Can science & religion coexist?

Over the years I have struggled with my own spiritual beliefs. At one point I even asked my ex-husband, if he believed in God. If you know my him and his intolerance for proselytizing, you too would have been as shocked as I was to hear him say Yes. In my astonishment, I prodded him further. He said not only did he believe in God, but he KNEW God existed. I questioned him even further..."how do you KNOW that God exists?" Expecting a one hour "Jimmy Answer" based on a laundry lists of facts and historical examples, and the reiteration of his last point, he again surprised me. He opened his arms out in guesture, referencing all that surrounds us, and said "I don't know what s/he looks like, or what form it is in, but whatever created all this - is God".

This was the most simple explanation, yet made absolute sense to me, but I still have a hard time reconciling my own beliefs. I think that my struggle is rooted in two different reasons.

The first would be my own childhood, as a child I felt like my mom pushed religion down our throats. She felt responsible for our religious teachings, which I now understand, but I think the lessons would have been more constructive if she didn't follow a cult-like sect of the Catholic religion known as the "Bayside Movement". I think her 'selfless' giving of herself and any possessions we ever had to the church (and if you know how poor we were growing up, you would know it was very little), instead of using those resources to feed, clothe, and house her children, also turned me away from organized religion.

The second reason I think I have pushed away is the way I have seen people, especially public figures, lobbyists, politicians, and anyone else that wants to push their agenda in a specific direction without allowing open debate, have used religion as a debate ending exclamation mark.

As someone who is outspoken, but loves the opportunity to have a real exchange of differing ideas, I get so disappointed when religion is brought into the conversation to make a point. I mean, how do you argue with religion and not sound like an A-hole? I just feel like once religion is brought into the discussion, the discussion is ended because there is nowhere to go with it, without it becoming extremely personal.

This brings me to my question, can science and relgion coexist?

I guess I don't understand why people would want to deny Global Warming. What is the reasoning that Sarah Palin or Fox News feel so strongly against the possibility of Global Warming. Why is it so hard to believe that all of the polution we produce is hurting our environment? I don't understand why this is a political debate.

I try to look at it from what we DO know. We know as a fact that the Earth has its own atmosphere. Think of it as a plastic snow globe. Now, place a large rock in the snow globe, fill it half with water, then freeze it. Then we're going to place a heat lamp directly outside of it to reprsent the sun. Now, let's place some wood chips in there and burn them to represent fossil fuel. As they burn, the outside of the globe (the atmosphere) gets thin. The thinner the plastic globe gets, the more heat gets through the globe and the faster it warms up the ice and melts it. The more it the ice melts, the less surface of the rock is visible. It is a pretty easy and simple experiment to complete.

So my question is why global warming is being disputed? I have tried to google why it is being disputed and some of the articles say that Global Warming itself is not being disputed, but instead the rate of the warming is being disputed. Other articles I have read say that Global Warming is being disputed because of the ties with Global Warming being related to the consumption of oil and coal for energy use. The use of oil and coal for energy is a hot political debate, and maybe the side of the political spectrum that you fall on for that issue is the same side you fall on for Global Warming?

The other issue I have seen is a religious division. Bare with me while I try to decipher the articles I have read on this, and please correct me if I am misinterprating them. Those that deny Global Warming based on Religious beliefs, do so because it places Humans in a position of power over the Earth and the destruction of it, whereas many religions believe that only God has that power.

So, my question comes up again. Can religion and science coexist? Why can't God have the ultimate power because God placed us here on this Earth and gave us Free Will. Then allowed us to run with it, whether we caused our own destruction or not, is ultimately up to us and our Will.



I'd love to hear others opinions on this subject!

Twilight: The Book versus The Movie

The book:
An amazing love story between Edward and Bella. The feeling was slow, drawn out, you were able to feel every part of the character. The words spoken between Bella and Edward were slow, thoughtful, and not rushed. You could feel the electricity between the characters.

The movie:
Felt like a low budget, Made For TV movie. The characters were rushed, the speech was forced, disconnected, and surfaced. You could never break through the surface of the characters. It was like a narrated story where you say, this happened, then this, and then this. I understand they were trying to fit a 498 page book into 2 hours, but some scenes could have been skipped in order to allow more time for the development of the lead characters. There was no need for 4 to 5 scenes of the Tracker clan to show that they were dangerous. There could have been a short 40 second montage and then a premonition through Alice's eyes. The movie overplayed Bella's relationship with her father and mother, and underplayed her relationship with Edward. The backstory could have been told in narration through her emails to her mother (very similiar to how the director of the New Moon did this with Bella's emails to Alice), the way it was in the Twilight book.

