Ramblings of an author, editor, media reviewer, homeschooling mommy, and headless chicken.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Book Review: Juniper Crescent by Tony Graff
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Completely Awesome Fitness Giveaway
Prizes Include:
Experienced and beginner yoga packages from Hugger Mugger
Two MIO Global Active Watches
Three months online personal training from Fitcore Fitness
Three Lebert Stretch Straps
Fitness Apparel from Running Chics
One pair of running shoes from Altra Zero Drop
iFrogz Earbuds and Armbands
Six month adult membership: Smithfield Recreation Center
One month membership: Crossfit UAC
Autographed copy of Dead Running by Cami Checketts
Win one of these amazing prizes simply by following this blog or liking my Facebook page and leaving a comment below. Please visit each of our sponsors’ websites at the links above or below to learn more about their products and decide which one you’d like to win. While you’re at their site, like their page or follow their blog to show our gratitude for their donation to this fun blogfest. You can enter on as many different blogs as you like, a list of the participating blogs is featured at the end of this post.
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Lebert Fitness Website Like Lebert Fitness on Facebook
Flexibility and mobility are two vital components of fitness. The Lebert Stretch Strap™ is a simple, innovative tool that will allow you to stretch more comfortably and hold that stretch longer!
Two $50 Gift Certificates to spend on Running Chics fitness apparel.
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iFrogz Armbands and Earbuds - Value: $175.00
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iFrogz is native to Cache Valley and offers awesome accessories for your iPods, iPhones, and iPads.
Six month adult membership - Value: $157
Smithfield Recreation Website - Smithfield Rec. on Facebook
One Month Membership - Value: $90.00 Crossfit’s Website - Crossfit on Facebook *Available in Cache Valley only
Dead Running Autographed Copy Donated by Cami Checketts Buy Now
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Book Review: Motherhood Matters by Connie E. Sokol
Connie E. Sokol, popular presenter and guru of all things motherhood, had just taken her oldest child to college and her youngest for the first day of school when she found out she was pregnant, with her seventh, and she herself was 45 years old. Surprised, she wondered what the universe had in store for her, but she accepted it all with excitement and good humor, and found joy in her journey even while going through unexpected morning sickness and swollen ankles.
Motherhood Matters is a short collection of Connie's thoughts about the divinity of motherhood, the precious gifts our children are to us, and the importance of appreciating all those wonderful moments that go along with having children. She shares funny stories from raising her own children and includes experiences from her friends' lives as well. I enjoyed this quick read one quiet Sunday afternoon and felt a little more motivated to get started on the tasks of the next week.
I did feel that some of the topics could have been expanded just a bit - the book was like nibbling at a refreshment table rather than sitting down to a full-course meal, because each chapter was around two pages long, but we don't always need long treatises. If you're looking for a quick, uplifting, lighthearted read, this will brighten your day, and would be an excellent Mother's Day or birthday gift for the special mothers in your life - and friends, and daughters, and aunts, and cousins ...
You can purchase your copy here.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Malnutrition in America
It has been said that Americans are overfed and undernourished. I'm the poster child for the truth of this statement. Like all sweeping generalities, there are exceptions, but right now, every single state in the nation has an obesity rate of more than 30% of its adult population, so the things I'm about to say will probably ring true with at least some of my readers today.
We are blessed with food in abundance that few other nations of the world can rival. Our grocery stores are filled to the brim all the time, and if they're out of something, a new shipment will come in at midnight. However, much of that food is boxed, canned, and processed, all of which reduces its nutrient value. We get plenty to eat - and some of us get more than enough to eat - and yet our bodies are not receiving the kinds of nutrition they should. Pesticides on our produce break down the nutrition. Antibiotics in our meats break down our nutrition. When we take a look at what we're eating and we break it down to a cellular level, many people are not getting the nourishment their cells need to function properly.
I said I was the poster child for this - let me explain what I mean.
