Blue Raspberry Sky

I have been hesitant to write about religious things for a long time now.  I guess you might say I allowed the opinions of others to bother me...  I didn't want to be one of those that trivialized the scriptures, or made life seem more perfect than it is.  Being LDS does not mean everything is going to go smooth in your life.  It's more realistic to say that it doesn't. But I was listening to a 2017 Time Out For Women talk, and in it Laurel C Day  showed a clip of an address that Elder Holland gave.  He said, "Be of good cheer.  We are COMMANDED to be of good cheer."  And I thought to myself, "Oops."  I know that's something I've been lacking in, so I started looking for ways to have "good cheer," and I remembered that sharing what I've learned about gospel principles makes me happy.  So I'm going to write this, and I am just going to hope that even though I tend to wax long winded on gospel subjects, it will be okay to th...

Today's yummy  BLE lunch I restarted my BLE journey several times in the months of November and December.  I couldn't seem to get grounded.  I'd start in the morning, and by the time evening rolled around I was popping chocolates out of the Russell Stover boxes I had bought for the kids.  There's a term I started saying to myself: "Bad Mommy." New Years rolled around and I got better, but still struggling.  Struggling with chips, chocolate and fruit snacks.  That's it!  Just eliminate those three things from the planet and I was fine.  Except I'm not.  It was a really, really hard fall.   And then the other night I really poured my heart out to Heavenly Father.  I told him I was drowning, that I wasn't doing super hot with this diet thing anymore, and I really needed some strength from beyond myself.  I felt like I was in chaos, and I wanted peace.  This morning this thought came to me: "In that...

The weather in Idaho has been less than friendly this autumn.  Crazy amounts of wind have caused havoc on the roads, an early snowfall froze our leaves so that they fell before the really brilliant colors came out, and temperatures have ranged in the 40's and 50's during the day only to dip below freezing at night. I'm going to blame the weather, because I may have gone overboard with hot cocoa.  One of our local grocery stores had a sale on it, and I bought two cans of everything:  Hot Apple Cider, Mint Truffle Cocoa, Cookies and Creme Cocoa, White Chocolate Cocoa, Peppermint Cocoa, Roasted Hazelnut Cocoa, Toasted Coconut Cocoa, Milk Chocolate Cocoa with Marshmallows, Salted Caramel Cocoa, Peanut Butter Cocoa, Raspberry Creme Cocoa and Chocolate Covered Cherry Cocoa.  I don't know why I did it, but I'm calling it a mommy moment. Mommy moments are when you do something rash that seemed reasonable at the time.  I have these moments when I have thoughts lik...

Have you ever found yourself in an anxious state, where in your mind you feel yourself out of sorts?  Reading is boring, there's nothing good to watch, my usual interests have no hold on me, and annnnd...   I can't focus to write.   I pick up a few things around my room.  Get distracted and pluck my eyebrows.  Then I change my clothes, maybe take a shower.  Then I sit down again.  Then I get up.  Open the fridge.  Remind myself I don't eat to relieve stress anymore.  Go kiss the kiddo.  Sit down to write.  Start all over again. Yes, I have been known to take three showers in one day.  😕 The best thing I know to get focused is to talk it out.  Sometimes I make a phone call, and sometimes one of my kids will sit on the edge of my bed to listen to my rantings.  Primarily when I get like this it's over a plot hole I've discovered in a novel I'm working on, so verbally sifting through the h...

Last night my sister-in-law told me about some cookies she made for her kids.  I got excited because that was a recipe *I* could do for myself...  for breakfast!  With a little tweeking, of course.  ;) Here's the original recipe: 2 mashed bananas 1 cup oats Chocolate chips to taste. Stir together, drop on cookie sheet (I greased mine) and bake at 360 for 15 min.  She doubled her recipe and made two dozen. For BLE breakfast (What I ate): 6 oz banana (weighed, then mashed) 1 oz oatmeal some shakes of cinnamon and nutmeg Same - stirred together, dropped on cookie sheet and baked same degree for same amt of time.  Finished off with an 8 oz glass of milk...  Cookies for breakfast, and still losing weight the healthy way!  :) FYI - I am at 71 lbs lost...  last month was excruciating!  I cheated just a little for General Conference and then I found myself eating just tiny little bits of stuff we don't eat on the plan.  I ...

When I started Bright Line Eating, I was amazed at the beautiful food I got to eat.  Not even kidding!  There's something about the deep greens of spinach against the yellow cherry tomatoes, red peppers, and white onions... and so forth.  Or a beautiful plate of spaghetti squash and meatballs.  The first time I sank my teeth into spaghetti squash?  Oh. My. Gosh.  So yum! All Bright Line Eating (BLE) recipes are simple because we weigh everything.  Here is my favorite tuna salad recipe (made for lunch): 4 oz of romaine salad mix, spinach, cherry tomatoes, & bell peppers (any color) 1 oz pickle, finely chopped 1 oz onion, finely chopped 1/2 oz mayo 1 boiled egg, peeled and smashed 2 oz tuna Arrange the 4 oz of salad veggies on the plate.  Mix the pickle and onion together with the mayo, egg and tuna.  Scoop on top of the salad greens.  Serve with your choice of 6 oz fruit (my favorite with Tuna salad is grapes).  En...