Archive for November, 2008



Thursday, November 13th, 2008
Slim Camp

Last week I did the video blog telling you my mantra of “It’s All About Choice.” and saying I was going to keep some of my habits from the intense week, but not be as strict. Well, Like I figured, I gained 2 pounds back from the week before, which makes that one week intensive a weight loss of 8 pounds total. I’m happy with that. WHat I’ve noticed the most in the past week is my energy level dropping agian. Slowly but steadily.

Next week I’ll be doing the intesive thing again. Anyone want to join me?

My Intensive Plan:
1) Healthy Breakfast every day. (Eggs and eggwhites. I’ll share some recipes I liek that are easy to do up, and helthy)

2) Eat every three hours. 3 meals, 2 Snaks covers 12 hours of time. My first meal is at 10 AM, my last meal at 10 PM. For me, this is fine because I rarely get home form work before 2 AM, and got bed around 3 or 4. Basically, you have 12 hours to eat. If you eat Breakfast at 7 AM, your last meal/snak should be at 7 PM. This helps your body regulate…it knows that food/calories/energy to burn will be coming in on a regular basis and your metabolism will start to burn more regularly.

3) Fresh Foods. During my week intensive I cook, or eat raw foods. No microwave dinners, no frozen food, no canned food (Other than tuna). Fresh veggies and fruit, real protein.

4) No bread. I do use Whole Wheat wraps to have breakfast burritos or Tuna wraps. I only allow one wrap (tortilla shell) a day. And no bread or toast (I’m a sucker for peanut butter toast. I can live off peanut butter toast. LOL )

5) No Soda, or carbonated drinks.

5 Steps. Not a lot, but they work, when I stick to them. Oh, and a 6th step….Take a Daily Vitamin.

These are basically changing my habits. There’s nothing to drastic in there, but changing them all at once is Intensive. *I* Need this. It works for me, for my personality. It might not work for you. You might be better off changing one habit every 21 Days, as is suggested by HealthGal nutritionist Amy Hendel. The email tips from Total Health at iVillage has these suggestions to help you ease into a new lifestyle…..

Switch out sodas for iced tea, water and zero-calorie flavored waters.
· Introduce nonmeat proteins into your dinners—fish, eggs and egg whites, protein-based pasta, beans and soy products.
· Make your current high-sugar cereal a two-spoon “topping” on a new high-fiber/whole-grain cereal.
· Eat a serving of berries every day.
· Create healthier marinades and vinaigrettes with ingredients like 100 percent orange juice, fresh herbs and vinegar.

You need to decide what will work best for you , your lifestyle, and your personality. I NEED to see the results to stay on track. I NEED to do it all or nothing. That works for for me..but I Have learned I can’t do it all or nothing all the time..wich is why I’m easing in for three weeks of the month, then doing the intensive thing for one week each month to meet my goals.

If you want to do the intensive thing with me. I’m starting tomorrow- Yes, I start on the weekend because the weekend is usually the hardest part, so I like to get it over with. LOL

How about you? WHat do you think works for your personality? The Go Hard ccold turkey thing leik me..or the slow steady changes?

I think that this weight-loss/health journey is easier if I’m not alone. HOw abotu you? I’d love to see more of you sharing your stoires and journey’s…if you’re open to it, why not Sign Up with this SLIMCAMP widget, adn start posting on Thursdays with me?

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Wednesday, November 12th, 2008
More photos.

I recently bought a scanner that scans negatives in, so I can put a lot of my old photos onto the computer. My interest in photography started before things got all digital, so I have a lot on film. Including some pictures from a photo shoot I did with a couple of friends, K and L. The first time I ever actually did a photoshoot ( as the photographer).

This is one of my favorites, so I wanted to share.

K&L

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Wednesday, November 12th, 2008
I’m Loved!

The awesome Mandy Roth loves my blog! Yes, she’s awarded me with a Love button, and now I get to share the love too!

In not special order, here are 7 blogs that I love! Go check them out!

Suzanne McMinn’s Chickens In the Road blog
Laurie’s Laudanum
Ero’s Blog
Naughty and Spice Group Blog
Lazy Geisha
Jordan Summers Blog
Paperback Writer, Lynn Viehl

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Tuesday, November 11th, 2008
What I’ve been reading.

Personal Demons Personal Demons by Stacia Kane



My review


rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed it! Kane put a new unique twist on the demons and kept the story going in fast and smooth style. Well worth reading and I’ll be looking for other books from this author.

