007-02-08T07:56:00.000-08:00

I am really not sure what to do with this site. I keep changing my mind. Do I use it for my personal portal to link all that I do, or do I make it strictly environmental topics? I am just not sure. I need a personal spot to link all that I do. I could write environment articles for Griffy's site, or another and link it to both. Who knows? All I know is that I need to spend more time on this and less time being indecisive! It really doesn't matter as long as I am writing! Right! I think that this will be my person blog. This is my gut. I need a place for all of those things to link to. The environment is important to me and I find that the name is intriguing.

Plastic Recycling

2007-01-30T05:13:00.000-08:00

In my neighborhood, we have a pretty good recycling program. We have a recycling can the same size as our trash can. They take plastic (1-6), paper, cardboard, cans, and glass. We don't even have to sort it. They will do that for us at the plant. I was curious to know the different between the plastics. I even thought I would include some definitions here but, all the numbers mean are that each have different properties and the melting temperatures are different. While this is an interesting tidbit, it really doesn't warrant defining each one. I think that most major cities have a recycling program. If yours doesn't- why not? There should be one!
If yours does- then use it! It is really not that hard to recycle, once you are in the program!

The hang of it.

2007-01-29T19:38:00.000-08:00

It is taking me a while but, I think I am finally getting the hang of things in the online world. It is odd that only a few (maybe mare than just a few) years ago, I went to school for Multimedia and I made web pages! Now, in some ways it is even easier and I am here like a total newbie. I think that my education has helped me a little here but, it is much like fumbling around in the dark for the light switch. I just click on things until I finally get what I want. I added all the links to my articles on suite. I have high hopes for this job. I really want it to be the spring board for my writing career.
On top of everything else in my life, I also turned my living room into my office. It really is the perfect place, out of the way from the rest of the family. I have quiet time and it really is m own space. This is the first time in 10 years that I have a place is just my own. It may not have a door per se but, it is great and it is mine. I also love how it looks if I don't say so myself. With Stephen's support, I did a little decorating and got a nice couch and some book shelves. It is nice. I'll show you some pictures. Excuse my messy desk. I am in the middle of using it!
It seems my shelves are especially photogenic. :)