Overall, for those two people out there who have not read the book or seen the movie yet, I advise watching the movie first, then reading the book. Otherwise, you will be highly disappointed. :-(

New Moon Review

Over the past year, I have heard about the Twilight books, and the movies. To be completely honest, a book or movie about vampires never really interested me. I have very specific interests in books and movies, and even more so, very specific genres that I don't like. I hate sci-fi, scary, or unreal genres. However, I thought about maybe reading the books, just because EVERYONE was talking about them, and I wanted to know what the big deal was about.

I never did get around to reading them, which is why when I was asked if I wanted to see the movie New Moon, I was slightly hesitant. I decided to go though, despite my presumptions that I wouldn't like the movie. I decided to go because of the company. I REALLY enjoy hanging out with the ladies, and even if it is to watch something I will not like, I wanted to go just to be in such wonderful people's presence. ...And the fact that Taylor Lautner's hot body would be posted 40 foot screen, didn't hurt matters any either. ;-)

Before the movie, us girls went to get mani-pedi's. I admitted to my Mrs. Robinson crush on Taylor Lautner and how that was a main motivation to see the movie.

When we got to the theatre, we had to wait in line, even though we already had tickets. Everyone was excited, you could feel the movie cult excitement, and it was contagious.

When I finally got to my seat, the theatre was packed. You could feel the excitement. I decided that feeling the excitement and hanging out with the girls would make this worth while, even if I ended up not liking the movie. I also must note that I believe there were less than 10 guys in the whole theatre! LOL.

After seeing the movie, I HIGHLY recommend it. I recommend it, not only for those TwiHard fans, but for everyone. This movie has everything you need for the perfect movie.

For people like me, who are not into vampires and werewolves, this is a Love Story first and foremost. The fact that the people are Vampires and Werewolves is just a side item to the story. The real story is the love triangle between Edward, Bella, and Jacob.

Another thing I must note is that this story is impecably written! The story takes you on the roller coaster that any good story does. You feel the characters. You feel their saddness, happiness, love, and even more so...their LUST.

In the movie, Bella is torn between the undying love she has for Edward, and her undying friendship love for Jacob. Both Edward and Jacob are madly in love with Bella. Edward must leave Bella and never see her again to protect her for from being killed. As long as his arch nemesis knows his depth of love for Bella, Bella's life is in danger. After a complete heart break, Bella spends time with Jacob in order to heal. Jacob lives near Bella and has apparently been in love with her for years. His love only grows more intense as he spends time with her. While Bella loves Jacob too, she loves Edward even more, and lives and breaths to hold onto Edward's memory.

Throughout the movie, you feel Jacob's desire, and anyone that is Team Jacob gets aggravated at the tease that Bella is. I don't want to reveal who gets the girl in the end because the polarization of the two teams is part of the fun of the movie.

One thing I was extremely surprised about, is the amount of humor in this movie, both written into the script, and the humor experienced by watching and reflecting on the audience. There is a point in the movie where the character Jacob (Taylor Lautner) first takes off his shirt. At the very second that he reveals his abs, the WHOLE theatre gasps in excitement and admiration. (Including myself...hehehe) At this point, my group of girls dies laughing at the response of the audience (including me, at myself!). LOL.

I cannot tell you how great of a movie this is. You do not have to read the books or see the previous movie to see New Moon, but just enjoy it for the story that it is within itself. With that said, I have to admit that I do now want to read the books, and see the other movie.

Part of the appeal of this story is the love and desire that these characters have for each other. I think this resonates in girls because it is the love and desire that we all want to feel. I highly recommend everyone to see New Moon. The guys will love it for the action and the girls will love it for the love story.

