Category Archives: Opinions

Day 18 ~ Gay Marriage

Posted on by

Day 18 — Your views on gay marriage.

30 Days of Truth

This post may not win me to many friends but then again it might. Who knows!

I believe in and support gay marriage 100%. I believe that everyone has a right to happiness and it shouldn’t matter who it’s with.

Marriage isn’t required for long, successful relationship but there are many who want it and they should be able to plan that beautiful wedding they’ve always dreamed of. They should be able to look into the eyes of the person that they love more than anything else in the world as someone announces them married and know that life is perfect at that moment.

I have long wondered why people are so vehemently against it. I just do not understand it at all and most of all I don’t understand the hate and violence against someone who wants the same simple right that many take advantage of.

Marriage isn’t about health care benefits, who gets what in a will, or makes the decisions when your significant other becomes seriously ill. What marriage is about is building a life long relationship with someone you love. Building and sharing a life with the one person who you don’t want to ever be without.

Marriage is love, patience, friendship, compromise, understanding, forgiveness, and openness.

Yes, marriages fail and it doesn’t matter if it’s a gay or heterosexual couple. But that’s life and sometimes things happen.

So, yes. I support gay marriage without a doubt.

Rainbow American flag promoting equality for e...

Image via Wikipedia

Day 13 ~ 30 Days of Truth

Posted on by

Day 13 — A band or artist that has gotten you through some tough ass days.

30 Days of Truth

Aaron Lewis….

What can I say? There’s just something about your voice that can make a bad day good again. Smooth, mesmerizing, and downright sexy are a few good words to describe your voice.

I’ve been a fan for as long as I can remember and have enjoyed seeing you in concert. Small venue is the best!

Thank you for getting me through some crappy day (especially at work).

——————————

Now, for those of you who don’t know who Aaron Lewis is shame on you! He’s the lead singer of Staind. Take a listen to one of my favorite songs.

Cinch! By Cynthia Sass ~ Review

Posted on by

Cinch! Conquer Cravings, Drop Pounds, and Lose Inches is the title of Cynthia Sass’ newest book. The book says that you can lose up to 7lbs in the first 5 days by following a simple meal plan. It’s fully laid out for you as to what to eat for each meal and how much! There’s even a shopping list. How much easier can it get!

The Cinch plan is actually a 30 day plan to help you lose weight, think about the food you eat, understand how your body works, and what it actually needs. For me, if I can stick to it, then it may be just the thing that I need to get me going on my weight loss and near my final goal weight.

The first five days consist of five simple fast forward foods as I said before and actually organic items are recommended.

  • Spinach – fresh or frozen
  • Raspberries – fresh or frozen
  • Almonds
  • Eggs or tofu
  • Nonfat plain yogurt

The diet also allows Fast Forward Seasonings to spice up your meals. These include vinegar (any kind), citrus juice or wedges, garlic, hot peppers, and fresh or dried herbs. I’m thinking that these are a great way to jazz up that spinach salad or up the flavor in the smoothie. Now the hardest part about this for me will be that I can no longer drink my beloved Diet Coke. It’ll be water, water, and more water!

The plan emphasizes eating within an hour of waking no matter what your schedule is and then going no shorter than three hours and no longer than five hours before eating your next meal. Your day starts out with a scramble for breakfast, a parfait for lunch, a salad for dinner, and then a smoothie for a bedtime snack. I’m a little concerned about the lack of food! I mean I’m used to eating a heck of a lot more than that!

After the first week the food choices increase greatly and look to be much more filling! As long as you follow the plan, stick to the portions, and drink lots of water the weight will continue to fall off. For a total of 15 pounds in 30 days.

About the author: Cynthia Sass, M.P.H., R.D., is a registered dietitian, the nutrition consultant to the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays, and the nutritionist behind and coauthor of the New York Times bestseller Flat Belly Diet! Her Weight Loss Coach column appears each month in Shape magazine, and she appears regularly on television programs including the Today show, Good Morning America, and The Early Show.

You can check out Cynthia’s website here.

