Happy Friday!

April 15, 2016 by Leave a Comment

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Hello Everyone! I have been running around busy with spring cleaning projects, administrative work, preparing for some upcoming home renovations and sticking to my Cleanse. The picture above is me at pick-up trying to soothe my sweet craving with a clean smoothie. It was actually really delicious.

As if that isn’t enough, I officially will begin garden clean-up this afternoon. It’s quite a process that takes days to work through but the weather is warming up and I’m am anxious to get out there and work on the first steps in preparation for planting season. It’s too soon for me to plant much so I focus on cleaning up areas, assessing what survived winter and what might need replacing and then plan my flower beds and vegetable gardens.  The hard part is that once garden season kicks in, I really abandon my craft table. I am going to look ways to keep a few projects going but I won’t make promises because outdoors is where I like to be. So I may change up my features on this blog during the late spring and summer months. Stay tuned for any announcements.

week2bThis is a yummy clean dish I made this week, it is Eggplant Curry and it’s delish!

week2cI love Whole Foods because it is always an adventure. I feel like I am on holiday at some exotic location because some of the fruits and vegetables I see are so foreign. This one I had to take a picture of – Jackfruit. It’s massive.

This upcoming week is also spring break for my boys so I will be doing a lot of staycation activities throughout the week. I think Apollo has even started a list (definitely taking after his mom).  I will also be catching up on my reading for book club and my personal selections so some reviews will be fast approaching. I am also working on videos for a YouTube channel to talk books that will be included in the Book Nook section of this website. I have been toying with starting a channel for a while and my youngest has been pushing me to do it. So it just might happen once I shake the nerves off.

Well have a blessed weekend and I will be back with more soon as I go play in my garden a bit!

Belinda

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I’m Back: A Recap of My Time Away!!

April 8, 2016 by 1 Comment

Hello my peeps!  Wow, I got swept up in so much happenings that I didn’t get a chance to check in. Let’s see, the last time we connected was my last Women’s History post on the 29th. Well I spent an amazing weekend with Leao in New Jersey at my best friend’s wedding. We left on Friday morning and flew home mid-day Sunday. I realized this was the first time Leao and I have flown without the kids in 13 years! Wow. We usually travel on vacations with the boys so it was a treat to just have the two of us.longbranchwedding1Leao and I took a selfie in our rental car on our way to the hotel. Met the bride to be at the hotel and look at the cute little goodie bag that was on our bed at the hotel!

longbranchwedding2We took a little tour of Long Branch. The ocean was spectacular and some of the trees were already in bloom.

longbranchwedding3We got ready for an evening wedding and the shuttle picked up all of the guests right in front of our hotel. It was a luxury shuttle with fancy seating and mini bars.

longbranchwedding4The wedding. Wow what can I say, it was beautiful. It was in a seaside restaurant so the ocean was in background all of the time. There were Cherry blossoms everywhere. So pretty.

longbranchwedding5Met some new friends at the wedding and caught up with college friends at brunch the next day!

On Monday we had a stinkin’ snow storm that left shoveling deep snow and pushed back my grocery shopping a day.

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Then on Tuesday I started my spring Clean Gut Cleanse. Remember I did it last year with amazing results. This time I have my girlfriend Ashley joining me on what I am now calling a “Spring Cleaning for my Body and Soul”! It feels so good to really nourish my body properly. I am on day 4 today and my energy is great. I discovered a new breakfast smoothie this time around. I have also been sharing some of my meals with Leao. I even created a bullet journal to track my information this time around. I will share that with you soon.

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On Wednesday, we took the boys to their first Celtic’s game at the TD Garden. Nick’s ticket was free because he made High Honors this term at school so they paid for his ticket and we purchased our tickets so we could all go.

Now, you know I am all in on my football. I can’t get enough of it. Ashley and I commiserate via text throughout the games all season and I try to go see the Pat’s once a year. But that said, I really enjoyed myself and see me going again. It’s so close to drive there and the lights, the music, really make it so much fun. The players were amazing to watch. So I may start watching more games now.

celticsgame2Both boys had a great time and I definitely see this happening again.

celticsgame3

Tonight is movie night and we bought a copy of the latest Star Wars movie so we can watch it again. I can’t wait to see if I notice more things the second time around.

I told you, it’s been busy! I am truly grateful for all the blessings of this past week. I have so much fun stuff to share with you so do stop by soon.

Have a blessed weekend!

Belinda

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Women’s History Month – “Mary and Martha” documentary review

March 29, 2016 by 2 Comments

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Mary and Martha is a documentary directed by Phillip Noyce and stars Hillary Swank.  I found this gem on Amazon Prime and was deeply moved by it.

