Military Spouse Friday Fill-in

I have never done one of these before, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'll share my feelings on being called a Marine wife another time...

Military Spouse Friday fill-in:

1. What’s the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?
I don't know that a stranger has ever done anything for me other than hold a door open. I don't think SD was the best place to find nice strangers...maybe it will be different no that we are in the midwest.

2. If you are having a hard time going to sleep, what do you do to help yourself?
I count. Nothing in particular, I just count. I think that makes me weird, but it helps.

3. Name something that makes you wish you were a kid again.
Drama and paying bills

4. What is something you never believed until you experienced it?

Love. It's cheesy I know. I have always loved my family and my friends, but I didn't think loving my husband would be any different. I was wrong! I never knew I could feel this way about anyone. (Like I said...cheesy.)

5. What can’t you say “no” to?
My family (which is why I hate drama). I will do anything for my family. Oh, and my husband can bat his eye lashes and smile and I will do anything. :)

If you’re a Military Spouse, please join the fun and visit WifeOfaSailor at her blog space

To: Marie Claire From: A "Fattie"

Yesterday I read on article on the Marie Claire website about "fatties". The author, Maura Kelly, discussed her opinion of over weight people and how disgusting they are. I have never been so appalled by an article in my life!

I am not a skinny girl, and I have always struggled with body issues. I have always felt like people stare at me, or that I am not pretty enough or good enough or that people look at me and think I am gross. I am so self conscious about my looks I sometimes worry that my husband will stop loving me because he is thin and I am not. He tells me that I am beautiful, but after years of bullying from people about my weight, I have a hard time believing it some days. It is something I am working on and I don't really talk about with people, but this article made me so angry I had to share.

This is my favorite part of the article, "So anyway, yes, I think I'd be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other ... because I'd be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything. To be brutally honest, even in real life, I find it aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room." That just makes me feel so good about myself!

She continues on in her article with nutrition advice for us "fatties" out there, because I have NEVER tried to lose weight, or read a diet book or gone to weight watchers. She also says that obesity is something that the "fatties" have a TON of control over. If I had all this said control over my weight, do you really think I would be heavy and feel bad about myself? I know there are things I can do, but it isn't as easy as she makes it out to be.

I am absolutely outraged by this article! How can someone pass judgment like that, especially on a website for a well known woman's magazine? Furthermore, how can someone approve that to be published?? We should be teaching acceptance of not only other people, but of our bodies, not hate. Apparently, according to Maura Kelly, not all women (and men) are good enough.

After Marie Claire received over 28,000 emails from people about this article, Maura Kelly posted an apology. It's a sad attempt at an apology, and in my opinion it really only makes things worse. In her apology she said that anorexic (which she used to be) and fat people make her uncomfortable. I guess unless you are a size 2 or 4, you are going to gross her out. *Marie Claire stands by what Ms. Kelly wrote* This magazine disgusts me! I know that I will NEVER purchase another copy of Marie Claire again!

No matter who you are or what you look like...YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! Remind yourself of this and don't forget it!

Detoxing my Feet

I did something really strange yesterday...

I was in a health food store in Louisville, KY with my mom (we were stocking up on gluten-free stuff) and we saw a sign for a foot detox. I have heard about these things before, and I thought it would be fun to try. I am always a little skeptical about things like this, but it was worth a try...right?

I am all for natural healing and avoiding drugs, my parents have encouraged this for some time. With all of the warnings and side effects on prescriptions I am willing to try other alternatives. In fact, I use herbs and different tea, but this rates right up there with physics (all though, I do want to see one for fun someday) and palm readers.

We went in and introduced ourselves to the "practitioner" and began chatting with her. She explained the process and we got started. I, of course, was laughing through the whole thing because it just all seemed so ridiculous. She filled a plastic tub with water for each of us and we put our feet in. Then she poured in about a tablespoon of sea salt. Before she put the "Ionizer" in the tub she put this elastic band on our wrists. She said it was a grounder, which I assume is to prevent us from being electrocuted?!?

She put the "ionizer" thing in the water and away we went. This is where I really began to get skeptical, as if I wasn't already! When the ionizer was turned on it started to bubble and it looked as if it was turning the water an orange color. That is strange because the end result is colored water. The color of the water tells you what type of toxins were removed from your body. The practitioner assured me that the initial color was just the minerals in the water, and the rest of the color would be the toxins that were removed from my body.

Here is the color chart for what the colors of the water means:
Color or Particle - Possible Material or Area of the Body Being Detoxified
Black - Detoxifying from liver
Black Flecks - Heavy metals
Brown - Detoxifying from liver, cellular debris, tobacco
Dark Green - Detoxifying from gallbladder
Orange - Detoxifying from joints
Red Flecks - Blood clot material
White Curd Particles - Most likely yeast
White Foam - Detoxifying from lymphatic system
Yellow-Green - Detoxifying from kidneys, bladder, urinary tract,female/prostate area

Don't scroll down if you don't want to see the pictures...they are kind of gross.

I apparently detoxed from from my lymphatic system, liver and kidneys. There were also black flecks from heavy metals. Here are the pictures I took during the process.