UPDATE – January 13, 2011

Alright, I’m starting day 5 tomorrow which means that I’ve made it through the first 4 days. And to be honest the first couple were hard as hell! Just ask Jill my great friend over at Single Mom on a Budget because I complained enough to her about it all!

It really was a difficult diet to start especially with the limited food that you’re allowed to eat. The hardest part that I found was the yogurt. It was the most disgusting thing I’ve eaten. For me it was so bad that I couldn’t eat it after the 2nd day. So I ended up making a few changes.

I followed the breakfast of scrambled egg white with the sauteed spinach, raspberries, & almonds, lunch was a salad of spinach raspberries, & almonds, and the for dinner I had the same salad but I added the hard boiled egg and 2 grilled chicken tenders. Yes, I cheated. Sue me.

I haven’t weighed myself yet so I can’t tell you what the final results of the first week are. But I did notice that today the jeans I wore fitting looser than they had in the past which is a good sign!

I will continue following the plan as closely as I can. With 4 kids & a husband it may be a little challenging …. making 3 different dinners is not something that I want to do every night.

The recipes for the remaining days of the diet look great! There are a lot that I want to try and I think that my picky family may like more of them than they expect!

30 Days of Truth

Posted on by

I first heard about the 30 Days of Truth from 30ish Mama’s blog and thought it was a great idea. Of course she found it over at Emily Suess’s blog, which I read as well but must have missed this one.

Everyone else started on January 1st but that’s alright. I still think it’ll be fun and interesting to do this. Now, I’m not sure of the rules here, but I’m hoping to do one each day and in order. But as we all know sometimes life can get in the way of blogging. So for me it may end up being something closer to 40 days of truth.

Day 01 — Something you hate about yourself.

Day 02 — Something you love about yourself

Day 03 — Something you have to forgive yourself for.

Day 04 — Something you have to forgive someone for.

Day 05 — Something you hope to do in your life.

Day 06 — Something you hope you never have to do.

Day 07 — Someone who has made your life worth living for.

Day 08 — Someone who made your life hell, or treated you like shit.

Day 09 — Someone you didn’t want to let go, but just drifted.

Day 10 — Someone you need to let go, or wish you didn’t know.

Day 11 — Something people seem to compliment you the most on.

Day 12 — Something you never get compliments on.

Day 13 — A band or artist that has gotten you through some tough ass days. (write a letter.)

Day 14 — A hero that has let you down. (letter)

Day 15 — Something or someone you couldn’t live without, because you’ve tried living without it.

Day 16 — Someone or something you definitely could live without.

Day 17 — A book you’ve read that changed your views on something.

Day 18 — Your views on gay marriage.

Day 19 — What do you think of religion? Or what do you think of politics?

Day 20 — Your views on drugs and alcohol.

Day 21 — (scenario) Your best friend is in a car accident and you two got into a fight an hour before. What do you do?

Day 22 — Something you wish you hadn’t done in your life.

Day 23 — Something you wish you had done in your life.

Day 24 — Make a play list to someone, and explain why you chose all the songs. (Just post the titles and artists and letter)

Day 25 — The reason you believe you’re still alive today.

Day 26 — Have you ever thought about giving up on life? If so, when and why?

Day 27 — What’s the best thing going for you right now?

Day 28 — What if you were pregnant or got someone pregnant, what would you do?

Day 29 — Something you hope to change about yourself. And why.

Day 30 — A letter to yourself, tell yourself EVERYTHING you love about yourself

I think that this is a great way to get to know one another better as well as getting to know yourself.

Interested in joining me? Add yourself to the blog hop below and let’s do the first post tomorrow!

30 Days of Truth

Blogging with Integrity

Posted on by

Let’s start with a definition from the Merriam-Webster dictionary and what it says about integrity.

  1. : firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility
  2. : an unimpaired condition : soundness
  3. : the quality or state of being complete or undivided : completeness

And now you’re probably wondering what’s with up with this post. Well you see I’m annoyed and the best way to deal with it is to talk about it so here I am. Talking.