Turkey Marinade

Ingredients:
• 1 stick butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
• 1 can of Orange juice concentrate thawed
• 6 cloves of garlic chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons of Rosemary
• 8 lemons juiced (save de-juice lemon to stuff inside turkey!)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper

Preparation:
Chop Thyme, Rosemary, & Garlic. Cut Lemons in half and juice, making sure to remove the seeds. Stuff the Turkey with the Lemons after they’ve been squeezed. Combine everything except butter in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Rub turkey with butter, then place some of the butter cut into slices inside Turkey. Cut slices into Turkey with knife to allow marinade to get inside turkey. Pour marinade over turkey, placing pieces of the garlic inside the cut slices and marinade overnight.

Position oven rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 325°F.

Roast turkey until golden, basting occasionally with pan drippings, about 2 hours. Cover entire turkey loosely with heavy-duty foil and roast until meat thermometer inserted into innermost part of thigh registers 180°F or until juices run clear when thickest part of thigh is pierced with skewer, basting occasionally with pan juices, about 1 1/2 hours longer. Transfer turkey to platter. Tent turkey with foil and let stand to set.

Time to End Don't Ask, Don't Tell

The majority of the people that still care about maintaining the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy are conservatives that have never served in the military. Currently, “three-quarters of Americans support allowing gays to serve in the military, whether they "tell" or not” (ABCNews). Those that have actually served in the military, especially in a combat zone, know that a person’s sexuality is one of the furthest things from their mind. So, why are we still keeping a policy that only a minority of the population supports?

We have now seen that a Soldier’s sexual orientation does not determine the kind of Soldier that he will be. We have seen exemplary service from them. One example is SGT Darren Manzella, who served a in a deployment in 2005, then served his 15-month deployment with his unit knowing he was gay. It only became a problem when he agreed to be interviewed by the Service Members Legal Defense Network for a story on those affected by the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Over the next seven months, Manzella returned from deployment, spent time with family, testified on Capital Hill regarding Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. He was even given orders to go to his next duty station, Fort Drum. Only a week after receiving his orders, he was called into his Commanders office and told he was being discharged from the Army under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy.

SGT Manzella was a Combat proven Soldier. With his discharge, the Army lost all of the money that they spent training him, and even more valuable, they lost his experience. I just don’t see how we can continue to uphold Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell when we have seen that the Soldier and their Unit have no problem with serving side by side. As one former Soldier told me “it is much preferred by anyone, who has actually served, to serve with a competent, reliable person who you know is going to look out for you, regardless of sexual orientation”.

As a former Soldier myself, who has served with gays and lesbians, I have found it no different than serving with anyone else. I even served with two women in my Unit who had been in a relationship and lived together for years. The kept their military life professional. I found going to the field with them, living in barracks, or even, oh, dare I say it, showering in the same common showers, as no different as any other Soldier I served beside.

Another example is Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, who has honorable served 18 years as an Officer in the Air Force. “Fehrenbach’s experience as an instructor-level weapons systems officer included time in both the F-15E Strike Eagle and the EF-111 Raven. Missions took him over Baghdad during the 2003 invasion, above Afghanistan in 2002 and into the Balkans for Operation Allied Force in 1999. He has 2,180 flying hours, nine Air Medals — one for heroism — and five Air Force Commendation Medals” (Air Force Times), yet he is now being discharged after a civilian acquaintance identified him as gay to military officials. The amount of money spent training Lt. Col Fehrenbach, along with his invaluable experience and heroics, is a great loss to the Air Force.

In a time when we are still fighting two wars, and our military being stretched so thin, I find it appalling that the military is willing to give up such valuable Soldiers and experience for the discriminating views of such a small minority. It is time to finally put an end Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

Lowfat Mocha Coffee

Ingredients:
3/4 cup of regular black coffee
1/2 cup of nonfat milk
1 packet of splenda
1/2 tbsp of sugar free chocolate syrup
1 serving of Reddi Whip (100 grams)

Directions:
While coffee is brewing, add one package of splenda, 1/2 tbs of chocolate syrup, and 1/2 cup of milk into a coffee cup and stir. Heat in microwave on high for 1 minute, remove and fill to the top of the cup with coffee. Top off with Reddi Whip.

Nutritional Info:
Servings Per Recipe: 1
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 148.4
Total Fat: 0.2 g
Cholesterol: 18.5 mg
Sodium: 151.7 mg
Total Carbs: 33.2 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.4 g
Protein: 7.4 g

Stuffed Zucchini & Tomatoes

I should start off with saying that this would have been a WHOLE lot easier with a food processor.

