"WDYT Wednesday" Cell phones and Driving

No Phone Zone from Oprah

So I was watching Oprah the other day, something I rarely do but this particular episode caught my eye. It was all about texting while driving and the crazy statistics of deaths that have been caused because of people doing this. The statistics scared me enough that if I could, I would probably stop driving now. They scared me enough that I am going to extremely limit the use of my cell phone while in the car. I have never been a texter while driving, I know I am not coordinated at all so I never tried but I am guilty of talking on my phone while driving without a hands-fee set. But since watching this show, if I use my phone in the car, I only use it while on speaker and it is the bare minimum. I will be purchasing a blue-tooth for myself and having a blue-tooth system placed in my car when I go home. It is scary to think that so many people out there are so distracted while driving and I was one of them. No phone call is so important that it can't wait until I have gotten to my destination.

Some of the statistics may shock you too:

• Talking on a cell phone causes nearly 25% of car accidents.
• At any given time during daylight hours in 2008, more than 800,000 vehicles were driven by someone using a hand-held cell phone.
• 4 out of every 5 accidents (80%) are attributed to distracted drivers. In contrast, drunk drivers account for roughly 1 out of 3 (33%) of all accidents nationally.
• Texting while driving is about 6 times more likely to result in an accident than driving while intoxicated.
• People who text while driving are 23% more likely to be in a car accident.
• Studies have found that texting while driving causes a 400% increase in time spent with eyes off the road.
• For every 6 seconds of drive time, a driver sending or receiving a text message spends 4.6 of those seconds with their eyes off the road. This makes texting the most distracting of all cell phone related tasks.

There are currently 6 states that have a ban on talking on cell phones while driving. You can use a hands-free device but can not be physically hold the cell phone. They are California, Conneticut, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Washington. There are only 20 states that have a ban on texting despite the nation-wide law that should have been put into affect. If you are curious about which states they are, you can find that information here http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html

So what do you think? Do you think it is the driver and not the distraction of the cell phone? And what about the people who put on make-up, grab a CD, shave, etc...while driving? Should they be punished the same way cell-phone users are punished?

Tasty Tuesday: Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

I love Paula Deen!!! She is my favorite personality on Food Network and I am the proud owner of 5 of her cookbooks!! A few years ago, my mother suggested I try making her "Gooey Butter Cake" recipe for our holiday get together. I am the baker in the family so anytime a new baking recipe needs to be tried out, I am the one to do it. I fell in love with the recipe and have tried almost every version since then. My personal favorite is the pumpkin version!! I recommend everyone trying it at least once!!

**A LITTLE GOES A LONG WAY AS THIS CAKE IS VERY SWEET!!!**

Cake

1 (18.25-ounce) box yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 (16-ounce) box confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well. Pat into the bottom of prepared pan and set aside.

Still using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs and vanilla. Dump in confectioners' sugar and beat well. Reduce speed of mixer and slowly pour in butter. Mix well.

Pour filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Don't be afraid to make a judgment call on the cooking time, because oven temperatures can vary. You want the center to be a little gooey, so don't bake it past that point!

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares.

Pumpkin Gooey: This variation has to be at the top of my list, especially around Thanksgiving. For the cake part, I have used a spice cake mix but I think I like it better with the basic yellow cake mix. Follow the original recipe, adding a 15-ounce can of pumpkin pie filling and an extra egg to the cream cheese filling. Bake as usual, remove from oven, and allow to cool. Serve with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. I promise you'll never want pumpkin pie again!

Pineapple Gooey: Add a 20-ounce can of drained crushed pineapple and an extra egg to the cream cheese filling. Proceed as directed above.

Lemon Gooey: Use a lemon cake mix in place of the yellow cake. Add the juice (approximately 1/4 cup) and zest of 2 lemons to the cream cheese filling. Proceed: as directed above.

Carrot Cake Gooey: Use a spice cake mix, and add 1 cup chopped nuts and 1 1/2 cup finely grated carrots to the cream cheese filling. Proceed as directed above.

Peanut Butter Gooey: Use a chocolate cake mix. Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter and an extra egg to cream cheese filling. You can sprinkle the top of batter with 1 cup chopped peanuts if you like. Proceed as directed above.

