Just a little rant.. With a few opinions... Part 1

I tend to not express political views publically or discuss current affairs anymore  but I'm changing that rule .. 

(Bloggers warning : this will probably anger a lot.. If you don't think you can handle a non sugar coated view do not I repeat DO NOT READ FURTHER!!!) 

First national things: 

Baltimore- I'm infuriated that everyone is crying "race".. Really ??  Had this happened to an Asian, Hispanic, or Caucasian person probably non of the issues woulda happened.. The Baltimore people are making it an issue, it's them dragging it out. They are the ones making their race look bad, when they faught so hard for equality. Yes it was bad a man died, but to drag it out like this. I guess we are all back in high school again?

The  Elections - I have concluded I have the best GOP team that ghe convention needs .... Yall ready? Well gonna make you wait.  (Grinning slightly evilly) ... First Hillary, really people think we need to go back to a Clinton era? It don't take rocket science or least it shouldn't to see the dodging, lies, coverups that she's doing, and to think she was originally republican.  She already had to resign secretary if state which is fourth in line of command to take over if needed .. Why put her in the top?  Now because she's the only democrat I have really looked at back to the republicans. Rubio and Cruz are young bucks, they aren't really ready to run for presidency one has to be 35, they are what early 40s? Actually I'll google that... Rubio 43 Cruz 44.. Yes political babies.. Or least that's how I see them, brilliant but they won't get the older votes.  Bush eh I like him but many of his stances I don't agree with. Those two CEOs or what ever they are are clearly smart yes.. But political unknowns what they will be able to do is bring up issues that will need to be addressed.  There are others set to announce that haven't time will tell. Then you have Carson and Huckabee .. Carson came from nothing, brilliant and knows what it feels like to be a small fish in a big world.. Huckabee has small country-ish background a good ole boy from the south, also brilliant. Both are godly. Carson know the constitution like he knows his kids names. Huckabee has the national eye.  Which brings me to who i would run.... In case Yall haven't figured it out.   Huckabee Carson..  I think combined they could bring the votes. And would make for a good team. 

Other things: 

Don't we still have a fourth atomic bomb? Who cares if it's obselete brake that baby out, evacuate the innocents and drop it. End of issues. 

It's sad when Mississippi looses an officer that happens to be black and our state not just the blank people rallies around his family when we had more issues with civil rights then Baltimore .. Perhaps for once Mississippi is setting an example. 

This nation this world needs an intervention of a godly manner, wait what am I saying ???  That's been going on just no one is listening .. What's it gonna take another flood? 

One final note this is all one persons view as I said many won't like it or agree.. And I'm sure more will come. 

Just some food for thought

(edited because I was late finishing) As the one year anniversary of the death of one of my dearest friends drew near and passed I was reminded of several sayings about death and life. I'm also reminded of the many others I've lost in the past 12 years specifically the young ones the ones with so much more to give:  Lacey ,Maxim, Lindsey, Beth, Josh and most recently Hollis.   It's said quite well in the second book of The Hunger Games Trilogy "our lives aren't always measured in numbers but by the lives we touch". The six mentioned did touch lives, especially mine in countless ways, I wish I could name all but it would take to much time.  This blog will end up being sorta short and simple but hopefully inspiring. We all have a purpose on this earth other then driving our parents bonkers. Some are meant to do marvelous things, some are meant to less grand but still great and so on, regardless it's what's decided for us at our birth by God or if you aren't Christian by what ever higher power you believe in. The key is we also have the ability to choose our paths, therefore getting to our history moment might take longer then others.  This isn't always bad not everyone can be brain surgeons, some need to be artists who for the record are STILL brilliant, some need to march to their own beats who again are some of the most brilliant people I know. Hollis was one of these brilliant people so brilliant at times that I was in awe yet he did walk to his own best and tended to choose the hard, rough paths. His ultimate journey was cut short I for a long time felt it was to soon, now a year later I believe it was to teach us. For the Leake Academy class of 2003 it brought some of us together that we hadn't spoken to in 10 years, for others perhaps it taught to maybe be a little more careful, for myself it helped me remember just how to live with your heart, as an empath (rather it's believed in or not) it showed me also just how strong friendship bonds are and remain I know my first knight is always watching over me.  