Ingredients:

1 cup of Cherry Tomatoes
3 Zucchini
2 cups of cauliflower
1 cup of nonfat cottage cheese
1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup of shredded parmesan cheese
1 tbsp of italian seasoning
1/4 tsp of pepper
dash of salt


I started off by taking a melon baller and removing the inside of the zucchini to make little boats.



I then cut up and cooked the inside of the zucchini that I had scooped out, along with the garlic.


While that cooked down until the zucchini was tender, I steamed the cauliflower. You can also use Bird's Eye bagged cauliflower that you steam in the bag to make this a little easier and faster.


Next, I mixed the zucchini & garlic mixture with the cauliflower with a mixer.


And added the cottage cheese, italian seasoning, salt & pepper and mixed.


Then added all of the grated parmesan cheese and half of the shredded parmesan cheese, mixed together, then stuffed the mixture into the zucchini boats and tomatoes, and sprinkled the remaining shredded parmesan cheese on top.


Finally, I placed them in the oven at 350 degrees Farenheit for 20 minutes and served hot.

Nutritional Info:
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 122.3
Total Fat: 4.4 g
Cholesterol: 13.5 mg
Sodium: 603.9 mg
Total Carbs: 8.1 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.1 g
Protein: 13.2 g

The American Dream....just a Fairy Tale

Growing up, I was taught to work hard and give 150%. I bought into the Protestant Work Ethic, and the American Dream, where anyone can succeed if they work hard enough and get a good education. I heard stories of companies that valued their employees. Where the employee wanted to work hard and help their employer succeed, and in return for their loyalty, the companies valued their employees, treated them like family and helped and supported them in hard times. The companies and employees worked hand in hand to help a business succeed in times of recession. Companies didn't layoff thousands of employees because profits had dropped a little, instead, they worked with their employees on plans to turn the business around. Or worse...when profits were still rising, companies didn't layoff half the workforce and work the other half to death, just in hopes of a 1% increase in profits.

I grew up believing that if I worked hard, and received a good education, then my future and career would be successful. I believed this was the key to success, but all it was, was a fairy tale. Instead companies function on Contingent workforces, where the same work is performed by professional, college educated employees without benefits or any certain future. Eventually, their Contingent assignment will end or they will be laid off. Women make up two-thirds of the Contingent Workforce. This isn't surprising since women historically are under employed and under paid. The Contingent workforce is the new way employers keep women underpaid.

I am saddened to see that everything I grew up believing was a lie. I'm saddened by the way hard working people are thrown by the way side, to make just a few more bucks. I'm especially saddened when I see MY company do this very thing…when I know the people being laid off, and know how good they are. I'm saddened that in a town, where jobs are few and far between, these laid off former Contingent employees will struggle to keep their roof over their head. I'm saddened when I see one of the sweetest girls I've ever met, who has worked her butt off working 40+ hours a week, while going to school full time, and was told that she would be back after the shut down; I'm saddened to see a Personnel Movement Authorization Document for this person, with her assignment permanently ending. She grew up in this small town with hopes of one day making a career at John Deere. I'm saddened for her dream that is now lost; for her dream that was just a fairy tale.

How Lil Wayne could have saved my Life.

Ok, so this might be a little like the 6 Degrees of Separation game, but follow along anyway. :-)

This past weekend, while painting, I was listening to E!'s biography on Lil Wayne in the background. I was actually amazed at his life, ambition, and his talent as a rapper. Often we only see the outside appearance of a person, what they allow us to see, or the news stories where they are caught behaving badly. We don't really see the full person. I equate this to how little we really know our aquaintances....or, let's face it, our Facebook 'friends'.

On the show, I learned that he started rapping at 8...yes, I said 8! And he was signed to a label at 12! He was in the gifted program in school, until he dropped out at 14. Despite dropping out of school, he eventually earned his GED and enrolled at the University of Houston in 2005, earning high grades and majoring in Political Science. I was also surprised to learn that he was the original person to coined the term "bling" while recording one of his albums.

So, what does all of this have to do with me? During the interview he was asked about his rumored drug use. He noted that he uses marijuana recreationally, but that he was no longer addicted to the "purple juice". The narrator explained that "purple juice" was a reference to his addiction to cough syrup. This actually perked my ears up. I had studied many drugs in my Criminology classes, but had never heard of anyone being addicted to cough syrup. I was also interested because I often treat my allergies with Nyquil (it is a cheaper alternative to allergy medicine since it has an antihistimine in it).

