Summer Weather problems

My heart and prayers go out to all those families who are being affected by the tornados and flooding, as well as hot temps. Here in Southern California, the temps are beginning to rise again, it was in the high 80's today. I am so grateful for air conditioning! I am still trying new recipes from the Cruise Control Diet plan and using healthy foods and cooking from scratch as much as possible. Today's meal was homemade chili and cornbread. It turned out really good and I have more than enough for lunch tomorrow :) That's my plan is to make enough for dinner so that I also will have sone for lunch the next day. Well today's quote is: "Originality is simply a pair of fresh eyes." Cleric and writer, Thomas Wentworth Higginson

Cooking healthy and lovin'it!

So my son and I have been trying to eat more healthy and have been starting to ease ourselves into the Cruise Control Diet which allows us to eat a lot of great cool foods along with some of the ones we like and don't really want to give up! I'm a chocoholic and don't want to give it up but for the first month, starting June 1st, I'm going to go organic chocolate, or at least only eat the dark chocolate that is at least 85% or more cocoa. I am able to have 3 squares of chocolate for dessert up to 3 times a week during the first month, then I'll be able to have some of the delicious desserts on the diet like chocolate mug cake, cookies, and some of the other great-sounding foods. We can eat things, which we've already tried, like cashew chicken, enchiladas, expresso-rubbed steak, and lemon chicken kale salad. They were great! The book has over 50 recipes to choose from and gives a guide as to when to eat and what foods will help boost your metabolism. I'm also participating in the suggested intermittent fasting for 12-16 hrs. a day. It works for my schedule so I fast from 9pm-10,11,12,or 1 and then I can eat certain foods to snack on during the fasting time and start having my meals after my fast. I am also an avid tea drinker and am able to drink as much herbal tea as I want anytime. I use organic honey or Stevia to sweeten my tea and then I'm good. We'll see in a month how this goes. I'll let everyone know weekly how it's looking! My quote for the day: "The most rewarding things you can do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done." Golfer, Arnold Palmer

Healthy Living

Everyone wants to live healthy for the most part. My children and I are doing what we can to do just that. My son and I have been trying to cut out sugar (replacing it with Stevia and Swerve) and eat more vegetables and a few fruits but not too much since most fruits do have a lot of natural sugar! I always thought fruit was good for you but not if you are trying to lose weight! My son, of course, doesn't need to lose weight. He just wants to build up his muscles and put on a little more weight. We exercise and give ourselves some 'Me' time to do things we like, as well as doing things together. Most of all, we give time in our lives to our Lord Jesus. To honor Him in as much of our lives as we can. I'm also starting the Cruise Control Diet next week, which includes not only exercising and eating better at the right times of the day, but includes 16 hours (mostly during the night) of intermittent fasting. We'll see how it goes. I think this could be the way to go!

Memorial Day: The Gateway To Summer

Summer is almost here and plans are being made! My children and I are planning the first trip of summer to Las Vegas. We haven't been in years and are going to check out Circus Circus (which we have never checked out)! I also heard that Lake Tahoe's Zephyr Cove now is offering Airstream Camping and has them onsite to rent this year!! Great idea and something to think about for those that like camping but want to break out of that motel habit and get back to nature. They have cute little campsites with a bbq, firepit, and free s'mores kit. Can't ask for more than that! Oh, and my latest book, "Mana, Pa, and Me" is now available on Kindle for free (only a short time, then for $0.99) so check it out and let me know how you like it. So my quote of the day is authored by actress, Lily Tomlin: "The best mind-altering drug is truth."

New book!

As I promised yesterday, here is a snippet from the short story that I put on Kindle today and will be released in the next couple of days, I believe for a short time it will be free, then only $0.99! The book is called: Mana, Pa, and Me. " When I was five, Mana and Pa moved closer to the beach and into a park with lots of grandpas and grandmas. Mana said they didn't want to have so much to take care of anymore. We got to see them more often when we moved down. While Mom worked, Mana and Pa would pick me up after school and we would take walks on the beach sometimes. It was fun to skim rocks across the water at the inlet. I liked Mana and Pa's new house. Their park had two pools, a basketball court, and a clubhouse where Pa taught me how to shoot pool and play ping-pong. Some days we would go swimming and other days we would go shoot hoops. Pa and I would pick somewhere to stand and then aim and try to make a basket. He said I did pretty good for a little guy." So, I hope you all like the little teaser of what's to come. It is a short but sweet story that will captivate the hearts of many, young and old, so please get it, share it, and let me know how you like it. I will release one of my books every other month so keep watching! Thanks!

New Experiences

So here it is, time to release one of my children's books onto Kindle! It will be released Friday and is called "Mana, Pa and Me". It is a story based on my son's relationship with his grandparents and told from his viewpoint as he starts from toddler to teenager, up until his grandpa passes. It happened on his 14th birthday so this story is in memory of my dad. It's been five years and we still love and miss him terribly! The book will be free for a little while so I hope everyone checks it out and lets me know how they like it! I will post some parts of it tomorrow, before it is released, as well as parts from some of the other books I release in the future before their release dates. Hopefully, it does well. Time will tell. And now, for my quote of the day: "I would rather be able to appreciate things I cannot have, than have things I cannot appreciate." Writer/Philosopher E.L Hubbard

Busy Lives

Well, it's of course been longer than I expected since my last post. School is getting busier as we wrap up the end of the year, testing, meetings, and I was at the coast with middle-schoolers for Outdoor science Camp at Camp Keep: a wonderful environmental education camp for kids that our charter school, Learn 4 Life pays for and buses the kids there for a week. I just got back this past weekend, in time to enjoy Cinco de Mayo with some of my family and friends, and then start back to school. We only have 5 weeks of school left, prom is this week, graduation for high school is in 2 weeks, and then 8th grade graduation, and then school is out and we teachers take a one-week break before coming back to prepare for summer school! The publishing company I spoke about in my last post had a lot of bad reviews and wanted me to pay a lot of money for their services, which I found out through my investigative research, and also heard that they do not provide all the services they had told me I would get. Authors said they had a hard time getting the royalties they were promised, if they got any at all, and so I decided I wasn't going to take that chance. I'll continue working on my writing projects for Outskirts Press, Hallmark, and any others I may get. I heard something the other day that goes along with the quote I am going to add to today's post. A woman said go out into the world and be intentionally kind, not randomly. I thought about that and found this quote: "Allow me to be a blessing to you and allow yourself to be a blessing to others." The author is cancer survivor John Coonley. I couldn't have said it better myself:)