Adventures in Life and Writing

Posted By Bria_Teragram on May 15, 2009

Thanks to SparkPeople I’ve come across this GREAT recipe.  If you like caramel and caramel covered or dipped apples, this is a great replacement that is a lot healthier for you!  Here is the recipe with a few recommendations and slight changes by moi since there were multiple versions of this recipe on the site.

Caramel Apple Salad

Ingredients:

• 4 apples (Usually Gala or Granny Smith apples are recommended)
• 1 pckg sugar free butterscotch pudding mix
• 1 20oz can of crushed pineapple undrained (tibits also work)
• 1 small container of Lite or fat free cool whip

Empty pineapple and juice into a bowl.  Mix in the butterscotch powder.  Core and cut the apples into cubes.  To prevent browning on the apples make sure to regularly add them to the pineapple and butterscotch mix and stir well.  Mix in whipped topping and chill.  Optional: Add pecans or walnuts for a little extra crunch.

Number of Servings: 16 (about 3/4 cup)

And for those that like to know the nutritional info…
Nutritional Info per Serving:

• Current Mood: Happy
• Current Music: Shinedown - Second Chace

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Tags: recipes

Posted By Bria_Teragram on May 12, 2009

I’ve read about 5 books in the last week, so I’ll be working writing up some reviews on them.  You can probably expect to see the first one to come by tomorrow if I don’t end up writing it tonight.

I read:

• Sisters Grimm: Fairy Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley
• Far-Flung Adventures: Fergus Crane by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell
• The Secret of Pax Tharkas by Douglas Niles
• A War of Gifts: An Ender Story by Orson Scott Card
• The Good Neighbors: Kin by Holly Black

I may not end up doing reviews on all of them, but I’m going to try.

• Current Mood: Content
• Current Music: The TV (American Idol!)
• Currently Reading: The Heir of Kayolin by Douglas Niles

Category: Blog - Main, Book Reviews | No Comments »
Tags: books, reading

Posted By Bria_Teragram on May 10, 2009

I ended up missing doing this last week; I was so caught up in working out.  So, here is this weeks anthem:

“Rebirthing” by Skillet

I lie here paralytic inside this soul
Screaming for you till my throat is numb
I wanna break out
I need a way out
I don’t believe that it’s gotta be this way
The worst is the waiting
In this Womb I’m suffocating

Pre-Chorus
Feel your presence filling up my lungs with oxygen
I take you in
I’ve died

Chorus
Rebirthing now
I wanna live for love, wanna live for you and me
Breathe for the first time now I come alive somehow
Rebirthing now
I wanna live my life, wanna give you everything
Breathe for the first time now I come alive somehow
Right now
Right now

Verse 2
I lie here lifeless in this cocoon
Shedding my skin cause I’m ready to
I wanna break out
I found a way out
I don’t believe that it’s gotta be this way
The worst is the waiting
In this Womb I’m suffocating

Pre-Chorus
Feel your presence filling up my lungs with oxygen
I take you in
I’ve died

Chorus
Rebirthing now
I wanna live for love, wanna live for you and me
Breathe for the first time now I come alive somehow
Rebirthing now
I wanna live my life, wanna give you everything
Breathe for the first time now I come alive somehow
(I come alive somehow)

Bridge
Tell me when I’m gonna live again
Tell me when I’m gonna breathe you in
Tell me when I’m gonna feel inside
Tell me when I’m gonna feel alive
Tell me when I’m gonna live again
Tell me when this fear will end
Tell me when I’m gonna feel inside
Tell me when I’ll feel alive

Chorus
Rebirthing now
I wanna live for love, wanna live for you and me
Breathe for the first time now I come alive somehow
Rebirthing now
I wanna live my life, wanna give you everything
Breathe for the first time now I come alive somehow
(I come alive somehow)
Right now (I come alive somehow)
Right now (I come alive somehow)

—

I just like the sound of the song, and well, Skillet is a super awesome band.  It’s definitely a great song to rock out to and get you going in the morning.