After researching addiction to cough syrup online, I found out that the addiction is to the codeine in the cough syrup. It is cheaper than most drugs, and legal. One thing I also found during my research was that certain common medications can be deadly when taken in conjunction with cough syrup. One of those being another over-the-counter allergy medications I often take! Cough syrup taken in conjunction with Claritin can be deadly. I can't tell you how many times I have taken this combination.

I used to be on allergy shots when we were on military health insurance, but since switching to the Corporate world, I now have United Health Care. I pay $1,000 per month for premiums, and since the deductible is $5,000, I end up paying for 100% of my own doctor visits, medicines, xrays, etc. After getting the bill for my first month of allergy shots ($500), I stopped getting the shots and started self treating with over-the-counter medication. I usually take Sudafed when stopped up during the day, Claritin as a preventative measure, and NyQuil at night because of the antihistimine it contains. I can't tell you how many times I have often taken them all together, when I am suffering really bad from allergies. Thanks to Lil Wayne, I now know how dangerous that is, and how lucky I am to still be alive.

Thanks Lil Wayne for saving my life!

Painting makes me depressed.

(Editors note: too tired to make sense, so here's some very random and out of place thoughts on the subject.)

I'm not sure why, and I just discovered it. Though I'm not sure if it's the painting that makes me depressed or the fact that I get motivated to paint when I get anxious to move. Maybe it's being anxious to move that makes me depressed.

When we first moved here, I painted with a fury. I was often home alone with Kennedy, and had just moved to a new place. I was very lonely, and therefore, depressed. I painted knowing that we were not going to live here for very long. I painted, so we could sell the house. Anyone that has bought and sold a house in a short period of time knows that you have to raise the value enough to cover the realtor's fees. So, I had to put raise the value of our house $12,000 in a market with falling values.

So, I painted.

And painted.

And painted. Six full rooms, and a hallway. I painted everything...walls, ceiling, trim. Man, do you know how long that takes? To do it right?

I swear this house is held together with paint.

I finally stopped painting when I got a job. I was working, getting out of the house, and therefore happy.

Well, a year later, I'm painting again. I'm itching to get out of this house. The enormous mortgage, along with my outrageous student loans, and 2 months of layoffs has made me have to pinch pennies. It sucks.

Someone came to look at the house Thursday. I drove by while they were here and saw what they looked like. Then yesterday (Saturday), there was a car that drove in front of our house and stopped and looked. I swear it was the same couple that came to look at the house (but anyone that knows me knows that my facial recognition sucks). I would love for them to buy the house, but I've shown it enough not to get my hopes up.

However, their looking has made me motivated to finish up the painting that I started. Something to give them (or any other perspectives) the extra push.

Painting was fun the first 5 minutes, but motivation was soon lost. Damn, why did I start? Now I HAVE to finish it, and have no motivation or energy to do so. I'm done painting for today. It's already put me in a bad mood, and I'm trying to not take it out on others.

Blah.

Lunch: Veggie Olio

Ingredients:
1 c. Spaghetti (whole wheat)
1 tbsp Olive oil
2 tsp Garlic (chopped)
5 leaves Basil (fresh)
5 Cherry Tomatoes
2 tbsp Green onion
1/2 Green Bell Pepper


Directions:
Cook spaghetti according to package.

Chop Vegetables to desired size & sautee Olive oil, Garlic, Basil, Cherry Tomatoes, Green onion, Green Bell Pepper over medium heat for 5 minutes. Drain pasta and add to vegetables. Toss to mix. Then plate and serve.



Nutrition Facts

Veggie Olio

Serving Size: 1 serving

Amount Per Serving
Calories 413.3
Total Fat 21.2 g
Saturated Fat 2.9 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2.1 g
Monounsaturated Fat 15.0 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 7.7 mg
Potassium 530.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate 51.0 g
Dietary Fiber 9.1 g
Sugars 5.5 g
Protein 10.0 g

Mexican Corn Cake

The first time I tried to make this, I didn't get it quite right. So, I revamped the recipe a little, and O.M.G. this is good!