In closing, nothing is ever ever promised. Live your life to the fullest but also live it to where you can say you are proud of what you did. Many people like to say no regrets, however they secretly do regret. They may regret a choice made a decade ago but still have it.  Don't give yourself that chance, look at the possible effects of every choice/path first be wise and live life to where you don't regret. And finally , touch all the lives you can smile at people and wave (you would be surprised just how that can change a strangers day), randomly text a friend with a smile emoji, tell friends you love them (never know when you won't get to again).  

Life of a Southern Girl with Gluten Intolerance

It was asked that I blog about my experiences with gluten intolerance.. So Jin here you go.

First gluten intolerance or celiac (depending on your diagnoses) is NOT a death sentence.  However it is a lifestyle change..  Celiac is the easiest to diagnose because it can at times be detected with blood work , intolerance which is what I have is often miss diagnosed because blood work won't show it.. This happened to me, for years it was it could be Chrones, UC, or IBD (doctors answer when they have no answer). They even took out my gallbladder saying it could be that, granted I would of had to have it out eventually I was showing no signs of pain so probably could of waited years.  I had shown symptoms of intolerance since I was a little girl I called them tummy flare ups or utohs.. My friends got used to picking up on if I was having trouble and my parents as well. In roughly 2008 a year before the gallbladder diagnoses I started self treating and had no idea by discovering what did and didn't hurt my tummy. At the time I was also in Mobikr surrounded by grilled and steamed seafood which helped tremendously.. Then back home symptoms got worse and a year n half later I met my angel doctor. She knew my symptoms on a personal level cause she had had the same and told me she had celiac.. Immediately it was lets do the scope just .. 2 months later it was no denying it she was 99.9% sure I had intolerance.. I was asked to give her two weeks and if I wasn't better she would know she was wrong and we would go to other options. 

On March 17,2014 I embarked on the two weeks.. And I became a whole new person. The cramping, bloating, rumbles, being drained, temperament, all stopped or improved.. To use my dads word I  "deflated". It was very clear that I finally found my answer. Now ,9 months later, I am still gluten free feeling better then ever my body is on a schedule now literally and no more having to be prepared for a issue.  My parents eat gluten free with me once a week, my friends scout out menus and places we can eat ( though I can still eat most places), and I've become more health conscious. 

Now here comes the "death sentence " belief, everyone thinks cause you can't have wheat or barley products you can't have bread,pasta, fried things and the like which for a southern girl or guy might as well be the the end of the world. But it's so not the case, I eat bread, pasta l, have fried food though I've gotten used to grilled. The trick is to find what you like, the rice blends of flour and noodles you can't tell the difference with (disclaimer rice flour is finer so a little goes a long way). Also especially if you have celiac remember it's in a lot: toothpastes, some bbq chips, Pringles, some corn meals so for the first month you will find you read labels a lot, google a ton, and ask many questions. To the ones with intolerance you can still cheat but you MUST learn that cheat cut off!!!  Everyone's sensitivity with intolerance is different.. For me if i cheat the ratio non gluten to gluten has to be pretty high or issues return. However once you start feeling better chances are you won't want to cheat. 

Things that are your ultimate friends when eating gluten free : 

*brands* not all but just some of my favs

   Glutano: everything they make is amazing !!! However I'm not a fan of their crakers. 

Great Value: has a great Mac n cheese 

Udies : for breads

Red Mill: flours and other baking things

Pilsbury is making gluten free now  

*eating out*

Chic fil a - grilled nuggets and fries are not exposed to flour 

Dominos 

Mellomushroom

Most Mexican places will substitute corn shells for flour if you just ask

Remember you can still eat out just watch what you eat :) and I'd avoid buffets you never know with that 

Once again it's a lifestyle chance done by people on a daily basis , it's not the end of the world. I for one can't imagine eating or living any other way it sure beats the alternative.. 

We All Sell Ourselves Short,.....finished in November

“ Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. ”-  A.A. Milne

I could post just that, give it a title and be done... However I'm not known to be someone of few words. 