This is after being in the water for 15 minutes:


This is after 20 minutes:


This is just before I took my feet out at 30 minutes:


I still think it's a little hokey! I didn't feel any different when I was done. My mom didn't feel any different, but she said that the bottoms of her feet feet tender or sensitive. My husband thinks it's a scam and I thought it was fun (a little out there, but fun nonetheless). There are all sorts of testimonials on the website, but I have to wonder if there are real people out there who actually do this regularly and think that it works for them.

Click here to go to their website

First comes love...

We bought a house and I love it!! I am so excited to move in! I have already picked up paint cards and fabric samples!


Isn't is a cute house? :) I can't wait to move in!! :)

I haven't been on the computer much in the last month and a half, but I have picture I want to share. On our trip we stopped at my Uncle's house and I made dessert. No one would tell me what they were hungry for so I mixed the two things I had been craving...apple crisp and apple cobbler. The result was an awesome dessert that I named The Apple Cribbler. It was appley, sweet and gooey with perfect biscuits and crunchy sugar!

Where in the World is Wanna Be Baker? Days 8-13

I need a vacation from my vacation!

We have been on the road for 13 days now and I am tired! We have seen so many people, mostly family. I love visiting with family, but DAMN IT, if I have to listen to one more conversation about politics I swear I will kill someone. Seriously, can't people think of anything else to talk about? And...why is that the first thing that Canadians want to talk about?? They don't even live in the US, but they all seem to be freakin' experts on it!

It's not just the fact that politics are less than interesting to me, but every person we see wants to have the same damn conversation!!

We had a nice visit in our hometown in Grand Rapids with my dad and his parents. On Wednesday we drove in to Toronto to stay with his grand parents. Family is great (mine especially) but I can only take so much! I can't wait to visit some good friends in a few days!

Tomorrow we head to New York to see my cousins and their kids which should be fun, then onto a friends house!

I'll share more pictures and stories from our trip in a few days when I have internet again...blogger on my blackberry is lame! :)

Where in th world is Wanna Be Baker? Days 6, 7 and 8

Last time I posted we were in Cuba, IL with my aunt and uncle...we had an awesome visit.. I love going out to their house because they are on a lake. That was great...we went out on the boat and we went fishing and I laid on the boat and got some sun! i was, however, a little shocked when i went in to town...

They live in a really cute little town. Down town is literally a one block square that has some cute shops and stuff. The scary stuff happens all around town though. We wanted to cook dinner for everyone on Thursday so we went in to town to pick up some groceries. We were shopping in the store and i couldn't find a few items so i asked the kid stocking shelves. i asked for basil and he said they didn't sell that...Really!?! i started to loose it just a little (i love to cook and am a little bit of a food snob), but I asked him where I could get some. He gave me directions to another grocery store. Then I asked if they had Arborio rice for risotto. he gave me a puzzled look and walked toward the rice aisle. He then handed me a bag of long grain rice and said, "we don't carry that brand, but this is a great brand." As he walked away I just sort of stared...maybe I was expecting to much of him...

So, we checked out and headed across town to the other grocery store. Right away i found the basil, but no risotto I stated to panic, because that was the highlight of the meal i was going to prepare. I decided to go back to the first store just to have one more look for the rice. This where things got a little dicey...

I pulled into the parking lot and there was a guy standing in front of me...wearing overalls. he had to have been in his late 30's maybe early 40's, but he was wearing OVERAllS!! My jaw just about hit the pavement. then...when e walked inside, there were two...yes, TWO, old men wearing overalls. Now, overalls are great if you 5 years old or younger, but seriously, these grown men were wearing overalls! Am I the only one that finds this unacceptable??

LAst night we drove into my cousins place in the suburbs or Chicago. We had a really great time and I realized that it really is ok to live near family.

Today we went into the city for a quick lunch before heading to my home town of Grand Rapids, Michigan. I'll share more on that later because coming back here always makes me feel just a little bit weird...

Where in the World is Wanna Be Baker? Day 3, 4 and 5

Where in the World is Wanna Be Baker?
Days 3, 4, and 5:

So, it’s been a few days, but there hasn’t been much to say…I mean seriously, have you ever seen Kansas?!? There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to look at…NOTHING!! LOOK:



We did drive through Colorado though…I would LOVE to go back there. It was absolutely gorgeous. We stayed in the little town called Durango in Southeast Colorado, it was the cutest town ever! I wish I could put into words how absolutely breath taking this part of Colorado was.





Last night we stayed in Kansas City with some of the husband’s family. They were cute little old people, but boy can they talk! I have never met people that can talk so much! I guess his mom talks a lot too…it must run in the family. We said we were going to bed and finally over an hour later they stopped talking so I could go to sleep!! I know, I should be thankful to spend time with family, but I can only take so much.

Today after we drove in to St. Louis to see my cousin and his new baby for lunch we drove to Central Illinois and I went fishing!! I was only out on the dock for about 20 minutes and I got eaten alive by bugs!! Seriously, what have I gotten myself into? This is why I left the Midwest in the 1st place…heat, humidity and bugs! Our next assignment better be somewhere good! :)

Now for a few days of relaxing on the lake with the husband, aunt and uncle and mom! :)