Ingredients:

1 box of Jiffy corn bread mix
1 egg
1 can of cream corn
1 can of Mexican corn
1/2 cup of brown sugar (packed)
1/2 cup of milk

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix. Spray and 8x8 baking pan with non-stick spray and pour in mixture. Cook in a preheated oven at 400F for 20 minutes.

Dressing a Stylish Kid for Less

1. Buy special pieces. Its okay to spend a little more on one or two special pieces that you can mix and match with cheaper pieces.
2. Don’t preseason shop. Boutiques and stores display the next season’s clothes at full price. If you wait a month for the season, those items will usually be On Sale! In particular, Children’s Place and Gymboree change their collections often and try to rotate them through their stores every month or two, so they usually have a large amount of sale items.
3. Buy neutrals at discount stores. Solid tank tops, tee shirts, sweaters, skirts, and pants are sold at all prices. Unless there is something special (see Rule 1), there is no sense in paying top dollar for the same thing you can get at bargain basement prices!
4. Buy sweaters and tights. Sweaters and tights can extend a summer dress into fall and spring.
5. Mix & Match. Just because an outfit is sold together, doesn’t mean it has to stay together. Extend your child’s wardrobe by taking a special 2 piece outfit and mixing and matching it with inexpensive neutrals.
6. Buy a ½ to 1 size larger. Kids grow fast, and many retailers have taken that into consideration by making bottoms with the adjustable waistband. This will allow your child to wear clothes for longer. Clothes with adjustable waistbands are great for children who have little a little waist and a little more bottom. Don’t you wish adult clothes came like this??!!
7. Accessorize. You accessorize yourself, so why not accessorize your child! Changing the accessories can change an outfit. Accessories can be added to cost conscious neutrals to make the outfit a little more special and appear a little more expensive.
8. Don’t be afraid to overdress. Who says a little girl can’t play in a dress? The Amish do it all the time. Inexpensive sundresses to the park will bring style to any little girl. Not into dresses, then accessorize. Faux pearls can make a tee shirt and shorts look posh. Boys can accessorize too! Try a colored pair of sunglasses or a cool hat.
9. It’s okay to spend extra on items your kid will wear often. A lot of kids have 2 or more bathing suits. Last year, so did my daughter. Each were $15 or under. This year, I saw one online that was exceptionally cute. It was $35, which for me is too much for a bathing suit. However, it was so cute that I knew I would want her to wear it every time we went swimming. I spent the extra money, and it is the only bathing suit she got this year. It’s so cute that I will be handing it down to my niece, who is a year younger, for next summer!
10. Don’t buy anything you don’t LOVE. Just like it is a waste of money to buy something for yourself that you don’t love because you won’t wear it, the same goes for what you put your child in. If you don’t like the item, you are less likely to put them in it. It doesn’t matter if it is $2 or $200, if it doesn’t get worn, then it’s not worth buying.

Here is an example of special pieces. I bought this skirt and sweater at Gymboree, on sale of course! The skirt was originally $29 and I paid $9.99 and the sweater was originally $38 and I paid $14.99 for it. The skirt I got in season. It was from their spring collection which they displayed in February. I bought it on sale in April!



Here's the detail on the sweater...love it! I will also pair this with some dark jeans for her this fall and winter.



Here's an example of a solid tank bought at Wal-Mart mixed with the Gymboree skirt. The shoes I got at the Dollar store for $2!! They had VERY similar ones at Children's Place for $15. The only difference was the CP ones were open toe, which Kennedy can't wear to school anyway. I have gotten soooooo much use out of those $2 shoes. I bought them in both pink and purple.



And here's the same outfit with silver Target shoes.



For early fall or spring, I use a simple white long sleeve tee shirt from either Wal-Mart of Target, accessorized with a hot pink necklace.



For late fall, I would add an inexpensive sweater I bought from Wal-Mart (purchased on sale after Easter!). For winter, I would just add a pair of white or pink tights.



Accessorized differently.



This time with a necklace.



This dress was $6 from either Wal-Mart or Target, it's an example of a nice sundress she would wear to the park.



I found this sweater today at K-Mart. It was 30% off, so I got it for $7.00!!



Here's it paired with the dress (accessorized 2 different ways). My daughter can't wear spaghetti straps to school, so this sweater will definitely get a lot of use.