Chocolate Chip Gooey: Use either yellow or chocolate cake mix. Sprinkle 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped nuts on top of filling. Proceed as directed above.

Banana Gooey: Use a yellow cake mix. Prepare cream cheese filling as directed, beating in 2 ripe bananas and an extra egg. Proceed as directed above.

Nutty Gooey: Use a yellow cake mix, and add 1 cup chopped nuts to the cake mixture. Proceed as directed above.

Chippy Gooey: Stir 1 cup white chocolate chips, peanut butter chocolate chips, butterscotch morsels, Heath Almond Toffee Bits or Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits into filling. Proceed as directed above. I personally like this one with the Chocolate Toffee Bits.

Momma Monday: Spring Cleaning

So I heard back from my doctor's office with the results to my glucose test. The good news is that right now my glucose levels are ok, not great but ok. The bad news is my insulin levels are threw the roof. Basically my body is not breaking down any insulin at all and is just holding on to it all. So I have been put on Glucaphage again and I am going to be monitored every 3 months for now. I have to take one pill a day for one week, and then keep uping the dosage until I am up to 3 pills a day. The potential side affects are strong so the doctor wants my body to get adjusted to it. But long story short, I am basically one step away from being Type-2 diabetic so I would be lying if I said this doesn't totally freak me out. But at least we are catching it now and hopefully slowing things down a bit. No matter what, I will take what the Lord gives me and know that it will make me stronger!!

On another note, the spring cleaning in my house is in full force. I spent the entire day doing things and going through things, trying to figure out what needs to go and what can stay. I still need to go through Little Man's closet and have Hubby go through his stuff so I can take things to the Goodwill. I think this weekend, since it is suppose to be gorgeous out, Hubby and I are going to clean out the garage. I just want to get to the point where all I need to do everyday is minimal cleaning. I found a new "30 minute" clean routine that I am going to utilize once the house is up to my standards. It is basically 30 minutes to spot clean your entire house and have it always look nice (i.e., 5 minutes to wipe down the kitchen counters and spot clean the floor, 5 minutes to wipe down the bathroom sink and mirrors, etc...). I did a "chore list" for myself to have posted on my fridge and I will cross of each task so I can ensure I complete them all everyday. The hardest work will be picking up after the kids all the time. I feel like they are tornadoes!!!

So I guess all in all, not only am I spring cleaning my house but I am spring cleaning my body too. Time to get the bad stuff out and get the good stuff in!!!

Thankful Thursday: My Jordie!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BABY GIRL!!! 2 years ago today, we brought the most precious creature into this world, our sweet princess Jordan. So on this Thankful Thursday, I have decided to write about her birth and touch on the last 2 years of her life.


On March 24th 2008, I went into the doctor for my regular check only to find me 1 cm dilated and not progressing at all. But my blood pressure was high just like it was with Noah so Dr Hartman decided I needed to be induced. Everything got set up for the next day. I picked up Noah from Anna's and headed home to prepare. After lunch and get the house situated, I decided to play some Wii Bowling. Then the pains started. They were mild but bothersome so I laid down to see if they went away but they didn't. By the time Lee came home from work, I was convinced I needed to go to the hospital. So we got Noah situated at Anna's and headed to the hospital. Once we got there, my contractions had slowed down but they discovered my bag of waters was bulging so they needed to get things started. The staff got some pitocin going and the doctor broke my water. And so my labor progressed.....

Around 1 am, the nurse came in to check me and said I was at about 8 cm dilated. She told me if I started to feel pressure to make sure to ring the call bell. 45 minutes later, she popped in to see how I was doing and I told her I was fine. Literally 5 minutes after that, I felt major pressure. Thankfully she had left some paperwork in my room and walked in just as I was about to call her. She checked me again and told me it was time to get the doctor. By the time they got everything all ready to go, I was really ready to push. It took less then 3 pushes and at 2:17 am, we welcomed Jordan with all of her might, prefect in every way and crying from the top of her lungs!! My life as a mother of 2 had begun.