I think that in blogging as well as life in general we should all have integrity and follow it no matter what. Our real lives and our lives online intersect every day especially when we blog and we have to keep in mind our morals and make sure that we’re following them. We need to be true to ourselves, to our readers, and to everyone out there that we may come in contact with. At some point in time we may say or do something that goes against our morals we need to be prepared to either justify it or apologize for our actions. Many times people ignore it because they don’t see the wrong that they’ve done even if they’re told by another.

I was looking around a bit on the internet for blogging with integrity information and came across this site, Blog with Integrity, Inc., and after reading what they were all about I immediately signed the pledge and added their button to my blog. If you have integrity and like what the Blog with Integrity site says then sign the pledge and add the button!

If you’re interested here’s the pledge.

“By displaying the Blog with Integrity badge or signing the pledge, I assert that the trust of my readers and the blogging community is important to me.

I treat others respectfully, attacking ideas and not people. I also welcome respectful disagreement with my own ideas.

I believe in intellectual property rights, providing links, citing sources, and crediting inspiration where appropriate.

I disclose my material relationships, policies and business practices. My readers will know the difference between editorial, advertorial, and advertising, should I choose to have it. If I do sponsored or paid posts, they are clearly marked.

When collaborating with marketers and PR professionals, I handle myself professionally and abide by basic journalistic standards.

I always present my honest opinions to the best of my ability.

I own my words. Even if I occasionally have to eat them.”

Now class I’ll take your questions, comments, and suggestions.

Twitter is the new IM

Posted on by
Twitter logo initial

Image via Wikipedia

Remember way back when before Twitter? Like when you used to sit down at your computer and chat with family and friends via your favorite instant messaging program like Yahoo or AIM? I do. And to be honest I still use them daily because ::gasp:: not everyone is using Twitter!

I’ve been noticing a trend lately and I’m not sure yet how I feel about it. Indifferent I suppose. And this trend… I think that IM would be better for it. It is when my Twitter stream fills up with a conversation that two or three people are having and I have to wade through their conversation just to see what is going on in the world. This type of thing has happened many times and I am probably guilty of it too and it finally dawned on me! Twitter is the new IM! Twitter to me (and some others out there I bet) is what texting is to my girls (yea… they send thousands a month)!

I could chat all day long with all the great people that I’m friends with on Twitter whether it is public facing or if we keep the conversation private and simply DM on another. I love being able to chat with everyone! No matter what time of day it is I can find someone on Twitter that I know and starting a conversation is as easy as just saying hello to the world!

So what do you think…. I’m curious? Is Twitter the new IM? Do you still use your old instant messenger program?

Day 19 #31DBBB – It’s my opinion… deal with it!!

Posted on by

Okay, first of all I am waayyy behind! But in my defense I was stuck. Seriously stuck! I had no idea what to write about for this task! What!?!? Really.. stuck on this one… I know, I know. The husband kind of laughed and said that it’s be easy for me since I have an opinion. And he’s mostly true, I do have a lot of opinions but what to write about was the issue. How do I pick something to talk about that’d be some what interesting. So, today I was reading a post by our own Aunt Becky about why she does what she does (I have a post for that too!) and she inspired me! I finally thought of something. It’s nothing life changing and it won’t help the world or anything like that. But it’s something that bugs me and I have thoughts about it. So sit back and listen!

Reality television shows appear to be all the rage now and days. Every single channel on the T.V. has their own reality show…. or two… or three. And why? I have no frickin’ idea! It really is truly annoying.

Now, if you can’t tell I do not like reality T.V. shows at all. I don’t see the point. Honestly, they’re similar to wrestling. They’re both fake. Totally 100%, without a doubt scripted. And you naysayers are sitting there saying, ‘No, it’s all true… come on!’ Nope. Sorry to say it’s not. There is no way that any of that could not be scripted because real life is nothing like that, not at all.

I avoid watching them at all costs. I watch T.V. to escape from reality and to be entertained by some 30 minute comedy that lacks the “reality” drama. I want to watch something that I don’t need to follow on a daily basis, because some of them seem to be on every damn day! I have 4 kids and don’t have that kind of time to devote to some silly “reality” show. 

So there’s my opinion like it or not.