2012 Girl Scout Cookies........

There are not too many cookies that can bring on an uproar of wondrous, lip smacking, diet halting, face stuffing cookie eating-like a Girl Scout cookie can! I mean really, can you eat just one? No!…I said no!

As I have just started my “eating sweets in moderation” lifestyle, the gleeful news that the Girl Scouts have started taking orders as of January 6^th, rung in my ears like the hypnotic tunes of the Pied Piper.

The Girl Scouts organization will be observing its 100^th anniversary this year, and have made an honorary cookie to commemorate the occasion. This new cookie; Savannah Smiles (do you guys remember that movie comedy about the little girl, who got kidnapped and won over the hearts of her captures?) which is a lemon wedge cookie, will be on the 2012 cookie lineup, along with your traditional favs; Samoas, Thin Mints and all others in between.

Be on the lookout at your shopping centers in mid-February; that is when the cookies sales should begin to take place. Go to www.cookielocator.littlebrownie.com to find the shopping centers where the Girl Scouts will be set up. Also available for download, on your IPhone and Android, is the free Cookie Locator app.

I must say, I can’t wait to get my hands (and mouth) on some Thin Mints. Well there goes my
“Eating Sweets In Moderation” Lifestyle. 

 A challenge well worth taking on.. Whooohoooo!

this blog is not offiliated with the girl scouts. i just love girl scout cookies! for more information about the girl scouts,please visit www.girlscouts.org

photos by http://www.fotosearch.com/photos-images/girl-scout.html

Safe Networking Site For Our Girls....

Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, blah, blah, blah! We have been walloped with the need to use any (or for some of us-All) of these social media outlets for our ranting’s, musing, tirades, oh, yeah, and to provide some information that is actual helpful, to the masses!

But how safe are those social media’s for our girls? We have all heard or seen the damage that can occur from improper use of these outlets. Yes, we should be doing more as parents, but a lot of us just are not going to do that, now are we?

With that being said, my 14 year old niece came across a social networking site that is safe for our girls.  www.liv2bgirl.com is designed for girls ages 8-14. This site has partnered with the National Bullying Prevention Center to aid in promoting awareness and the prevention of bullying. Our girls can blog; they can connect with their friends; play games, and they can use the chat features too. They can also report negative activity on the site as well.

One of the great things about this site is that when they sign up, they have to use their parents email address. The parent then has to go in and activate the account. This features helps our girls stay safe by allowing the parents to know where (and how) their time is being spent on the net.

www.liv2bgirl.com features celebrities that have made positive contributions that our girls can read about.  This is a little about what live2bgirl says about their newest “feature girl”.  Liv2BGirl's featured girl is 22-year-old Sophie Clarke from New York won "Survivor: South Pacific" this last season. Clarke learned to be confident in herself through her experience in Girl Scouting. Clarke is a Gold Award recipient from Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York. In a world where the Kardashians (not saying they don’t have positives too!) is what our girls see and aspire too, I think they could use a little help!

So have your girl check out the site to see just how great it is. You never know, our girls might turn a little positivity in their lives, into a big change for our world!

www.live2bgirl.com

Thats my job....For Real?

Generally, I am a very clean person. My kids call me OCD, but I am nowhere near that clean. My OCD comes more in the form of, “Everything has its place!” So should I have been surprised when my husband hinted that the garage needed to be cleaned.  “Ohhh, you really need to clean the garage!” No, really that is what he said, out loud, not to himself, or in his head, but out loud! Huh? What? Are you talking to me?!

Now, I like to think of myself as a very versatile person, but give me a break; some things just are not my job! The trash, for instance-is not my job. Fixing stuff, is not my job. And anything to do with the garage, is not my job! What man, actually thinks his wife should be cleaning the garage? I don’t know. But hey, don’t get me wrong, I am all for women’s rights, and if that is your cup of tea-then have at it! But I subscribe more to the Victorian age of thinking; were the atrocities in life that I had to contend with was, putting on all those frilly, high maintenance, looking clothes. Yes, call me Stone Age!

Okay, I know what you all are thinking, well dang, if organization is your strength, then clean the garage woman! Humph! I am sure he can do laundry just as well as I can, but I don’t ask him to do laundry, now do I?! I am just saying, the garage, the yard, the cars, stuff like that is “man” stuff! Okay, yes, in my world anyway. Don’t worry ladies, I am not trying to get everything we have sacrificed for, to make a meandering plunder. I just don’t want to clean the garage, that’s all.

……. And for all the fusing I just did; I actually cleaned the garage! And now everything has a place....

........can you say.....

Are Your Religious Beliefs Right or Wrong?

What is a religious belief? Does your conviction in your religion make you right? If people do not do what you do, or believe what you believe, are they all going to hell?

Looking at the three major religions, they all basically say, if you don't believe what is written in their books, then you are going to hell. I have often pondered that very statement, and while I have my beliefs, I am not the All Mighty Lord. So how do I know what He will choose to do? While we can state what the actions of our Higher Power will be, because of what is written in our books, it still comes down to none of us it that Higher Power.

