So it's been a few years! That's okay, you've been busy and so have I! Just a quick little note today to say I'm back and I'm getting ready for a HUGE Celebration Convention in Nashville, TN! Never been although we may have driven through when I was 5 years old with my parents on a cross country trip. No memories of it. So this will be my first trip to music city! And I have a little secret that no one knows yet... Should I share here? Okay Well...I've been writing songs for YEARS! Literally since I was about 11 and taught myself how to play the guitar. Over the years my portfolio has enlarged. I have to admit the process of creating the song is the biggest high ever! When it all comes together, words & lyrics there is truly an emotion that is straight from God! Indescribable! I reach for it and am selfish with it. Songs have been shared with others many times. Blessings shouldn't be kept to yourself so that has been a gift I've given many times. Never published. Done some demo tapes. Had some hopes and dreams....

Now when this Nashville thing came up, I knew that the days and nights would be PACKED with so much activity and fun and learning that there probably wouldn't be any time to 'see' much of the town or experience the music, much less share. But as time has drawn closer one of my songs, written about 8 years ago, seemed to jump out at me. I happened upon the lyrics written on notebook paper with a few notes written down. And I couldn't remember the piano notes I had played! (I don't read or write music so everything is just memorized!) Thus began a journey through my musical memory to try to reconstruct this song. After a few days I FINALLY got it all back! And every single time I have played it, sung it, said the words I have gotten goosebumps all over! What does that mean????

What it means now is that I have an open mic date with destiny at none other than the famous Bluebird Cafe on Monday night, the 6th of August! It's been on my bucket list and there is still the hurdle of getting one of the 25 spots, via a phone call that day! So please send up some good country vibes that day for me! Life is a short little journey and if we blink we'll miss it!

SPRING CLEANING WITH CLEANSE FOR LIFE

Remember the famous Dow Chemical catch phrase: "Better living through chemistry"? We as a nation, actually many modern nations, bought into that lie hook, line and sinker. I'm not here to disparage the tremendous advances that science has made in the modern age to improve our lives, but to remind us of the stark fact that most of us are walking around with more than 80 different toxic chemicals in our cells as a result of some of this 'better l iving' ! Imagine that scene where Round Up has a go at your DNA? Kinda horrifying, I think! And no one is immune. Not man, woman or child.

Toxins are stored in fat cells. Fat is produced by the liver and when we are particularly overwhelmed with toxins, that mighty liver goes into overtime producing more fat cells to envelope the toxins and protect our precious organs from being completely overrun!

So does it make sense that in a toxic world we might need to find a way to help our bodies clean out this junk?

Exactly! Which is the reason more and more smart people are giving Isagenix nutritional cellular cleanse a try. And the side benefit of a thorough cell cleansing?? FAT LOSS!! Wooooooo hoooooo for Cleanse For Life!! I never would have believed I could eat 1200-1500 nutritional calories per day and feel satisfied and energetic! Kicked my sugar cravings to the curb and helped me drop 40 lbs and 45 inches in 3 1/2 months, with 22 lbs. in the first 29 days!

So let's see the benefits here: More energy, better sleep, fat and inches gone, stamina and more endurance! Now THAT'S better living!

Let's catch up!

Where it began. Sept. 2013. My lovely daughter in law Nathalie showed me these results after trying so hard to lose her sticky baby weight! I trusted her. My results after 30 days. Pictures speak for themselves. More to come. I changed my life. Strive for the best! Thrive, not merely survive! Alive in every sense! Team Giving. For my full story, see the sidebar notes to the right >>>>>

THRIVE Insta-dinner! Voila'!

Today my dear husband finished a project for me that, although inconvenient, saved us a fortune in mechanics bills! After 2 weeks, my car is now running better than ever! So what does that have to do with dinner? An insta-dinner at that? Let me set the stage: About 3 pm the car was fixed, Bill set out to put a few hours in on a small job and I celebrated by driving my car to the little market up the road to get some 'bubbly' for tonight (Mug root beer being our bubbly of choice). When I got home, I thought 'what could I do to show my appreciation'? So I mowed part of the lawn till I ran out of gas, took a nice shower and washed my hair and thought I'd make a special meal. That's when I got sidetracked by this: You know you can really lose track of time with something like this.... Then I remembered a live show I wanted to watch online with Chef Todd...you can watch one here: http://youtu.be/CZ14wWF1GQY SUDDENLY I heard my husbands truck pull up! Yikes it's already 7 pm! I haven't even started a special meal yet. I ran into the kitchen, grabbed pan, put in a little water and started heating it up. Then I added a cup of this: Bill was literally walking in the door when I put that chicken in the water and still I didn't have any idea what I was going to make! I let it soak for like less than 5 minutes while grabbing some other things from the pantry and fridge. I drained the water, added some leftover sauce, about 3/4 cup of this: To season it a bit more I also added about 1/3 cup of THRIVE freeze dried green chili peppers and gave it all a stir. I had some cheddar cheese which I quickly grated. I had a bit of sour cream which I added (about 1/3-1/2 C) to the chicken and sauce. I only had 4 of these: I spooned the chicken mixture down the center of a tortilla, topped it with cheese and rolled it up on a plate. Repeat 4 times. I topped it off with the rest of the chicken sauce and more cheese and jammed it into the microwave for 1 minute. I had lettuce from our garden so I started plating our plates. Lettuce, fresh cilantro, sliced tomatoes and 1/2 a lime. And a package of these: (the best in the world!) When the microwave dinged, I set the 'enchiladas' on the table, set the table, got the frosty bubbly and called Bill in to eat. It was 7:13! We were almost finished with dinner, (which he raved about!) when I thought that I should document this event! So here is a picture of the last 1/2 of my enchilada: And here is a close up! I LOVE COOKING WITH THRIVE! Did I say I LOVE COOKING WITH THRIVE? Cuz I really do! ( We had amazing BBQ beef sandwiches for lunch today, also made with THRIVE in minutes!!) This is a recipe I will definitely repeat!