It is weird because my whole pregnancy, I worried about being a mom of 2 rather than 1 but it came so easy to me. Yes, there were days that were exceptionally difficult but I always powered through them. Looking at both of my sweet angels always makes everything ok, no matter what the situation. The giggles, the smiles, the tears, and the snuggles make every second of every day worth-while. Even though I have been a mom for a short time, I am so blessed to have these beautiful beings in my life. Nothing will ever take away the love that I have for my babies!!

Jordan has been such an easy child. Even now in her terrible two’s stage, she really isn’t that terrible, just very strong-willed. She is very independent and likes to do things her way. Boy does she have my personality. She is constantly making everyone laugh though with her quirkiness and we say on a frequent basis that she is a strange kid. It is rather amusing!!!

I hope the future is always bright for my Jordan. I hope she has as much happiness as I have experienced in life. I know she will come across heartbreak, strife and tough times but I pray that she has the strength to power through and I hope I can teach her how just as my mother taught me. I hope she always achieves everything she sets out to do and I hope that she and I always have the relationship my mother and I have had throughout my life. I pray everyday that her life will be blessed in so many ways, just as my life had been!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BABY GIRL!!! MOMMY AND DADDY LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!

Jordan 3 weeks                                                      

Jordan 3 months

                                                                                                 

Jordan 6 months

Jordan 9 months

Jordan 1 year

Momma Monday: Scape-Goat

So I guess apparently I have scape-goat written on my forehead because that is what I have turned out to be. Long story short, an organizer of a group I was involved with was having some issues with some members and them not being happy with the way she was running things. I sent her an email in regards to an event that was coming up and she twisted my email and used it against me to take some of the heat off herself and onto me. But thankfully, I have learned from past experiences not to listen to "hear-say" and to go right to that source of evil. I kept the email that I sent and was able to rectify the situation which made the organizer look even worse. I am glad that I have learned from my mistakes in my past enough to know that if you want the truth, go right to the source and to fight for what is right. I guess growing up does that for you!!!

In other news, my glucose test is tomorrow and I am not looking forward to it. As least it is a step in the right direction to get my blood sugar issues under control. I just hope that a) the stuff isn't too bad and b) they actually get some results enough to figure things out. Here's to hoping right?

I am really missing my NY family right now. I won't see my mom's side of the family until our trip to VA Beach the first week of May and I won't see my Dad's side until we go home in August unless they are able to come sooner. I hate being so far away from my family and especially my nieces. I feel like I am missing everything!! I am so looking forward to spending time with them and I can't wait to see how the kids interact with each other. I think being so far away from everyone is the one thing I hate most about being a military wife but it is the life I chose and I do it with pride. But that doesn't mean it isn't hard sometimes!!

Well I better run and make some dinner!! Hope you all have a fabulous week!!!!!

Tasty Tuesday: Minestrone Soup

I love Minestrone soup. It is such a great "warm you up" thing to eat on a cool night but it can also be good anytime of the year paired with a crusty bread like Italian or French!! Here is an easy recipe I found that anyone can make!!

2 cans (14-1/2 oz. each) reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 can (16 oz.) no-salt-added stewed tomatoes, undrained, coarsely chopped (Italian flavored works the best)
2 cups cooked kidney beans (prepared without salt)
1 pkg. (16 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables
1/4 cup shell macaroni, uncooked
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried basil leaves


COMBINE all ingredients except crackers in large saucepan. Bring to boil on medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low.

SIMMER 20 min. or until macaroni is tender.

SERVE with the crackers or bread.

Substitute 1 drained and rinsed can (16 oz.) red kidney beans for the cooked dried kidney beans.
 
I also made it one night and added some chicken to by cubing and brwoning some chicken breasts. I browned them with some Dried Tomato and Garlic Pesto seasoning from Tastefully Simple. It was so yummy and added a "meaty-ness" my husband looks for in a meal!!!
 
Enjoy!!

Momma Monday: Business & Stuff

What a crazy busy weekend!! I spent the entire weekend working my business with a fellow Tastefully Simple consultant at a vendor fair at the mall. I was so excited for the oppurtunity and I also made a new friend in the process. Once everything was said and done, I got 8 potential parties and 28 contacts!! Plus we gave out a ton of business cards and I got a lot of information from the other vendors on how to get my business out there. On Wednesday, I am going to start my daily 5 and my goal is to book 8 parties between April, May and June!! I would like more but if I can get that many, it will be awesome for me!! I have a great party in a few weeks and I am hoping for both mine and the hostess' benefit, I get at least one party booked off it!!