In my evaluation of not only myself but people in general nearly everyone sells themselves short in one way or another.. It seems to be human nature or maybe it's just the way we as humans are I today's world. However we don't always do it, humans also tend to get this "I'm invincible " mentality though more times then not that's a cover up and a screem saying "I'm really not liking my self".  We all do it.  I know I am horrible at not viewing myself to my full potential.. It gets pointed out regularly by friends and family , rather it be musically, in the business,cooking (which just a few days ago one of my college besties went I just wish I could cook like you.. It was humbling in a way and my response  I can teach you easily).  So many times it takes a verbal slap in the face to wake me up or turn that "light bulb" on .. The above quote did that when I read it and started the blog it was ment more to show in general we are all selling ourselves short now as I'm finally finishing this blog it's that but it also is a personal wake up call that just when I think I'm not smart, strong or brave I am.  That said to all my friends that actually read my blog yall are smarter, stronger, and braver then you think you are!!! Keep faith in God (or what ever higher power you believe in) that you weren't a mistake and that you were ment to do great things as long as you also have faith in yourself that you are stronger, braver, and smarter then you see yourself being .

Selfview Part tres

First to all that actually read my blog I appologize for being a month behind, in my defense July and August ususly are busy months for me with tons of family and friends having bdays.  This year was no different but the business increased with a return to the neshoba fair. I could write a whole blog on just that.. Yeah  the fair is that epic.  But this one is to touch on my ever going quest to improve myself view on myself. So here it goes.

While at the fair came to a realization as I was talking to highschool friends and my second family that somethings never change .. It's us that change... Rather it's weight, age, spouses, kids all are still changes.. What doesn't change our personalities and who we are.  Some changes we choose for ourselves some we don't but they still happen like weight gain.  I thought I had changed that I wasn't the same small town girl lol mainly cause I'm one that had moved away and come back.. As I'm walking around though in my boots covered in red neshoba county dirt dust I realize I haven't at all.. I also realized I'm proud of my small town roots.  It makes me me and that me is just who I need to be.  

That all said I'm happy with me yes and I think it's about time I was able to be, there are still a few insecurities I have.. There is nothing wrong with that everyone rather they admit it or not do.  The key is to not let them define who we are.. So this month I took a big step.. I gave myself a gym membership for my birthday, set a goal of weight loss, and doing my best to stick with it.. The reasoning behind it is simple I'm not happy that I'm 5'7" and at the weight I am, for years I fooled myself into thinkin I was so before I'm to old to fix it I'm gonna try to.  So far I haven't lost to many pounds but its only been about a week week and a half , but starting to see some change and I'm feeling better. 

Lastly in my update on self view this is more of an advice, suggestion.  Be you !! Don't let anyone change you and don't change for them.  If people don't like you for you that's their problem no one else's... However if being you means you need to change for you to be happy do it ! If you wanna loose 50 pounds to be happy with your outer appearance do it, if you wanna live out a dream or two do it, if you wanna find a spouse or significant other but yet you haven't put yourself out there to .. get off your butt and go out and find them ( you can't find them sitting at home ) .. But do all this for YOU ! Not anyone else !! Heck I know my mom would rather have a 29 year old daughter with a bf, or guy in my life then a 29 year old that's single  I told her straight up years ago I wasn't ready.   That's starting to change and my not ready is evolving to ready long as they accept me for me .. But the key there is it's changing cause I want it to not mom .. I'm finaly getting to the point I don't have to party every weekend, I know I'll always have a wild hair that was shown the week of the fair and that's ok why? Cause that's being MEEEEEE.. Giggles and though it took a long time I'm finaly ok with me (with the exception of wanting to get my late teens body back but hey who doesn't?) and that's how it should be because once I'm ok with me others will be and if not then they aren't true to them selves or to me as friends and I don't need that.  So to all my friends I'm saying this if y'all wanna improve yourselves I'm behind you 100% percent come hell or high water but with one condition ..it MUST be what y'all want.. 

Peace and Love y'all !!! 

Self view part deux

A little over a month ago I blogged on self -view.  I called my personal view of myself whack and rightly so.  Somehow over the course of time, exs, parents, and peers I managed to loose myself and all that I thought was me.  This past month I did much sole searching and thinking on this matter which at times was hard. E.E. Cummings puts it quite well by saying " To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting."   