• Current Mood: Content
• Current Music: Skillet - Rebirthing
• Currently Reading: The Heir of Kayolin by Douglas Niles

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Tags: anthem for the week

Posted By Bria_Teragram on May 2, 2009

So, I’m not really going to go in depth like normal since I’m now tracking everything on SparkPeople.  But, since I weighed in the first day there, I’m down 2lbs!  Yay!  I’m messing around with my diet and adjusting things (I’m now moving to a low sodium diet).

I’ve joined a challenge to lose 8lbs in May!  If I’m successful I’ll actually be one pound lighter than I was when I quit doing Jenny Craig (super awesome).  I’d love it if I actually managed to lose more, and I might simply because I’m pretty sure I’m caring a fair amount of water weight which should come off with the low sodium diet.

I also think I’ve stepped up my workouts.  I started wearing the pedometer again and I’m pushing to get 7500+ steps a day.  This pretty much means I not only go for a 30-60 minute walk, but I’m also doing cardio videos.  I’m still lifting weights and I even added a lower body routine, which I wasn’t doing before.

I’m still planning on doing the Sweatsuit to Swimsuit Bootcamp at SparkPeople, which starts tomorrow!  I also started Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred today.  I’ll be using that along with 30-60 minute walks daily.  I’m also going to do the 10ish minute workouts from SparkPeople each day.   I will also be attempting to do my strength training routines as well, but I may end up cutting them out or creating a rotating schedule depending how it works out between that and the 30 Day Shred.

I also started using my Wii Fit again!  It’s fun.  I’m still working on unlocking some of the strength training poses, but my guess is I probably won’t use the ones I can’t unlock right now anyway.  I also unlocked the free run/jog last night so now I can turn that on for 30 minutes or so and grab my iPod and just rock out when it’s too cold to go outside or just too late at night.

So, all in all, I’m still feeling very pumped up about exercising and losing weight!

• Current Mood: Excited!
• Current Music: The TV

Category: Blog - Main | 1 Comment »
Tags: exercise, walking, weights

Posted By Bria_Teragram on April 29, 2009

Any of you that actually read this blog may have noticed I’ve been talking a lot about exercise.  The long and short of it is, I’m overweight and I’m trying to make an actual effort this go around at losing weight.  So I’m blogging about here so that I’ll keep up with it better.

So, on to the exercise.  Went for a walk on Sunday like I said.  I haven’t done one since (Bad Bria), but I may try and go later once the sun starts going down.  It’s a bit too warm out right now for a walk.  I did some sit-ups and used the stability ball to give myself a little extra area of movement on Monday (abs are still screaming at me).  And yesterday I lifted the dumbbells.  And my arms are surprisingly not sore today.

That aside, I started perusing YouTube for workout videos and I’ve come across several that I’m interested in trying.  I’m currently working on Cardio Tae Bo (it totally kicked my ass and is about 43 minutes in length).  I have to say, I really like Tae Bo (I think it’s because of all the kicks).  I have Tae Bo Basic workout on VHS and I’ve been doing that the last week or so.  To me it’s pretty high intensity stuff.  It really makes me sweat and it can take a few weeks before I can actually make it through a whole video without stopping.  I’m going to be doing this every other day and I’m thinking about doing some Jillian Michaels workouts (also on YouTube).

I also signed up for SparkPeople who I also found through YouTube.  They have some great workout videos on YouTube.  I’ve decide to try their Sweatsuit to Swimsuit Bootcamp challenge which starts May 2nd and runs till the end of the month.  Looks like I found it just in time to get started!

I have to say I really like their site.  You can keep track of the exact exercises you do (including the number of reps) and the food you eat.  Pretty much everything is completely customizable on there.  You can follow their premade plans or do your own.  They’ve got some pretty yummy looking recipes I’ll want to try.  And they have some great articles you can read!  So, if you by chance decide to sign up you can use EmmieWoo as you referral person.

Now I’m going to go explore their site some more!

• Current Mood: Sweaty
• Current Music: Sonicflood - God is Great

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Tags: exercise, Tae Bo, walking, weights

Posted By Bria_Teragram on April 26, 2009

I meant to talk about this earlier, but last night as I shifted through some more papers as I looked for my print out of my Hartzog novel, I came across a little notebook.  And what a glorious notebook it was!