The first part of the movie starts out showing Mary, a mother, wife and business woman who begins to realize how her son is withdrawing from her and that her lifestyle might not be helping. She finds out he is being bullied in school and she wants to find a way to help. She realizes that her husband is often busy with work, she in hers and her son plays his video games. She wants to find a way to connect to him and she decides she doesn’t just want to be a mom, she wants to be an “amazing” mom for her son. So she decides she wants to take him out of school and spend six months in South Africa and homeschool him there while giving him an amazing experience. With the support of her husband who stays in the US to continue his work, she takes her son to South Africa.  Initially he doesn’t want to go but as time passes he grows into his new environment and is very happy. You watch him really embracing the experience and thrive. Without much more spoilers, the movie goes on to show how Malaria affects the population in South Africa.

 

Eventually Mary meets another mother, Martha, who’s son went to South Africa, and their chance meeting leads to a beautiful friendship. They decide they want to do something to help the people in Africa fight Malaria.  Again, another film that captures the possibility to make change in the world.

I smiled, I laughed  a little and I cried a lot during this film.

The talented James Wood plays Mary’s, estranged, rich and powerful father. There is a scene in the movie where she goes to him for help and he starts to rattle off numbers that absolutely took my breath away. He said:

“Did you that if you take every single person killed in terrorist act around the world in the last 20 years and you add to that all the lives lost in the Middle East since 1967, the Six Day War, and you add to that every single American life lost in Vietnam, in Korea and in every single American engagement since then –Iraq, Afghanistan. If you take all those lives and you multiply it by two, that’s the number of children that die of Malaria every single year.”

Now I am not sure where to begin to verify the accuracy of this statement but I do know it captured my attention.  Every life is important and sometimes we only focus when large numbers are present. That isn’t good but if that statistic is correct, wow…I feel deeply sad that I have only come to this problem, this late in my life. I feel some guilt. I have a lot of emotions but I think the important thing is that I focus on now, not my lack of knowledge in the past but what I can do in the present.

So inspired by this movie I have located a few organizations that are working towards eradicating Malaria. I want to know: What the current state is? What is being done? How I can help? How I can keep abreast of new developments.

So I urge you to watch the film then decide for yourself if you want to be in the dark moving forward or if you want to know more. I know I sound “preachie” but I think when you feel moved, you tend to act with more purpose.

At this time, the most effective means to prevent malaria is sleeping under a mosquito net, specifically a long-lasting insecticide treated net.

I googled Malaria Charities and found a few and then I found Give Well.org, an organization that reviews charities to see who transparent they are and if donors money is allocated well. I know, like many others, I use caution when donating to charities.  So this might be helpful.

Through them I found out that they found Against Malaria Foundation to be a fairly good charity.  Please check it out.

There are good people doing great things out there and this film was inspired by Harry and Jo Yirrell, a woman who lost her son to Malaria when he gave away his pills to save another person. She is part of a charity called Malaria No More UK.

I have more to learn but with the help of the internet that process is possible.

Have a blessed day friends!

Belinda

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Saying Goodbye to Our Children’s Librarian – Miss Martha

March 28, 2016 by Leave a Comment

bookclubbookmarker1

Hello my peeps! Happy Monday! It’s raining outside today so I have my cup of tea close at hand and my books within reach too! It’s like a formula that must be fulfilled. Rain = Tea + Books!!  So I may cut my day short and indulge.

On the topic of books, I am sad to say that our amazing children’s librarian, Miss Martha is leaving our library at the end of this month. She has been with my kids for several years. As I have mentioned we go to the library weekly and often participate in the programs. We really love our time we spend there. So when the news came last month that she was leaving to a job closer to home, I was pretty devastated.

Apollo is a member of the libraries’ book club and she has led this group of wonderful kids through an adventure of great books and great discussions. I always sit in the back of the room and listen and let me tell you, their discussions hold up well against adult book discussions.  They all love reading and they show up eager to chat.

When it comes to Nicholas, she has been so great with making book recommendations in past years for reading for the accelerated reader program at school and has spent the last year, providing amazing support for his comic creations and club that he started at the library.

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So for the last bookclub meeting, I brought food, a card and then I made these bookmarks with the members names on it as well as hers for her to take home and remember us.

For many, this might not be a big deal but for us this is sad. What I told the boys is that they have to be grateful for the time we have had and let her know she will be missed.

We haven’t met our new librarian but Martha assured us that she is leaving us in good hands.  So a new adventure will soon begin and I look forward to new adventures.

Have a blessed day!

Belinda

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