My Cousin Wrote a Book!!

My very talented cousin Braden Bell has written a book! It is called The Road Show and is an LDS fiction novel. You can join a giveaway here for his book - it ends in a couple days, so go now!

Braden is such a fantastic guy, an amazing dad and husband, writer, singer, etc! My first memories of him are when he would ask me the spanish words I knew that I was learning in pre-school. :) I don't know why that memory sticks in my brain, but it does, along with the words el gato and el perro.

There is a description of his book here: All About the Roadshow and you can find endorsements for it, and more about Braden here.

Dang, too bad I don't have a picture scanned into the computer of me as a green pepper in our road show one year, or I would have graced you with it.

Jamie Oliver Would Be Proud

I have mentioned briefly that although I have had some trouble losing weight, I have been able to lose some, which is beyond wonderful to me! Jake and I are very much enjoying the Jamie Oliver Food Revolution. I totally agree that there are just way too many processed, preservative-filled, unnatural foods being eaten in this country. I don't even think it is the fat causing the problem. I think it is all of the processing, additives, etc. that are causing us health issues. But these foods are easy and convenient, that's for sure.

This meal doesn't look that fabulous, but when I dished it up, I felt good about it and it tasted great!


My mom made Spaghetti Squash Primavera when she was doing a Fat Flush plan and was kind enough to share some with me. It was filled with veggies! She couldn't use many spices or salt, so I added a few and some garlic salt and it was delicious. I have a love affair with garlic salt. I adore it. The Simply Organic kind is WAY better than the others in my book. Good thing salt is recommended for me. The cauliflower doesn't look great since it has been sitting in the fridge for a few days, but trust me, it was delicious. I am learning that roasting vegetables = awesome. Here is the recipe I used - yum! I covered it for the first 25 minutes so that it wouldn't burn.

I have been on a grain-free and sugar free diet (almost completely) since last August. It is supposed to keep my blood sugar very even, which is important when you have adrenal insufficiency like I do. It has proven to be good for weight loss too so that is great. My biggest challenge is to get more veggies in. When dinner time comes around, I most often have all the energy of a slug, and sticking something in the microwave can take all my energy. And... I hate frozen veggies. So sometimes I will cook a big batch of stuff later at night and we'll eat it the next day, and then have leftovers. I can eat leftovers for days... I think I am just glad that there is food that is made already. Being chronically sick lowers your standards a little, but that's ok. Especially when the food is good to start with.

Recently I made the yummiest chicken!! If the spicy/sweet combination floats your boat, then you have to try Spicy Honey Chicken It is delicious!! I don't have a grill so I just baked it for an hour, and added the sauce in the last 10 minutes. I did both breasts and wings and she is right - the thighs were the best! The breasts were good too though. Try it!

April Fool's Day

Here are some great ideas for April Fool's Day!

These are from the family fun magazine. I love the grilled cheese and sushi ones!

Here is some really fun candy broccoli too.

Do you get in to April Fool's Day much? Jake loves the idea of it, but doesn't love being tricked much. He would probably love some of these!

This Too Shall Pass!

This video is amazing. I read that it took over 60 hours to make it because they had to do so many takes. I really like the lyrics. "You know you can't keep letting it get you down... And you can't keep dragging that dead weight around. Let it go. This too shall pass." Here is another version of it that I love, although nothing compares to this Rube Goldberg machine version.

The homemade video for OK Go's first single, "A Million Ways" became the most downloaded music video in history. And their dancing on treadmills video for the song "Here It Goes Again" was the top favorited music video of all time on YouTube, and won the YouTube Award in the Most Creative category in 2006. I hate it when songs swear though, and while the word in this song is more forgivable, the awesome treadmill video takes Christ's name in vein which I really hate. I love their creativity though! Here's a "behind the scenes" video of how they made it.

On a completely different note, if you want a chance to win a Janome sewing or embroidery machine, (I do!!!) check this out!

Lil Blue Boo Challenge Winners and Our Weekend

The final 15 are up if you want to go vote! I am not among them, but that is ok! I really just enjoyed creating and getting the juices flowing for this. Plus, Sarah has 3 new outfits now!

Also... do you want to win a yard of some of the cutest fabric ever? Just comment on this blog!

Jake and I have had a fun weekend. Even though he was snowed under with homework (and even did homework for hours on a Friday night which is UNHEARD of for him) we have enjoyed just hanging out. Luckily his Aunt Anne helped a lot with his math and I have been helping with the other stuff including making up games for a science project. Want to do a science crossword anyone? How about a cryptogram on volcanoes? No?

You know those times when you just get along and enjoy each other's company? (This still happens, but becomes a little less often when you get a teen/pre-teen!) It has been that way this weekend and I have loved it. It probably had nothing at all to do with the fact that Jake had a big meltdown Thursday night from all the school stress. OK, it had everything to do with it. He has been so much more relaxed and happy and we have had some good talks, and some time just hanging out and watching tv.

Ohh! I just remembered that I forgot to share a funny picture from Spirit Week at Jake's school. Here you go:
They got to dress up as nerds one day! He had blue stripes in his hair another day! These types of things help make school worth it.