The title I gave to the notebook was:

A Novel in the Works
The Hell That is My Life
By Jaded Christian

In the notebook I found a sort of outline, or should I say plot points, of topics in my life that I wanted to write about (not that anyone would actually be interested in reading that).  I later started making a blog that was going to feature each thing I highlighted (I got all of two blog posts in before I ended up stopping).

Anyway, at some point in the notebook, after I had written out all the notes I had apparently felt like adding at the time, I had used it to make notes about a NaNo novel I did in 2005.  Along with the notes there were a few short written sections, which were probably done when I was at work or somewhere else.

Then I apparently picked up my notebook again in October 2006 and started making notes for the 2006 NaNo I never ended up writing.  I think I do have a few pages written on this NaNo, but I just got so busy with other things that I never finished it, but now I have some great notes for a really, really, really silly novel.

Anyhooo… finding the notebook made me really happy.  I may just have to use some of the things I wrote down in there for writing prompts at some point when I just want to write something not related to my current projects.

• Current Mood: Excited
• Current Music: Jeremy Camp - Enough

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Tags: cleaning, writing

Posted By Bria_Teragram on April 26, 2009

This morning as I sit in front of my computer nursing sore muscles, I am reminded of why I generally don’t get up early and definitely don’t use my computer in the early hours in my room.

I don’t have shades in my room so the sun is shining not only on my shoulder, but it’s making the computer screen hard to see.  While it does feel good on my shoulder, not seeing the screen is a problem.

I am, by nature, a night owl.  I prefer to stay up late and get up late.  It’s not that I don’t love the sun, because I do (I just hate when it gets too warm, which is anything over 85 degrees Fahrenheit).  But I love stargazing and I love being alone.  And being up late means I’m more likely to have time alone.  I also love sleeping, which often lends to ending up staying up later and later.

In any case, I’ve gotten up early the past few days.  This is aided by not only the workouts I’ve been doing, that make me get tired earlier in the day, but I somehow have managed to get my sleeping schedule turned around and am actually dragging myself out of bed in the early hours, rather than sleeping in.  The benefits include getting to workout without anyone else around (I hate when people watch me workout) and well, I just seem to be getting more stuff done now.

The only thing I plan on doing today is going for a walk.  I didn’t end up doing the walking video last night, instead I lifted the dumbbells for about half an hour and I’m definitely feeling the effects of that now.  I also started doing the stairs again, but I’m not aiming for a particular number right now, I’m just trying to make myself go up and down them when I wouldn’t necessarily need to.  I’m already up to three times this morning and I’m about to do a fourth because I forgot to grab something while I was down there last time.

So, I will basic in this sun for a few more minutes before I jog back down the stairs, grab the items I need and then I’ll move my computer to a much less sunny spot so I can do some computer work before I start working on noveling or going for a walk.

• Current Mood: Sore!
• Current Music: MercyMe - Unaware

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Tags: exercise, sunshine, walking, weights

Posted By Bria_Teragram on April 26, 2009

Some people may have noticed that a lot of the music I listen to is Christian or has Christian overtones and for good reason.  I like it and I’m a Christian.  I often go for long periods of times without going to church and there are often many reasons this happens.  But I also go years and years where I go to church on Sunday morning and evening and Wednesday evening (or whatever additional time the church I’m attending happens to have services on).  Whatever the reasons I have for not going to church, it’s songs like this that make me take time to reflect on God and why I believe the things I do.  Those beliefs aren’t easy things to explain since you have to take a leap of faith, but I find comfort in God and for a pessimist that is something I can look to, feel less pessimistic, and, well, it makes me feel Alive.

Starfield - “Alive In This Moment”

It’s been so long since I have met You here
Since I have said these words or cried these tears
And like a child would come I run into our secret place
And as the music fades, the tears are rolling down my face

I am alive in this moment
In this moment I am found
I am alive in this moment
In this moment I belong

It’s been so long since I have met You here
Since I have heard You speak or let You near
And like a wayward son I’ve come with nothing left to hide
Here in this moment I have come to offer up my life

Here only one fire burns, it burns
Here only one melody is heard
Once again for the very first time
My eyes are opening

• Current Mood: contemplative
• Current Music: Starfield - Alive in This Moment

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Tags: anthem for the week

Posted By Bria_Teragram on April 25, 2009

I still haven’t gotten a pillow form for the felted pillow I’m working on.  Visited Walmart the other day but they only had foam sheets, batting and poly-fil.  I will try and visit Michael’s and Hobby Lobby sometime soon to see if they have pillow forms and if nothing else I’ll just get the poly-fil.