Lastly, here's my daughter in Wal-Mart or Target shorts and tank at the park. She accessorized herself!

Fruit Cobbler Dump Cake

Since I've only been working Monday's lately, I have been very interested in cooking. I think mostly because it takes me away from the other tasks that I really need to do, but don't enjoy (i.e. mowing the lawn, cleaning, laundry, patching up walls, building new front steps, and did I mention laundry?!).

I had dump cake for the first time in my life a little under a year ago. At first bite, I thought, "O.M.G. this is GOOD!" I asked how it was made and they said, dump a can of fruit, spring a box of cake mix, and pour a melted stick of butter over it and bake. Easy enough. Except, the stick of butter doesn't go very well with my diet. So, I went to the internet and looked at a whole bunch of dump cake and low fat/calorie cake recipes. I decided to combine a few of the items and come up with a low cal/low fat dump cake. It is actually more like a cobbler in texture, so don't be scared that it's not done. I can't rave enough about how well this turned out. Soooo delish!



Ingredients:

1 Box of Cake Mixture (I used Betty Crocker Yellow Cake)
2 15 oz cans of fruit (I used one peach and one fruit cocktail, but you can use
whatever you prefer or substitute with one can 30 oz can of fruit pie
filling)
1 12 oz can of Diet Soda (I used Diet Red Code Mt. Dew)

Directions:

Spray just the bottom of a 9x13 cake pan with fat free non stick spray. Dump cans of fruit in pan, juice and all. Sprinkle the box of cake mix over the fruit. Then pour can of soda over the cake mix. Do NOT mix, that's why it's called DUMP cake! :-) Finally, cover and bake at 350F for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes. Makes 12 servings. 195 calories per serving.

Not just a Princess

I cannot tell you how excited and proud I am of the little girl I am raising. I have always prided myself on my own dueling personality. I love all of the girly things in life, but also have been a mechanic in the Army and can give any man a run for his money in carpentry. That's probably why I am so proud of my little sporty girly girl!

Today Kennedy had her first T Ball practice EVER. I was so amazed at how much of a natural talent she had. She went for every ball, hit the ball hard, and ran faster than the boys!

So, while she still has to have her hair fixed everyday, doesn't like to be dirty for too long after she's finished playing, and would rather buy a new pair of shoes anyday before a toy, she's also a tough girl, with a competitive side! I am just beaming with pride.

So proud of my little girl!

After finding out in January that a fellow graduate of mine's daughter was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, I wanted to help in some way. I also thought it was a good way to teach Kennedy empathy.

I started an on-going conversation with her about how sometimes people get sick. I introduced her to this little girl through pictures, and tried to explain her story as best as I could in 3 year old terms. I explained that her and the little girl were the same age, and how they had things in common. For instance, they both liked Dora and love doggies!

I wanted her to connect with the little girl, and feel. We then talked about how we could help. I remembered how another fellow graduate's daughter had donated her hair. I asked Kennedy if she would be willing to do that. I explained to her how her hair could help make a wig that would make someone sick very happy. She was very excited to help.

I looked online about how to donate, and read the requirements for length. We measured her hair, and it wasn't long enough yet. Every month we'd measure her hair. Finally, this weekend we measured, and it was long enough!

All week we had been trying to explain to her Memorial Day, and teaching her how other's have been selfless and given a lot to their country. I showed her pictures of her Mommy & Daddy in uniform. Even the one where I'm 8 months pregnant with her! (Which noone else will EVER see!)

Since her hair was finally long enough, I decided that a great way to celebrate Memorial Day would be for her to have her first lesson in giving back. I started hyping it up, asking her if she still wanted to donate her hair. I told her over and over again how proud I was of her, and how much this would mean to someone else who needed her hair very much. And as she sat in the salon chair, getting ready to, and even during having her hair cut, I could see the pride on her face. And I've never been more proud myself!


Hugs,
Theresa

An Enormous Heart Filled with LOVE

Before I had my daughter, I had never imagined how strong and all encompassing love can be. Sure, I had felt love for my husband, but the love of a child…your child, is different. Sometimes I look at her, and can feel my heart swell with love. The feeling of warm chills flowing through your veins…making you a little light headed. And just when I feel like there is no way I can love her more, my heart grows bigger.

I RAN my first 5K!!