In Christianity, Islam, and Judaism there are sects under the general heading of each religion. This says to me that everyone, even within their own religion, does not agree on things as simple as the basics. How effective does one think they can be in creating an atmosphere of the rights and the wrongs, when there is discord within their own religious factions.

We put labels on people, because they can deal with things we can't. Or they choose to try to live a life that they think is beneficial to their families, communities and their Higher Power.

These days. we take good for bad, and bad for good. ....When will we learn!

Peanut Butter Pleasure......Yummmmmy!

Let me start out by saying, I am not a fan, what-so-ever, of peanut butter cookies. I know, yeah, yeah, how could I not like them, but I just don't care for them.....until!

A friend of mine made some one day, and brought them to my home for my kids. She offered me some, I refused of course. She began telling me about the recipe that she had been given by her boyfriends sister. She told me these cookies had no flour in them......what?!

So I had to taste the cookies and lo and behold, these things are great (or maybe I was just really hungry!), they are delicious.

She gave me the recipe and my kids made the cookies, and they came out really good. So I decided to share the yummy peanut butter recipes. I call them Peanut Butter Pleasures!


Peanut Butter Pleasures (flour less cookies)
2 cups creamy peanut butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar (we used organic)
1 cup granulated sugar (we used organic)
2 large eggs (we used brown, cage free)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• Heat oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together.
• Shape dough into balls (approx. 1 heaping tablespoons worth, each) and place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Using the tines of a fork, flatten each ball, making a crisscross pattern.
• Bake 10-12 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through the cooking cycle (approx, 6 minutes into baking), until puffed and golden. Cool (they will deflate as they cool). Enjoy!

Easy Skin Refresher

Looking for an easy way to refresh your skin. Great, let’s talk about skin brushing. Skin brushing is an effective way to rejuvenate your skin and can easily be added into your daily skin regiment.

Skin Brushing Benefits

Skin brushing increases circulation and helps the body to eliminate cell wastes and also helps improve the appearance of your skin. Skin Brushing helps your Lymph system to rid itself of toxins that collect in the Lymph Glands. Skin brushing improves the surface circulation on the skin, allowing the pores of the skin to open, thereby encouraging your skin to void its waste. That action results in improved ability to fight bacteria.

·        Tightens Skin and aids  in the removal of Cellulite

·        Increases Cell renewal

·        Aids digestion, Strengthens Immune Systems and cleans Lymph’s

The How To’s

To get the most out of skin brushing, you should brush before bathing every day. You can dry brush or you can apply a few drops of oil; skin oil, body oil, massage or skin brushing oil, and then brush. A clean, firm, natural bristle brush is the best to use.

Begin with your feet, stroking upwards. Apply enough pressure to stimulate, but not too much, it shouldn’t hurt. The nerve endings in the sole of your feet can affect your whole body. Move to on to your ankles and calves in the same stroking manner.

Make clockwise circles around your knee area, as well as thigh area, at the top.

Starting at your lower abdomen section brush in circles, again in a clockwise fashion, as that is the direction of your intestines. Don’t forget to reach far to the right to cover your right side as well.  Repeat this action upward on your abdomen across your belly button. Continue downward along your left side.

Circle around your breast or chest.

Brush from your hands to your shoulders, circling around your shoulder joints (clockwise).

From your neck base, brush downward, and on your back use a normal up and down stroke along your spine area.

A couple of notes to add:

·        Always brush toward the heart.

·        Some opinions vary regarding the direction you should brush around the abdomen area, so brush in the direction of your intestines (which way is that? When I find out I will let you know, or maybe a reader can answer for us)

·        Do not brush your nipples

·        Use a brush with a long handle so you can reach all of your body

And that’s all to it. A quick and easy way to refresh your skin. Enjoy!

Speak Your Text

In today’s technological world, we have gained so many wonderful devices. Some of them, as helpful to our lives as they are, are not so great in certain aspects of our everyday lives. What am I talking about?-Texting.

This is issue touched my life personally when my son, caused an accident on the highway, where a truck flipped over. We were thankful that no one was seriously injured, but the thought that things could have been so different was a lot to take in.

Listen Up!

So with safe driving on my mind, I started a little researching. What I found was an IPhone app that allows you to listen to your incoming texts. Awesome right! You can drive and listen to your texts as well. Since most of our teenagers have been “technologically stricken”, they are always on Facebook and Twitter. Well, behold the kingdom of life….this app also airs messages from those two glorious social outlets. The messages for both the incoming texts and the social media, come through your phones speaker system.

That’s not all folks!

You can also respond to your emails, and texts using voice commands (this however requires an upgrade which will run you about $15 per year). That is a small price to pay for something that can help with the growing number of car accidents that we have seen over the years.

Now really, I am obviously not saying this is going to fix the problem we have with our texting teens. That is something we as parents have to get overly involved in; making our children worthy and productive members of society. That’s our job! You can look at it whatever you want, but we all know where we fall short, where our kids are concerned. Any who, I shall save the lecturing for another post…..ya’ll got lucky!!!