Blue Raspberry Sky

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...

I'm taking the Personal Finances class in the Self Reliant courses that are offered by the church and enjoying them very much.  A lot of it is review for me, but that doesn't mean I'm not learning anything.  In fact, I have come to understand some principles in a deeper way, and I find myself doing things that I "should" have done long ago;  things I knew I needed and wanted to do, but never seemed to find the time or remember. Don't underestimate the power of a positive group environment.  And even if you think you already know all there is to know about this stuff...  trust me.  The Lord can teach you more.  ;) One of the things I struggle with is the balance of TIME.  Finances too...  but I'll get to that later after I do the budget.  I want to share something about time.  If you've ever listened to Dave Ramsey or taken a course on finances, you've probably heard the concept of: 1) Receive Income --> 2) Pay Tithes a...

61 lbs. released a few wks ago I've been really busy the past few weeks, and I totally spaced posting on the blog.  I've been out camping with my family, taking the kids to hoards of testing for dyslexia, ADHD and Autism, IEP meetings, taught several lessons on Astronomy, bought a new car because the old one just finally wasn't cutting it anymore, so forth and so on.  I wish I could say I've been writing, but alas, that is finally coming into balance again.  It's been a rough road. I'm really excited, though, because through all that stress, especially a road trip, I stuck to my "Bright Lines" (Bright Lines = no sugar, no flour, weigh food and eat only 3 times a day unless you have a medical condition, which I don't), and not only have I not gained a pound back, I've lost four.  :) There is a principle I want to share with you in Bright Line Eating called "REZOOM."  Basically, people fall off the wagon whether it's ...

One of my childhood faves I have a vivid imagination. Always have! I will tell you, I do come by it honestly. My Grandmother tells stories of my Dad tucking a sheet into his shirt, climbing to the roof, and jumping off, believing he was Superman. No broken bones, he just figured out that you really had to be from the planet Krypton in order to fly. Well, already being predisposed to this type of fanciful imagination, I remember a few important movies/TV shows that effected my play. In the pool, I would only swim with my feet together, kicking like Darryl Hannah in  Splash . I wasn't in the pool in the back yard or at a pool party... I was a beautiful mermaid swimming in the depths of the ocean near the city of Atlantis. How I loved to watch my hair float around my face! I could swim for hours that way, completely oblivious to the antics of the other kids around me. Then there was  Star Wars ! I had my favorite white t-shirt I had taken from my dad's chest of dra...

Lester Langley WWII Army Sergeant  Before he met and married my grandma. I have a lot of stress in my life right now.  Things aren't going so hot with my boys.  There are days I feel like I'm going to crack in half.  Life isn't always easy, and sometimes, it's downright hard.  I find my mind thinking about my grandpa a lot lately.  A LOT.  I don't even know what to say, and this is my meme!  I just know that I miss him.  He died when I was sixteen and I think I've grieved ever since.   10 things I hope my kids remember about  him when I'm gone: 1.  I loved him so very much.  He made me a Winnie the Pooh house when I was two.  I kept it until a dog destroyed it about 7 years ago.  He sang "You Are My Sunshine" to my sister and I...  and also played it and other tunes on the harmonica. 2.  Once when I was three (and remember it to this day) I ran into the kitchen because I thou...