Kill Time Kill Time by T.J. MacGregor


My review


rating: 2 of 5 stars
I liked the concept of the story, and the writing was fairly easy to read, but I found myself getting annoyed with all the back and forth. SPOLIER ALERT COMING:::: STOP READING IF YOU DON”T WAT TO SEE A SPOILER… The core of the story deals with time travel and a secret goverment agency. It was cool, until soon in the story almost all the characters were ‘chipped’ and able to time travel, adn they were all doing it. Jumping around in time zones and places and it got pretty annoying to me. Other s might not feel that way, but I feel as if the author took a great unique thing, adn turned it into an easy way to fill plot holes or make whatever she wanted happen. Which is okay, the author has that right, it’s thier story. But for me, reading, it got tedious.

I finished the book, and can say it was okay, but it wasn’t a book that convinced me, personally, to look for more form this author.

Drop Dead Gorgeous: A Novel Drop Dead Gorgeous: A Novel by Linda Howard


My review


rating: 3 of 5 stars
I was a fan of TO DIE FOR so I had to read the sequel. Howard didn’t disspoint. I liked the first person, I continued to like the characters, and enjoyed the whole story. I figured out who the stalker was before the main chacraters did, but that’s okay, it was still an all around good read.

Angel Of Mercy (Mercy Hollings, Book 2) Angel Of Mercy by Toni Andrews


My review


rating: 3 of 5 stars
Mercy Hollings is a hypno thereapist with a bit of a kick. She can mentally “push” people to do things. In this story, she gets involved with a domestic abuse scene, and helping out a shelter… and somethings happen that she can’t turn away from.

I really liked the concept of this story, and I enjoyed the book. The authors voice was strong, and I read it in one afternoon. My only thing was I felt like it shouldn’t have had a romance in it. Maybe its because this is the second book in a series, but I felt like the heroines relationship with her boyfriend was pretty pointless in this novel. Or maybe the romantic in me just wasn’t happy with the way it was dealt with. I’m not sure, all I know is it was a point that stuck out to me.

Another thing is I thought the heroine needed a bit of a kick in the butt a time or two, but that’s cool, because it made her more real to m. I hate “perfect’ characters. LOL And I must say I LOVED the dog, Cupcake was a great addition to the story.



View all my reviews.

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Sunday, November 9th, 2008
Look at what I did!

OKay, one of my co-workers and I were chatting about Christmas presents and unique gifts and things, and I’m not sure how it came about, but I offered to try to do a photo trick for her for a gift she wanted to give her best friend. Making one of them an angel and the other a devil.

so she sent me a photo to work with. (I asked for one of them standing side by side in some way… and she sent me this…

And after I played with it for a few hours, I emailed and begged talented cover artist Natalie Winters for help. I had an idea, and a concept, but mine was obviously cut and paste work. Natalie spent, well, a lot of time helping me touch it up…and this is the end product.

What do you think?

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Sunday, November 9th, 2008
Winner

Stacie Mc. your name was drawn for the copy of FIRST BLOOD. Please use the CONTACT link on site to email me your snail mail address. You have until Wednesday Nov 12th to contact me and claim your prize, or I will choose another winner.

Thanks!

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Saturday, November 8th, 2008
YAY!

Thanks to Ro for emailing me and letting me know, MY PREROGATIVE is up for Best Contemporary / Suspense Erotic Romance – Fall 2008 in the Night Owl Romances Readers Choice Awards. I’m so happy!!

And to make me even happier, not only is MY PREROGATIVE up there, so is SUNSTROKED from my friend Cathryn Fox!

If you want you can just click on the icon and it’ll take you to the voting page. You can only vote once for each category.

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Friday, November 7th, 2008
First Blood Giveaway

I finished FIRST BLOOD over the weekend, and have to say I enjoyed it. I’ve never been a huge Vampire Fan, but I’ve read other books by a couple of these ladies and I figured “why not?” . I wasn’t disappointed, these ladies all had very different takes on the legend and/or race of Vampires.

My favorite of the stoires was Meljean Brook’s “Thicker Than Blood”.

In this story we have not only have the reunited lovers story with a vampire twist, but a sub story with a missing child/teen. The story works very well, with Vampires, demons and more…and personally, the family torn apart angle also worked well for me. The story was short, but full of emotion and some steamy sex too!

You should defintiely check it out.
And to help with that, I’ll pick a random winner from the the comments and send them a copy of FIRST BLOOD to enjoy..

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Thursday, November 6th, 2008
Slim Camp

It’s All About Choice.

Uhmm and ignore the fact that I put 2009, not 2008 in the date. LOl I mentioned that my eyes don’t open for a couple of hours after I wake up..right?

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Wednesday, November 5th, 2008

Mandy Clatterbaugh you’re name was drawn as the winner of the signed copy of SHE from Lucinda Betts. Email me with your snail mail address to collect your prize!

Drop in tonight to play on the TalkingTwoLips yahoogroup with the Allure Authors from 8-10 EST. We’ll have excerpts from our latest release, contests and prizes. Hope to see everyone there!

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