Well…I did it! I ran my first 5K Run yesterday. I’ve never been a runner. I forced myself to do it when I was graduating college and getting ready to join the Army National Guard. In the months up to joining, I found it extremely difficult to run, but loved the feeling afterwards. That changed though when I joined the Army.

Training was a killer for me. As someone who has never been a runner, or stick thin, I was slow. Not just normal slow, but severely slow. Like, people could speed walk beside me as I run, slow. Then it came time to take my first physical fitness test (PT test). This only confirmed that I was slower than two old people…well…you know how the saying goes. It took me 25 minutes to run 2 miles! I was embarrassed and humiliated. I was placed in group D for all the formation runs. D for Damn slow! For someone who is a perfectionist and had always pushed herself, this was extremely upsetting. There were words of encouragement, and the hope of someday moving up to a faster group. Ahhh…yes…something to strive for!

After about a month of running and pushing myself to improve, I felt I was ready to move up to Group C. This was my big chance. When it was time to get in our groups, I went over to Group C. The run began fine, but shortly into it I began to fall behind. I was told by Drill Sgt. Ellis to get to the front. Oh no! This was my worst fear. Everyone was going to pace off of me! So for the rest of the 20 minute run we ALL ran slow. I could hear the complaints behind me, from people wanting to run faster. At the end of the run, I was pulled to the side and yelled at in front of everyone for joining Group C, and banned for the rest of training to Group D.

My run never got much better for the rest of the 2 months I was there. As a matter of fact, after one long ruck march (where you carry a 30-40 lb ruck sack on your back), my run got worse. I now had a terrible pain in my right hip. I refused to get it checked out because one of the biggest fears in training is not repelling off of a 50 ft wall, but being recycled! If you were recycled for any reason, including an injury, you’d have to do this all over again with another company! I pushed through the pain, and tried my best. The final PT test was around the corner, and I was determined to pass. The day of the run, I pushed myself hard. I barely failed….by literally 3 seconds! I’m not kidding you. That PT test is still in my military file. Three lousy seconds!

I would get another chance to take it. The next day we did our last ruck march….15K! (9.35 miles) We marched out early that morning, and arrived by lunch time. We ate, set up our hooches (a tent made with a plastic poncho), dug ourselves a shallow fox hole, ate dinner, then spent half of the night pulling guard duty of one sort or another. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining about this. Under normal circumstances, I actually enjoy this kind of stuff. But this wasn’t normally circumstances. The next morning, they got us up at 5:00AM, and drove us back to the Battalion to retake the PT test! Yes, I got to retake my PT test….after taking the first one, hiking 15K with a 35 lb ruck sack the next day, then taking another PT test the following day! Not the idea situation, and obviously I didn’t pass again.

I eventually passed the test after some rest. I also later found out that the pain in my hip was a broken hip! Yep, I had stress fractures in my hip that I had been running on for a long time. Believe it or not, hip injuries are a common injury for females in Army training (if you want to learn more, there’s an article here: http://ajs.sagepub.com/content/8/4/265.abstract). Needless to say, this didn’t help with my hatred of running, which is why running this 5K was such a big deal to me.

This time, I chose to run. I decided how I would train for it, and I decided how I would test myself. For the control freak in me, this was satisfying.

Now, when I run, I run for me. I run without peer pressure…without scrutiny. And for the first time in a long time, I love to run again! I’m planning my next 5K in October. I don’t plan on stopping then either. My goal is to run a mini-marathon (13 miles) in the next year or so, then run a marathon with one of my former Drill Sgt’s (not the one in the story above) to his retirement!

Preparing for my 1st 5K

Well, it's been a while since I have posted here. I really want to post more often. Let's see what has happened since I've been on here last. I got a different job (closer to what I want to do) with the same company. What else...let's see...yeah, that's about it. What do you expect, I live in Iowa!

One thing I've been doing for the past month in a half is preparing to run my first 5K! I've only been running 3 days a week, but have been trying to increase the amount of time that I run at once. I decided after getting out of the Army, that I wasn't going to put pressure on myself to run fast anymore because it discourages me from running at all. So, I've just focused on running period.

I ran the run path today, and timed myself. My only goal next week is to beat that time. I'm going for a personal best. Well...if you can call it a personal best when it is only the second time running it. LOL.