I was raised eating whole grain bread, cracked wheat hot cereal, apples, carrots - all good, healthy stuff, right? But we didn't eat meat very often, or other sources of protein. When I got older and was out on my own for meals more often, I did start to eat meat, but only once in a while - I still enjoyed bread products, and I have always enjoyed sugar, so that consumption went up as well. I married and got pregnant for the first time, and was told by my midwife that I was so severely anemic that she couldn't agree to deliver my baby unless I got my iron levels up because I'd bleed to death. She got me eating protein and iron every single day, and I was able to get my levels where they should be in time, but I'd had no idea how depleted I was until she told me.
Fast forward about eight years. The bones in my feet started popping out of alignment, and my chiropractor was kept very busy putting them back in. I spent a month completely off my feet one summer because the swelling in the foot simply would not go down, and it was impossible to put any weight on it without excruciating pain. Come forward in time to last fall. I experienced the same symptoms, and this time went to a new doctor, who found a hairline fracture in the foot. I have no doubt the foot was fractured the previous time, too - it felt exactly the same. I spent about six weeks totally off my feet, trundling around in a wheelchair - which was kind of fun in some ways, and kind of not in others - and eventually healed up.
Fast forward again to March 8th of this year. I stood up from my desk chair and went to change the laundry. I had taken maybe three steps before I felt something snap in my foot. Yes, the same foot I broke last fall. Yes, the same foot I most likely broke a few years ago. I called my doctor, who told me that I not only broke the foot, but I had damaged the tissues as well. He put a cast on the foot and told me I could be in it for up to eight weeks.
Two nights later, I was lying flat on my back in bed with my foot in the air, and I lifted the leg a little to adjust it on its pillows, and felt something snap in my ankle. I had just broken a tendon, lying in bed, barely moving.
How? How does a person break a bone walking out of their bedroom? How does a person break a tendon lying in bed? The kind of tissue damage I have right now usually accompanies a running injury or a severely twisted ankle - at the very least, an injury that comes from saving a child from a speeding train and thereby becoming a hero and making the pain worth it. How had I injured myself so severely when basically all I did was stand up?
Malnutrition.
With my lifetime diet of grains and no protein, fruits and vegetables but no calcium, I had depleted all my bones, ligaments, tendons, and tissues. Eating large amounts of grain spikes your insulin, which attacks your bones. By not balancing my diet with enough protein, I hadn't given my body the ingredients it needed to create muscles and tendons. If you were to look at me a year ago, weighing three hundred pounds, you would not have said that I was malnourished. You'd laugh and probably snort a little. "Oh, sure, she's malnourished, all right." Kind of like Ursula in The Little Mermaid, I was wasting away to practically nothing, but I was obese. I was eating the foods that made me fat, and I was not eating the foods that could build me up. And the saddest part? I didn't know it.
Me at 300 lbs.I've had several good long talks with my doctor, and he has explained all this to me and helped figure out the status of my body and my nutrition. He has put me on some really good supplements to build up my bones and ligaments, and I've changed my diet drastically. I'm not perfect, but I'm a great deal closer to it than I was a year ago.
So, what happens from here on out? I'm out of the cast and I'm now in an ankle brace. I can put some weight on the foot, but I'm not walking by any means. And I just might break the foot again if I'm not careful. I can rebuild my body and I'm in the process of doing it right now. But it will take time. It will be about a year before my bones are strong, like they should have been my whole life. We're also working on getting my muscle core strengthened through diet and exercise. I'm basically starting from scratch, and someday I will be strong. For right now, I still have to be careful. I've broken the foot twice (and I believe three times, although I don't have documentation for the first time) and with it taking a year to rebuild my bones, I could break it again in a month or two months or nine weeks. This is one of the consequences I'm experiencing as a result of an entire lifetime of malnutrition.
I'm sharing this story for two reasons - first, because people keep asking me how I broke my foot. Well, I broke it standing up. The second reason is that I'm hoping to inspire you to take a look at your own nutrition and make sure that you are getting the proper amounts of everything you need. I didn't realize how bad off I was, and I wish someone had told me. My mom thought she had raised me to be as healthy as possible, and she's now having guilt because she didn't know. The fact is, a great many of us are in the same boat. We think we're doing everything we can, and yet, we may be missing something important, and we may end up finding it out in a very painful way.