On the health side of things, my endocrinologist office called and my labs look good. Thyroid levels are currently within normal limits but my Vitamin D levels were low so I have to start taking 2000 units of Vitamin D. So now we are onto the Glucose test which I am so not looking forward to doing. That stuff is so nasty!! Hopefully soon though, we will have some answers!!

Let's hope I have a busy and productive week!!!

Family Friday!!!

Well things are pretty busy in our household!! The weather is warming up, we are settling into a good routine and we are finally meeting some great friends.

Little Man is growing by leaps and bounds. He is just too smart for his own good. He still goes to speech twice a week and is improving so much every visit. We are bummed though because his current speech therapist is leaving and we are really comfortable with her. But I hear her replacement is awesome so we shall see. He is also doing well in playschool and is very much ready for the structure of a preschool environment. I just need to get my tailend in high gear and get him enrolled into something for the fall. He will probably be getting new tubes in his ears soon. He had another ear infection so I need to make an appointment with the ENT to get the ball rolling. I am dragging my feet though because we have a busy few months coming up.

Princess is going to be 2 in 2 weeks. I can't beleive it. She fits her nickname very well and has entered the "terrible twos" with full force!! We have been having a hard time with her at night waking up and wanted to be with me but not sleeping. It is exhausting and a habit I hope to break soon!! She is such a chatterbox and I have countless people remark on how well she speaks. Most people are shocked when I tell them how old she is. She has taken to singing constantly too, especially "Twinkle, Twinkle", "Itsy, Bitsy Spider" and her ABC's. She loves to dance and sing and I have already found a place I can take her for dance but not until she tunrs 3...bummer!! She keeps us on our toes always but makes our world light up with her amazing smile!!!

The hubster is as busy as usual. He is working on getting his FMF pin and should be doing the boards for it soon. He has a few things coming up and will be pretty busy too over the next few months. Still no word on a deployment which we are ok with but part of me would rather him go sooner than later and just get it over with.

So that is our fam in a nutshell right now!! Busy, busy, busy....just the way I like it!!!

Thankful Thursday: Journey to Mommyhood

Being a Mom is one thing in my life I am so extremely thankful for. I am so blessed to have 2 precious angels that enlighten my life daily. Even when they are driving me crazy, fighting like cats and dogs or keeping me up all night, I cherish every second I have with them.

The journey to Mommyhood for me was a long one. It took a total of 8 years and 4 months for me to finally get pregnant. Every month of trying, every month that my "friend" would show up uninvited, was a crushing blow to me. I just wanted to know what it was like to hold a sweet baby in my arms and show it all the love I had been building up deep in my heart. Being told that getting pregnant would be a long and difficult road was the hardest thing I have heard in my life but it made me more determined then ever. I read everything I could get my hands on about conceiving and the female problems I had been diagnosed with. My loving husband supported me every step of the way and even subjected himself to testing despite us knowing that my body just didn't work properly.

In September 2004, I was referred to an amazing practice and a doctor who told me that he would do all he could to help me get pregnant. Unfortunately though, the hubby was leaving on a 6+ month deployment so that meant baby-dancing was put on hold. During that time, my doctor ran what felt like a million tests and helped get things in somewhat working order for when hubby got home. In May 2005, he came home and baby-dancing resumed unsuccessfully. In August, the doctor proceeded start me with hyper-stimulation, which essentially over stimulated my ovaries to produce more eggs than usual. The first month didn't work so we moved on to September. We started the process and were well on our way when my husband told me he would be leaving on the ship due to a tropical storm the port was worried about. I am bummed that we would have to wait yet another month but thankfully, my hubby had an awesome Division Officer who fought for him to come home and allow us to finish our treatments to get pregnant.

September 28th was our testing day. We went out the night before and bought a test. If you know anything about my husband, he studied the directions back and forth several times. He then woke me up at 4:30 to take the test because he wanted to know before he went to work. It came up positive....so faint, but the line was there. I called the doctor's office when I got to work and they had me come in for a blood test. At the office, they too did a urine test and the line a barely there so they told me not to get my hopes up. I went home after that and laid down for a nap (I had duty that night). I was woken by the phone ringing and almost didn't answer it but I am so glad I did. It was the nurse calling me with my numbers!! I was pregnant!!! Just barely pregnant, but pregnant none-the-less.

