Too tired to blog

I'm simply too tired to blog. So many things on my mind. I tell you, sometimes the mental things wear you out faster than the physical things.

Good night.

Poison Bread

I went to Panera Bread tonight and realized I could not eat anything there. The only kind of food served there is bread, hence the bakery's name.

I love eating gluten free. My bloated belly is gone and I've stopped retaining water.

Don't feel like blogging

I can't seem to get enough sleep. Since it looks like I'll be pulling another late night tomorrow, I'm going to get some much needed shut eye.

And no I'm not really ignoring the blogosphere. Just resting and trying to shut off the devices before a certain time.

Laundry

I hate doing laundry. I hate it so much, I've contemplated only wearing black and white so I'd only have two loads of laundry to ever sort.

The one good thing about the laundromat is, I can get as many loads of laundry as I have done in an hour. It certainly is more convenient to have more than one washer and dryer going at a time.

I wish this laundromat had tables to sit at so I could get some work done. I like the free wifi here. I have a few chapters left of a book I've been trying to read for more than six months. Just a few more chapters. Long chapters.

Just a test

This is just a test to see if the blogging app works.

If it does work, I'll be writing a rave review!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A rut

I don't feel like blogging tonight. I'm still in a rut and I can't seem to recover. I need a break from everything.

Enjoy the picture.

Mark

We are back to studying the Gospel of Mark in the women's Bible study group. I'm glad we're done with Ecclesiastes. That book was on the depressing side.

I have so much to blog about but not enough energy or time. Plus, I need to get some rest. I haven't had a good night's sleep in a long time.

Generational curses

Do you believe in generational curses? I believe they exist. It's one way to explain why people continue to repeat destructive behavior.

I still cannot stop thinking about the movie Courageous. Nathan Hayes (the black officer in the movie) realized how not having a father figure in his life left him scared. Some people don't realize it when so many people around them are living the same way. I must pray.

Setting standards to live by

"Setting the standards you need to aim for in life."

I watched the movie Courageous tonight. It was the most beautiful, awesome, biblically focused movie I've ever seen.

The whole movie touched me dearly, but the part I cherished the most was when the Nathan Hayes (the black officer) takes his daughter to a fancy dinner and gives her a heart shaped-ring. He told her that if he knows a guy interested in her loves God, that guy will also love her. He said the ring would be replaced the day she gets married, but until then he would take care of her and respect her as a lady. He not only showed her how valuable she was to him, but he set an example for the type of man she should be looking for. That was priceless.

Quote by unknown

I just wanted to share a cool quote because I'm tired and I have to get up very early in the morning. I don't feel like blogging. Have a good night.

Picture share

I haven't finished writing the post I have planned, so I'm sharing a picture I took the other day. Enjoy. And Happy President's Day.

A little bit of Black History

One of the things that annoys me about black folks is how they bring their children into the world.

This past Thursday, I met with a group of singles who live in the AV. One of the ladies, a Jamaican twenty-something, asked me if I had any kids. When I answered her question, she then told me I should get on it and asked what I was waiting for. I told her I was waiting on a husband.

I don't understand why black folks think it is okay to have children outside of marriage. I was born that way as well as most of my cousins. Growing up without a father in the home as greatly effected myself and my cousins.

For her to even suggest I have children without being married insulted me greatly. I can see things from her point of view. When everyone around you has their children that way, it becomes normal. I'm not into doing things the black way. Just one really bad habit the black community practices that needs to be shelved and forgotten.

Star Trek: TNG

I really like Star Trek: The Next Generation. I don't ever remember seeing the pilot episode, but I was caught off guard by the uniform I had seen one of the extras wearing.

I get gender equality but a man in a skirt (or skart) was not what I had envisioned. I'm so glad the costume designer decided to have everyone wear that one piece jumpsuit.

Singles

I met up with some singles from my meetup group. I had a blast. It was nice spending time talking about our lives as singles. I can't wait for the next meetup. I need to get sleep.