So please, take good care of your nutrition. Make it a priority. If you take supplements, do some research and make sure they're good for your body and aren't just pretty pink pills. Eat enough protein. Eat a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Listen to the signals your body gives you. I've had my wake-up call - please let this be one for you so you can start to prevent things from happening to you instead of having to go through them for yourself.I'm not saying that you'll start breaking bones and tendons - your body and mine are very different, and you'd likely not experience the same things - but there are so many illnesses and conditions that come about because of lack of nutrition, and I don't want to see any of my friends suffer in that way. Eat right, take care of yourselves, and let's stay healthy together.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Book Review - Heaven Is Here by Stephanie Nielson
Stephanie and Christian had a romance that most young girls dream of--he was the handsome and dashing prince who rode in and swept her off her feet, and she was the beautiful, quirky girl who loved red lipstick and high heels. They married in the temple and started a beautiful family. Stephanie loved being a mother and spent her time creating meals and decorating her house and totally immersing herself in the experience. With four sweet children and a wonderful husband, a supportive extended family, and her faith in Jesus Christ, she felt as though she had everything she could possibly want.
Christian had always wanted to fly, and when the chance came for him to get his pilot's license, he jumped at it. He made good friends with Doug, his flight instructor, and spent hours in the cockpit. He was close to getting his license and achieving his lifelong dream in August of 2008, when he asked Stephanie and Doug to fly with him to the family ranch. It would be a quick day trip and they'd be back before dinner. Stephanie hugged her kids goodbye and headed out the door, feeling sad that her two-year-old had asked her not to go.
They had a fun day together and Stephanie was so excited to see her husband in the pilot's seat. As they took off to come home, however, something went wrong with the plane, and it crashed and caught fire. Stephanie's body was 80% burned, and Christian was not only burned as well, but suffered a broken back. Doug lived a short time, but then passed away.
What follows is a heart-wrenching story of guilt, pain, and recovery. Stephanie was in a medically induced coma for four months as the doctors worked diligently to save her life. They performed skin grafting surgeries every few days while she slept--the pain would have been too great to bear. Christian was in a nearby hospital undergoing much the same thing, and their children went to live with Stephanie's sisters. When Stephanie awoke, it was to find that her life would never be the same again, and she would have to go through trials of pain, endurance, hope, and faith like she had never imagined.
This book is very honest. Stephanie doesn't put herself forward as a heroine--she shares exactly what she was thinking, how she felt, the very real emotions she experienced as she went through therapy, more surgery, learning how to do everything over again, reconnecting with her children. This honesty, however, makes her a heroine of the best and truest sort.
I have a small scar on one knuckle on my right hand. I brushed my finger against the iron one day, and the pain was intense. It radiated up my arm and into my shoulder for days. When I try to comprehend what Stephanie and Christian went through, being so badly burned over such large percentages of their bodies, I can't fathom it. I can't picture how they survived, how they endured it. Stephanie has no doubt how she survived, however. She knows she was saved by the hand of God, and that He has walked beside her through the whole process.
One thing that is not mentioned in the book is the way she has turned her blog into a massive missionary effort. If you visit http://nieniedialogues.com/, you can request a copy of The Book of Mormon, which she will personally inscribe with her testimony. She has turned her tragedy into a ray of hope.
Heaven is Here is an amazing book about an amazing person and family. You will be inspired, you will cry, you will appreciate life so much more, and you will grab your children and your spouse and squeeze them a little tighter. Most of all, you will come to a greater understanding of the Lord's tender mercies and realize how they are granted in your life every single day.
(I received a copy of this book from the publisher for my review, but that did not influence my opinion.)
Sunday, April 08, 2012
What Does Tristi Eat?
It's true that my new diet is perplexing. We've all been raised to eat according to the food pyramid, and the thought of doing anything contrary to it is kind of out there. It's also true that my new diet is working. I haven't been able to weigh for almost a month because I broke my foot, and getting on a scale with a cast on would probably make me fall off the scale and need a cast on the other foot, but the last weight I have to report is a loss of 84 pounds, and that's really significant. Not only am I losing weight, but my overall health is a lot better as well. (I mean, except for the whole car accident thing, and then the whole breaking the foot thing. But those are totally unrelated.)
So, what do I eat?