Truth is it is hard to be ourselves in today's world and we must strive to never loose ourselves, for when you do then its a true fight, just as Cummings said. 

My view of myself currently is as follows: I'm a slight nerd especially about history, Star Trek (tng and up) and at times World of Warcraft, I'm currently a culinary adventurer relearning what I knew cooking to be so that I can tolerate with in medical perimeters, I love to do random trips and must do more, I like to go places for non typical reasons like New Orleans not to party but to see the D Day exhibit, I have my insecurities I may never see myself pretty as others do but I'm learnin to accept their comments graciously thankfully, I love to cut up and loose, it took 8 years but I finaly grew up and found a red wine I like.... Most importantly I have concluded in the past month I am me flaws and all long as I'm okay in my own skin the rest will fall into place and it's time I stick to it.  It's still going to be a day to day thing but a steady on going growth but with a little personal faith in myself I can do it. 

In closing as a shout out to all that have supported my new adventure to refind ms and to the wise friends that helped trigger it another Cummings quote "We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit. ”

Who would be your 24?

We all have been asked if we could talk to anyone from past who would it be..

Personally that is a hard question, mainly because there are so many greats but also friends and family I've lost to.  I saw a picture today (shown below) asking if you could sit on a bench for one hour with anyone from past or present who would it be. I got to thinking is one hour enough? Then I got to thinking who.And could I fill up a day just talkin to present and past people and have reasons to back them up.So here it goes my attempt to do just that: 

Hour One: My daddy, I'd ask him about logging and business we would discuss things that have been put off and also remember some old days. 

Hour Two: My Great Great Aunt Winnie D, I know eventually we won't have her here anymore and there is so much she has seen and done, we love to visit and never get to much. I should fix that. 

Hours Three , Four, and Five : would be spend with  cousins Jack, Joseph and Gracie, not to cut the rest of my cousins short in any way but these three have amazing minds to be a teen, pre teen and toddler.  And they should be encouraged. Jack is wise beyond his years if just given the chance, Joseph reads so much that I could spend that whole hour discussing Chronicals of Narnia or works of Verne , sweet little Gracie just amazes me daily how fast she's growing and how talented she is.

Hour Six: my biological mother, for nearly 29 years I've had so many questions that only she can answer.

**these get into past people , I didn't list my momma in the six cause I see and talk to her daily so we don't really need that hour **

Hour Seven: Gene Roddenberry and all we would discuss would be Star Trek

Hour Eight : Verne, ever since I was a small child I've loved his books and I'm curious as to how the concepts were created so far ahead of their time 

Hour Nine: Walt Disney.. 

Hour Ten: Hemmingway. His lifewas amazing, his works timeless. 

Hour Eleven : Sun Tzu .. He is the author of the art of war, not that I like war but it is a necessary evil and I'd love to compare today with his day.

Hour Twelve: DiVince, just to discus anything with him would be amazing

Hour Thirteen: Jesus, I'd ask about if he knew he would be the basis of a faith or least the continuance of it. I'd ask so much some private some not. 

Hour Fourteen: Benjamin Franklin I would love to know what it was like to be scientist, inventor, and politician. And also to be a founding father.

Hour Fifteen: General Grant

Hour Sixteen: General Lee

( both to find their take on the civil war)

Hour Seventeen: Washington

Hour Eighteen: Hitler I'm really curious as to how his mind ticked 

Hour Nineteen: Martin Luther King again to find out how mind ticked but to also see if his dream became reality 

Hour Twenty: Homer 

Hour Twenty-one: Aristotle 

Hour Tweenty-two: Shakespeare 

(The last three because they were not only writers but brilliant)

Hour Twenty-three: Muhammad to find out the real meanin of his teaching 

Hour Twenty-four : would be spent with myself to evaluate the last 23 as well as my own life. The way I see it is we must all learn from the past and in some cases the present but also from ourselves from our own mistakes and triumphs. We all can't be Homer or Einstine or anyone else listed all we can be is ourselves and be ok with that.. My challenge this week is to see who you would talk to and learn from but to also talk and learn from yourself.