Prescription medications

Lots of people tell me that I should just go to the doctor and have him prescribe pills to help me with my digestive issues, but I find I get better results when I cut the bad foods out of my diet and eat really well.

I don't know if you've noticed the number of celebrity deaths lately, but they always seem to be the result of overdosing on prescription drugs.

Are you familiar with compounding? Small doses of prescription meds are probably okay, but over a period of time is just as bad as taking an entire bottle of meds at once. Compounding.

I like eating whole foods and dumping the prescriptions, which only mask the symptoms of whatever ails me.

I'm not doing the pharmaceutical companies any favors right now.

Joshua trees

I noticed just how beautiful Joshua trees could be while driving today. When a tree has abundant branches that are uniform (not like the picture I have), they are magnificent. I didn't realize this until I drove along Interstate 58. There is a forest of them and I wish I weren't driving because I would have loved to get a picture of them.

If I had to live in the AV for the test if my life, I'd want rows of Joshua trees lining my drive way like that plantation with the oak trees lining the drive way-Oak Alley Plantation. I do realize the Joshua trees would never get large enough to provide cover, but I have to make the best of the desert landscape.

Marrybacon.com

I did it. I made a bacon milkshake and it was good. I used real bacon, too.

The best art of using real bacon was that I had an awesome combination of cold creamy ice cream and tiny chunks of bacon to chew on. Oh, how good the bacon tasted.

Everyone kept telling me the bacon would make the milkshake greasy but it didn't. I baked the bacon until it was crispy and dabbed the grease off my bacon slice before adding it to the blender.

So good.

This has inspired me to try other bacon recipes. Bacon makes everything taste better.

The need for men

I spoke to my dad yesterday. He brought up the situation that's going with my brother (his son).

I don't feel it's my responsibility to call my brother and chastise him for the choices he's been making. I'm not his parent. I also won't do it because I feel it's not my place to counsel a male. I have no idea how to be a man (apparently men have no idea how to be a man either).

Having children outside of marriage is never a good thing. It is best for women to keep their legs closed and wait for a man to marry them.

Not sure about eternity?

Life is short. It is sad when an untimely death happens.

I could die tomorrow. What I know for sure is that death is something I cannot avoid no matter what.

Have you thought about eternity? Do you know where you will spend eternity? Death no longer scares me because I found Jesus. Do you know Jesus? Have you heard the good news?

Grocery shopping

I need to make a trip to Trader Joe's sometime this weekend. I'm out of coconut milk. I discovered how much I like coconut milk when thought I hated it.

I dislike Thai food because I thought I didn't like coconut milk. It turns out there is something else about Thai food I don't like since it definitely isn't the coconut milk. Could it be a spice in Thai food? I don't know but I do indeed like coconut milk, especially vanilla flavored.

I really don't have anything to write about. Can you tell?

Car troubles

It happened again. My truck won't start and now I have to wait for a tow truck. I called my mechanic to let him know I will be bringing the truck I tomorrow after work.

This is the last straw. I need a car that is reliable. Or find a mechanic that can fix this one.

I need to get another car. I hate car shopping, especially when I can't afford the car I really want.

I hate the commuter lifestyle. New York city is very appealing right now as I wouldn't need a car to get around. Good public transportation would be pointless where I live and work. I need to leave this area.

Purple sweet potato pie

I mentioned the sweet potato pie yesterday. Well here it is. It tastes just as good as it looks. I don't have the recipe for it at the moment, I can post that later.

If you've made sweet potato pie or pumpkin pie before, just use the same ingredients but use the Okinawan/Hawaiian purple sweet potato instead of pumpkin or orange sweet potato.

Untitled

There was an amazing sun rise this morning. I was able to get a picture of it.

It rained today but not enough to give me hope for bountiful poppies this year. I love those orange flowers. They give the desert much needed color.

I'm trying to get through my topical Bible studies but my reading plans won't load. I needed to write down the daily verses I'm supposed to meditate on. I hope this is just a temporary glitch as I don't want to miss my reading in the morning.