Simply put, I eat meat, eggs, vegetables (except potatoes and corn), nuts and seeds (except peanuts), and some raw dairy. Now that my pancreas is doing so much better, I do have an occasional piece of fruit, although when I first started, my pancreas was so inflamed that I didn't eat any fruit at all.
It really is very simple.
Every meal or snack has some protein in it, whether it's an egg, a piece of chicken, a handful of almonds. I also have a good dose of vegetables on the side. I drink lots of water. I don't count calories. I don't measure portions. If I'm hungry, I eat. I don't worry about fat grams because I'm eating the healthy fats. And the weight's just falling off me. Almost in chunks on the floor. I've done this without exercise, because I haven't been able to exercise for a long time (see above mention of car accident, and above mention of broken foot). This has all been through diet and nutrition, and I'm not losing muscle mass because I'm keeping my protein up.
So now let me break it down a little more to give a broader idea.
Breakfast - when it comes to breakfast, we've all got it in our heads that we're supposed to eat different foods in the morning than we do at any other time of the day. I don't know why we think that, but we all talk about "breakfast foods." I eat pretty much the same thing for breakfast as I would at any other time of the day.
Any Other Time of the Day - here are some of my most common meals/snacks:
A baked yam with a little sea salt and butter (no butter substitutes)
A chicken breast baked with herbs and seasonings
Nice big green salads with any variety of vegetables in there, with sugar-free dressing (no sugar substitutes, either) and without croutons - I like having some egg and some chicken in my salads
Turkey, beef roast, lean hamburger, steak
A taco wrap with all the taco makings rolled up inside a lettuce leaf
A hamburger wrap with all the hamburger makings rolled up in a lettuce leaf
Vegetable soup from scratch - take a wide variety of carrots, celery, onions, cauliflower, broccoli, etc, and dice, then simmer just until tender/crisp - don't cook until the color's gone! Throw some canned tomatoes in there, and season with lemon pepper, oregano, sea salt, and throw in whatever meat you've got - can make more of an Italian soup or Mexican soup or what-have-you with what you add in there.
Meatloaf without the crumbs. Delicious!
A handful of olives and a few slices of pickle.
Sunflower seeds.
Walnuts.
Almost any kind of fish, baked and seasoned in any way you can think of, or pan seared.
Chicken sausage (from Sunflower Market or Whole Foods) sliced and cooked up with green peppers and onions.
It takes a little getting used to at first, I'll admit it - but now, it's not hard at all. People keep asking me if I'll be on this diet forever, and the answer is, yes, but with modifications. As time goes by, I'll add a few more things to the list of foods I can have, and down the road, I will be able to cheat a little from time to time. The thing to keep in mind is that I'm not doing this to lose weight, although it's the most noticeable benefit, and believe me, I'm tickled to death about it. I'm doing this to heal my body, and so I want to keep things in balance and not throw my body out of whack. When someone is losing weight and they eat a piece of cake or drink a Coke, they can get back on track right away and that indulgence might not ever show up on the scale. But I'm pulling sugars out of my body so my pancreas can heal, and I'm pulling caffeine out of my body so my adrenals can heal, so my ability to cheat is different from someone who is losing weight, if that makes sense. Cheating is not the end of the world for someone on a diet, but I'm still balancing on the edge of health and illness, so the ramifications for me are different.
So! That is the story of what I'm eating. Yes, it's different. Yes, it has been hard. But you're talkin' to a girl who liked to eat Zingers for breakfast, who weighed 300 pounds a year ago, and who was a whole lot more sick than she thought she was. If I can get my health under control, believe me, it can be done. Your path might be totally different from mine, as everyone has different challenges, but this is what's working for me.
And if you'd like to meet the man who has been helping me and my family change our lives, you can learn all about him here: http://www.injuryandwellnesscenter.com
Thursday, April 05, 2012
Book Review: Caller ID by Rachelle Christensen
One day while horseback riding near her home, Courtney stumbles on a crop of marijuana growing in the woods. When confronted by angry men with guns who have been cultivating the plants, Courtney promises not to say anything if they'll just let her go, but they don't take her up on her offer. Instead, they abduct her and hold her captive.
As Courtney tries to escape, she discovers secrets that rock her world and put her in greater danger than ever before.
