I think I started wearing mascara in 8th grade...and it was Maybelline from the beginning. I was always fascinated with that little red box of cake mascara and the little tiny brush. Advances had been made in make up by the time I started wearing it that I went straight for the tube kind! Even through that short period in my life when I wore royal blue mascara (I think this was our 8th grade year when Diane and I had such a crush on our math teacher! lol) I've always worn Maybelline....and pretty much wouldn't be caught dead without mascara on.......until I started working for Edison in 2000.

You know, mascara just didn't fit in to my daily routine of wearing corporate pajamas! lol I continued wearing mascara when attending church or doing trainings or some other public function, but when I was in my home office or running to Wal-mart....I was just slumming--no mascara!

During the year I was post-Edison, lamenting the loss of my dream job, and just eating till I reached the size of a Macy's Thanksgiving Day balloon, I sure wasn't going anywhere that required wearing mascara. Then I got a job at Greenville...and I was very thankful to have the job, but I had such a long commute that I had to decide what to sacrifice...sleep or mascara? Miss Piggy could wear mascara, but I just couldn't give up the sleep to look like her that early in the morning, so I went to school everyday for two years with NO mascara! Oh, the shame! (Well, not really...I just didn't care what they all thought because I knew I wouldn't be there long.)

I was so thrilled to have the job at Sam Rayburn that I whipped out the mascara brush....only to discover that my lashes no longer curled!!! OMGOSH!! They were just sticking out straight...like old lady eyelashes!!

I was determined that I was NOT going to school without mascara any more, so I perservered with applying the stuff every morning...haven't missed a day without it. Now, I'll admit that it's not 3 or 4 layers like I used to wear (you know that Tammy Faye look...well, I wasn't quite that bad, but I did like it on thick!), but I get on at least one or two coats.

....and it took TWO months before my eyelashes started curling!!!

Blown off course.....

So....a little hurricane by the name of Ike blew through in early September....and the grand-pets came to live with me for 2 1/2 months....I somehow managed to fry the computer complete with smoke effects and sparks!...then my backup computer lost its virus protection and came down with an infection of worms and viruses...and it took me two months to get it back!!!

School is keeping me so busy I'm still losing weight! VERY SLOWLY....I'm having yogurt or cottage cheese & jello for breakfast. I'm literally having to lock the library doors for 30 minutes just so I can have lunch...otherwise, I'm just over run with munchkins of all sizes and ages who want books to read...this is a good "problem" to have tho :)

I've had a few times since school has started that I've "fallen off the wagon" so to speak....mainly to being so tired from school that I just didn't want to cook anything.

Speaking of tired....I think I'll go to sleep now...and get back to blogging on a regular basis tomorrow!

Ummm...the yummiest!!!

I've had to give up bread for the most part....it's something I very, very seldom have...which means I've had to give up my favorite summer sandwich in the world....bacon and tomato!!! I haven't missed a lot of things from my former out-of-control eating, but I have missed those sandwiches this summer!

Here is a yummmy alternative:

3 thick slices of fresh tomato (if it's from the garden, even better!)

3 thin slices of fresh mozzarella cheese

1 T. Bella Sol's Blackberry Ginger Basalmic

2 slices of thin precooked bacon, heat in microwave for 20-25 secs

some fresh basil, cut in strips (optional)

Put cheese slices on tomatoes. Drizzle basalmic over cheese. Break up bacon and place some on each slice. Top with fresh basil.

Eat....DELICIOUS!

While in Galveston, Kari and I visited the Saturday market where a lady told us to try this basalmic....man, was she ever right...the flavor is incredible and fresh tasting! The mozarella just soaks it up...ummmmm...try some!

God gave us a clue...

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye... and YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.



A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.




A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.


Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.




Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Avocadoes, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).


Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of sperm as well to overcome male sterility.




Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.








Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries




Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.



Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.




Natalie fwded this to me---I found it fascinating, yet at the same time, just plain 'ole common sense---just had to share it with everyone. Even Daniel's training in Babylon illustrates the importance of a diet heavy in fruits and vegetables (Daniel 1:1-21).

Lately, I'm wild about roasted veggies...

Kim’s Grilled Chicken Basil-Garlic Linguine With Roasted Veggies

4 chicken breasts, grilled to your liking (you can do this while the veggies cook)
Basil-garlic linguine, cooked (time the cooking so it is done at the same time as the veggies)

1 fennel bulb, chopped in bite-size pieces
1 bunch asparagus (woody ends cut off)
1-2 pints grape or cherry tomatoes, halved (adjust to how tomatoey you want it)
1 bulb garlic, cloves separated and peeled
About 8-12 kalamata pitted olives, drained and quartered
Sliced fresh mushrooms (you decide what kind and how much)
Fresh oregano and basil, chopped, to taste

Salt and pepper, to taste

Put all veggies in a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil, add seasonings to taste. Cook for 35 min. at 450 degrees.

Serve veggies over hot pasta and top with grilled chicken.

Other options:
You can serve over rice instead of pasta or you can use some other type pasta.

Other things you might like to add: pineapple tidbits, yellow squash, zucchini.

Use dried herbs instead of fresh. The original recipe called only for oregano, but since Kari and Warren had fresh basil in their little herb garden, we added it too.

Use grilled flatiron steak, shrimp, or scallops instead of chicken.

3rd Fill...

I can definitely tell a difference in the amount I can eat....and getting full quicker. I guess I shouldn't have waited so long to get the fill....it was lazy of me, but it also helps that school has officially started for me today and I'm back in a routine....it also helps that Carlon stopped in the library and commented that she could tell a difference in the way I look....it's so much easier when I get feedback and comments from people. I want to lose another 25 pounds by Christmas....and I'd be thrilled to lose more, but I'm trying to keep it realistic.

Heat wave....

Honey, we are sufferin' from a heat wave of monumental proportions!! Exercise has reached a different dimension--these exercises are guaranteed to cause you to break a sweat in no time!

1. Stand outside
2. Walk to the car
3. Walk from the car to a store
4. Walk around in the store
5. Walk from a store to the car

All this heat certainly curbs the appetite also....gad, all that food just heats up the body....and when temperatures have consistently been 100+ for the past 2 weeks, one starts thinking about ways to keep cool....well, let me rephrase that....one starts thinking of ways to be less hot...

Cool Foods

• Jello
• Salad
• Melons
• Ice cream
• Pudding
• Berries
• Lemonade
• Yogurt

....and, of course, wearing as few clothes as possible!

So I'm heading south....to Galveston on Tuesday....and meet up with Tropical Storm Eduoard!