My mom made purple sweet potato pie. I can't wait to try them. I will be posting pictures tomorrow.

Purple sweet potato cheesecake

Here's a picture of my purple sweet potato cheesecake I made.

It turned out good. I only had one person say they didn't like it. I didn't care too much for the nut crust but considering I'm trying to go gluten free, it was better than the flour alternative. I think next time I will add some honey just to give the crust the sweetness folks said it needed. I should post the recipe but I must admit, I didn't come up with the recipe. I got it from Wellness Mama. All I did was substitute the pumpkin with the purple sweet potato.

I got seven mini cheesecakes from this recipe with enough batter left over to make an eighth mini pie but ran out of the nut crust. Had I use less crusts for the other pies, I would have had enough crust for the eighth pie.

Not so healthy brunch

I went to In N Out last night for dinner and had two double-doubles protein style (without the bun). I think the prices went up. I went there again today, after grocery shopping. I needed to buy the ingredients for the purple sweet potato cheesecake I plan on making with the last of the sweet potatoes. I really like In N Out burgers. They aren't the largest or fanciest burgers but they are fresh. I don't have to worry about mystery ingredients.

I'm going to try a nut crust for this cheesecake. I hope it turns out okay.

If it doesn't taste good, I won't be making it again. The batter was good though. I can't wait to dig into one of my little purple cheesecakes.

Nine weeks

I was told in church tonight the senior pastor will be out of town for the next nine weeks. The pastoral staff will be substituting by teaching from the books of the prophets.

At least we won't be subject to theme teaching which I dislike.

Tomorrow I will be baking all day. I need to cook up those purple sweet potatoes before they go bad. I went to two different stores to try to find coconut milk.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix. All 177 episodes. It will take me a while to get through them. A whole year to watch seven seasons. And I thought the series ran longer.

Goals

I've been thinking for a few weeks what my goals should be for this year. It's hard to think clearly with everything going on. But it is something that must be done. I've read one of the ways to go about accomplishing anything is to share your goals and have someone hold you accountable.

So, I'm going to write down my goals for 2012 and share them with whoever reads this blog.

My Goals for 2012:

1. Read my Bible everyday. I've done pretty well these past two years with reading my Bible. Reading plan apps for my phone were a big help with reading through the Bible. I've enjoyed every minute of reading God's word and couldn't imagine ever not reading the Holy Bible.


2. Recruit at least one new person a month. I've been struggling with recruiting for my business. I've spent too much time analyzing and I have developed Analysis Paralysis. Since I'm also late getting my goals on paper, I missed my goal to recruit someone for the month of January.


3. Host one spa cafe or beauty break a month. I had planned on hosting a Miss America Party but had to back out because of my family emergency. I will have one next year. I also missed an opportunity to host a party for January.

That's all I have for 2012. I still to take some time to write out my longer time goals.

What I'm reading

I had something I wanted to blog about but cannot recall what it was. I had one of the longest boring days and everyday is boring but today was really bad.

I continued with my reading of Psyco-cybernetics by Dr. Maxwell Maltz. I've been trying to get through this book for the last six months but haven't been able to. It's a good book but I keep trying to do the exercises at the end of the chapters and reread the first chapter three times a week and that's what's been keeping from from getting through it.

I'm hoping to get another chapter in before I go to bed. I want to finish this book this weekend. So I can start another book.

21-Day Challenge

Just came across a 21-day Bible reading challenge. What an awesome way to get people to subscribe to a reading plan! You can read more about YouVersion's 21-day challenge here. I didn't mean to post this so late but better late than never.

Ecclesiastes

I'm so glad my women's Bible study group is studying Ecclesiastes. It is a very difficult book to understand and can be grossly misinterpreted.

I got depressed meditating on Ecclesiastes. It turns out, Solomon wasn't thinking with a mind focused on God. He had a worldly view of the world because his focused had shifted (from God) so much because of his wealth, wisdom, and wives.

I can't wait until the last sermon next week.

I must get my other Bible studies out of the way before going to bed.