The next 36 weeks were the longest of my life but on June 6th, 2006 we welcomed our first miracle, our son. Almost exactly one year later, my body started functioning again so we decided to leave having another baby in God's hands. We didn't want to go through the fertility treatments again and I had what I wanted, a baby to lavish with my love. Well, 2 month later, we were surprised with a very obvious positive pregnancy test!!! In March 2008, we welcomed our little princess into our family and thanked God everyday for our blessings!!

Being a Mommy was the one thing in my life I constantly thought would never happen but thanks to God plan for me, I have 2 sweet babies to hug and kiss and love on everyday!!!

Makeover Monday....written on Tuesday LOL

So I decided to change my Monday blog to not necessarily a MakeOver blog entry but more of a "what's going on with me" only blog entry. Sometimes I focus so much on my husband and kids only that I forget to tell people when I am going through things too!! So I am going to switch it to "Momma's Monday". This way I can fill everyone in on things and they aren't surprised when I am having medical procedures (like I did yesterday), applying to school or things like that!!

These last two days were big days in my life in terms of medical appointments. Yesterday was my EGD (or Upper Endoscopy). Quick recap, 1997 I was diagnosed with severe GERD and a Hiatal Hernia. They also found some pre-cancerous cells so I had surgery to fix the hernia and help the reflux since the reflux could make the cells grow faster. After the first surgery, I started having a lot of complications and went through a lot of work-ups. They finally discovered they did the wrong type of surgery (there is 2 different kinds you can have done depending on your issues) because my pressure points in my esophagus don't work properly and the stomach wrap prevented me from swallowing food properly. So in 2000, I had surgery again on my stomach. I continued to have EGDs annually to make sure the cells never came back. In 2005, the doctor finally told me I could start doing them every 3 years but in 2008, I was pregnant and nursing so I couldn't have it done. I finally had it done yesterday and all looked great. No ulcers, no irritation or anything. They did discover my wrap is loose which would explain my recent heartburn issues so the doctor put me back on Nexium. I actually expected it because my previous doctor told me the wrap would loosen within 10 years and that would speed up with pregnancies. However, provided the Nexium works and I have no more issues, I won't have to have surgery again. But I will get more info on the biopsies they took and everything else at my appt in 2 months. I am just so excited that things look good!! I can handle a pill every now and then to help with the heartburn!!

The other appointment was today with the Endocrinologist. I don't know which one I was more nervous about!! Several years ago, I was diagnosed with PCOS and Endometriosis. I had been trying to get pregnant unsuccessfully. The doctors ran a gamit of tests and discovered the two diseases. I didn't fit the typical picture of someone with PCOS. Thankfully I found an awesome doctor who helped me get pregnant with Noah but my body has been so out of whack since having both of my children. My blood sugars have been going crazy and my hormones are all over the place. While trying to get pregnant with Noah, they discovered I am insulin Resistant which is a pre-diabetic condition. So off to the Endocrinologist I went. After a through history and physical exam, she seems to think my thyroid is enlarged and not functioning properly. But they took 5 vials of blood and we will know more in about a week or so. If my thyroid functions come back normal, she is going to start working me up for insulin issues. It will be a long process but I am confident she will be able to help me get my body back in control of itself. I am tired of always feeling so off and hopefully this will be coming to an end soon!!

Tomorrow I am going to a Nursing School session at the local college. I have to attend the session before I can talk to an advisor and get enrolled in  school. I just hope I can get myself in school soon!! I miss it and I feel like I am not getting any younger!! LOL Here's to hoping I have something going in that realm soon!!!

My business is finally taking off. I have a vendor fair this weekend and I am really hoping to get myself out there. I have 2 parties this month and one in April plus I have 2 women who want to do parties but keep changing their minds as to when to do it (thanks to hubbies being deployed...go figure!!). My goal is to do 4 parties a month and I really hope I can get that way by the summer. I just need to keep working it hard!!!

Well that's about it with me.....if you read all that, thank you!! If not, I don't blame you......