I started on another cross stitch project.  I’m about 1/3 done with that one.  I work on it in my room when I’m working on my computer and just waiting for things to load.  I’ll probably take pictures of this soon, along with the felted pillow (with or without the form inside), and of the other cross stitch project I made for my nephew.

I also started knitting a pair of socks.  I had tried quite a while back at making some, but it just didn’t work out.  I decided to try with circular needles this time (total failure) and ended up working on four double needles with a fifth to do the actual knitting instead of the three with the fourth for knitting that I had done the first time.  It is definitely working out much better this time.  I’ve actually moved back to the circulars since I’m past the difficult point where it likes to twist around on you.

The knitting is going a bit slow since I’m not as skilled in that area.  But I’ve got about an inch and a half so far. 

I’ve been working on the socks while watching TV, so I pretty much just do it during commercial breaks.  I will also take pictures of these barely started socks.

And that about sums up my current craft projects.

• Current Mood: Sore!
• Current Music: The TV

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Tags: crafts, cross stitch, knitting

Posted By Bria_Teragram on April 25, 2009

Walked for an hour twice this week (outside no less) plus I’ve done three 30 minute workouts.  I’ve lost about 2lbs since the week started and my legs are on fire right now.

I ended up cutting out the stairs that I was doing because my calves were starting to feel like I was going to get a charlie horse.  But instead I’ve increased my other workouts!  Yay!  I also stopped with the dumbbells, but I’m going to start using them again.  I tried a workout video my mom had bought that came with a weighted ball (see image to the right), but it just wasn’t working my arms as much as I wanted.  While toning is great, I want to strengthen also.  I also don’t see how using a 4lb ball with two hands for 10 minutes (with warmup and cooldown included) for each body area is going to really “tone” anything.  I’m used to doing low weight, high rep for toning.  When I used to go to the gym I’d spend at least 20 minutes just on my upper body alone with a five minute warm up and five minute cooldown for a total workout of 30 minutes.  Not only did I lose weight, but I toned and got stronger.

I may squeeze in a 45 minute walk later this afternoon using the Lelsie Sansone’s Walk Away Your Waistline.  At least I hope I can make all 3 miles. I’ve done it once before, but I may also be super tired later when I try it.  If it’s too much I might try one of her less vigorous walking tapes, but I really like the extra workout you get by using the resistance bands.  Anyway, I find that It always helps when walking inside to be doing it to something.  I could also do my step aerobics on the Wii Fit if I feel like letting it tell me how fat I’ve gotten since I last used it.

As for other things, I’m holding off on the Etsy shop till after this month ends since they bill you at the end of each month. This way I don’t have to pay the dollar or so that I’ll be doing for posting up my listing till the end of may.

I also totally missed doing the anthem for the week this week. But I’m going to do it tomorrow! I swear…

I’m also hoping to get some serious work done on my editing. I want to finish editing my Dunai novel so I can start working on the second book. Pretty much just doing a line edit for now, plus writing out the outline, making character cards, and noting things I should probably work on fixing. Once I start writing the second part of the story I’ll also start doing some major editing to the first part so that I fix things like character voice.

I’m also still digging through various folders, bags and boxes trying to find my print out of the Murder in Hartzog 203 so I can edit that more too. If all else fails I’ll print it out again, but I’d rather avoid wasting paper.

And for reading… I haven’t gotten much done lately, despite going to the library. All the books are still just sitting next to my reading chair. I started one, but I haven’t gotten far into it because I’ve been focusing on other things, like getting enough sleep and exercising. And then of course while looking for a map editor to use to create a map of Dunai, I ended up starting to play FreeCiv again.

And I think that’s about all as far as updates on what I’ve been doing since I last posted.

• Current Mood: Tired
• Current Music: The TV

Category: Blog - Main | 1 Comment »
Tags: editing, etsy, exercise, reading, walking, writing