I enjoyed this novel by award-winning author Rachelle Christensen. The plot was full of twists and turns - two that I can think of completely caught me off guard. I would say that is Rachelle's biggest strength - her ability to take a plot we believe is predictable and turn it on its head until we don't know which way is up anymore. The tension was great throughout, the conflict well displayed, and I appreciate that we were given a suspenseful story without gratuitous violence or the use of crass language. It's hard to find stories that properly convey danger and life-threatening situations without delving into topics that are too dark for some readers, but this novel had just the right balance.
I found this novel a quick read, probably because I was turning the pages rapidly so I could see what was going to happen next.
You can purchase Caller ID by clicking here.
Book Review: Promises by Carolyn Frank
Other things absolutely should be promised.
I promise I'll always love you.
I promise I'll always take care of you.
I promise you'll always be the most important thing in my life.
I promise I will always try to do better.
These are the kinds of promises we should be making to our loved ones, promises that we absolutely intend to keep and will keep at all costs.
Promises is a new historical fiction novel by Carolyn Twede Frank, and centers around a twelve-year-old girl named Hattie who is moving with her family to the small town of Tropic down in the Bryce Canyon area. The descriptions of the landscape are so vivid, I took a moment to Google as I read, and it's an amazing place. Take a second and do that - it's a feast for the eyes.
Hattie doesn't want to move to a new town. She was very comfortable in her old home with her old friends, and relocating makes her feel insecure. She's already a timid girl and doesn't like that about herself - she wishes she could be more brave, say the things she wants to say, stick up for herself when it really matters. Coming to a new town gives her plenty of opportunities to test her wings and grow into the young woman she's supposed to be as she faces peer pressure and some real danger. In the end, she proves herself a heroine, as we knew she was all along.
This book would be enjoyed by readers ages 10 through adult - there are elements that will appeal to everyone along that spectrum.
There are a lot of fun things going on in conjunction with this book's release. First off, enter to win a full-sized puppet stage and puppets, value of $290 by participating in Carolyn’s blog tour giveaway. Check out her website or blog for more details.
Second, here's the trailer for the book:
In addition, be sure to check out the book tour for Cindy Hogan - she's releasing a new book right now too, and her tour has a lot of great stuff going on as well!
Monday, April 02, 2012
Guest Blog - Cindy M. Hogan on Making Sense of Scenes
Making Sense of Scenes
Isn't it so fun to read a scene in a book that gives you chills it was so well done? I love that, too. So, let's look at how to make your scenes sizzle at a very basic level.
What makes up a scene? How is it structured?
1. There has to be a goal. There are two goals you need to be conscious of. The goal of the story and the goal of the scene. All the scene goals are tiny baby step goals that need to be attained in order to realize the goal of the story. And it must appear that the goal is easily attainable.
Ex: Story goal- The prince must save the princess
The scene goal-The prince must find a way to get to the princess who is far-far away. In other words, he needs a horse. Everyone has horses, right?
2. Wrong. In this story they can't, because you need conflict. There has to be something that gets in the way of the character achieving that goal and it must be realistic, believable.
Ex: Conflict-No one has a horse to spare because it is time to plant the crops and they have to plow the ground and he has no money to give to the rental agency to rent one. :)
Or if you want it to be a villain that prevents his attainment of it, the villain is powerful and tells the townspeople that if they give him a horse, they will regret it. Either way, it is conflict and readers love conflict. You must have conflict or you don't have a story
3. The character cannot achieve the goal. The character fails and the reader must know it.
He does not get the horse, . When the goal is not achieved, it keeps the tension in the story alive and kicking.
4. The scene must lead to another scene. You want to keep the reading reading and the conflict going.
Ex: While the Prince fails, he comes up with an idea to get the money or the horse, that is dangerous or crazy
The series of scenes linked together creates your book with each scene advancing on reaching the story goal.
What books have you read that embrace this idea of scene structure?
Meet author Ciindy M. Hogan here.
Cindy M. Hogan is the author of the Watched series: Watched and Protected. The final book in the trilogy will be out in Nov. 2012
Visit Cindy on these blogs too!
Sheila Staley
Karly Kirkpatrick