GRACE

While GRACE has many meanings, I wouldn't argue that Grace in the truest sense is that unmerited favor given by our God. I feel so blessed that all that is required of me is a little faith. I love the words of Alma...

" But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words. " Alma 32: 27

But oh, that is so difficult sometimes!

That is where Grace in another definition comes in for me... Grace- that ability to trudge through in the face of adversity with head held high. I am talking about the purest form of Grace, the sweet almost passionate form that actually stands for something. The Grace that doesn't Flinch.

I am aiming for Grace, wanna join me??

Ether 12:27 "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

SUPER SOUP

One of the sweet pleasures in life that I have always enjoyed is cooking. I remember concocting my own homemade Reese's peanut butter cups using ice cube trays when I was about eleven. I learned most of my culinary skills from my Grandma Alice, and after almost 23 years of cooking for my husband and family it truly has been very enjoyable, up until a few years ago when I just became too tired to cook! The problem with that is that I rarely use a recipe! So, all those yummy from-scratch dinners are up in my head somewhere mixed in a jumble of misfiring neurons. I think I've still got it though. This is an old standby (my kids love it!) that happened when I pulled all the veggies out of the fridge last night.

CREAMY BROCCOLI SOUP
In a Large Pot (short stock pot) add:
2-3 chunks of broccoli cut up
1/2 cauliflower cut in pieces
a big handful of the mini carrots
1/2 an onion
1 stalk celery
2 spoons of minced garlic- refrigerated
1/2 pot of water
1 tablespoon of chicken bouillon
sprinkle of garlic salt
couple dashes of pepper

Cook until veggies are softish.
Scoop into the blender ( I used another container to put the blended veggies in)
Blend until smooth

Pour all blended veggies back into stock pot and simmer
Add 1 can of evaporated milk, or about a cup of milk for creaminess

All done. Total time: 25 minutes for a yummy, healthy, gourmet soup!

To Wellness,
MA

THE ONE KINDA RAIN I'M DEFINITELY GONNA WELCOME

I recently had the most amazing massage/reflexology treatment I have EVER had. The treatment, Essential Oil Raindrop Therapy was a Christmas gift from my wonderful hubby. Actually it was the only thing I asked for and I have 2 more treatments still waiting!

Some great points about the therapy:

• Application of several Aromatherapy oil blends from the highest quality Young Living Essential Oils are applied
• Tibetan Vita Flex Reflexology and Energy Balancing techniques used
• Designed to bring balance and clears the energy center of the body without using force or excessive pressure
• Detoxifies and eliminates bacteria, virus and toxic residue dormant in the spine
• Works for 5-7 days after treatment
• Successful with conditions such as Scoliosis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, back pain, headaches, depression, and when experiencing symptoms of a cold or flu

The whole experience, from the tiny breath mints in the mini paper cup, to the soft music and dimly lit room, Kimberley's gentle massage and hot rocks, to the Thieves essential oils added to my water bottle on the way out the door~ I am SOLD on Raindrop Therapy!

To make an appointment or for more information call Kimberley at Inner Peace Healing-360-636-2636- www.innerpeacehealing.vp.com I promise you Won't regret it!

To Raindrop Therapy!

Peace and Be Well~

MA

PS- There is a Valentine Special going on right now: 3/100.00!

LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING

• This picture, albeit not necessarily one of the best, was taken in the Fall of 2007.

This is the face of lyme disease. Such is the case for most people with lyme. They don't LOOK sick, so are they just all fakers??

It is More than likely at the time of this photo that I had the following symptoms going on:

• Numbness in more than one extremity
• Tongue lesions and/or sores in my mouth
• Extreme fatigue upon a full nights sleep and requiring a long day nap
• Eye pressure due to encephalitis-(inflammation of brain tissues)
• Gall bladder pain from gall stones
• single or double ear infection
• vision issues
• memory difficulty and word finding issues
• brain fog
• vertigo

Sound familiar? I used to think that people that had these issues on a daily basis that actually fessed up to it were.... HYPOCHONDRIACS!

Now I am fighting the fight. Unfortunately just over 2 years later, the list above is exactly the same, minus the gall bladder, (because I had it surgically removed), but with new and exciting symptoms, such as difficulty swallowing, tongue numbness and very poor balance.

Here are the promised steps for PREVENTION- to keep you and your family from harms way while roaming around in the great outdoors :

• Perform frequent, thorough tick checks
• Wear light colored clothes
• Tuck your pants into your socks
• Put clothes in the dryer for 30 minutes to kill ticks
• There are products for the skin containing DEET
• There are products for the clothes containing Permethrin
• There are clothes which protect against ticks

That is pretty much it. If you SEE a tick on you, STEPS to FOLLOW:

1. Do not burn or use any substance on the tick
2. Do not grasp, squeeze or twist body of the tick
3. Grasp the tick close to skin with tweezers
4. Pull tick straight out
5. Use antiseptic on the skin
6. Disinfect tweezers
7. Wash hands thoroughly
8. Always see a physician for possible diagnosis, testing and treatment
9. Improper tick removal increases chances of infection

Had I known these facts in 2000, I would probably not be telling them to you today. The lyme disease variety I have is neuroborrelia. That basically means that the Borrelia Burgdorferi (lyme bacteria) host on my brain stem and cause neurological damage. The damage that the BB cause, without treatment, could eventually lead to ALS, Alzeimers disease, MS or Parkinson's Disease. More on this fascinating deadly bacteria another time.

To Wellness~

MA

Whose Afraid of This Little Tiny Tick?

Answer to the riddle: common deer tick- shown opposite in larva, nymph, adult female and adult male forms. And now for the rest of the story.....

An epidemic disease is on the continual rise in not only America, but in nearly every country in the world. The disease is called lyme. In some areas it is becoming as ordinary as the common cold, and in the US, it is far more common to get than the West Nile Virus. Symptoms unchecked could lead to fatal diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Multiple Sclerosis or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The general tell tale sign of a tick bite, besides seeing the tick sucking your blood, is the bull’s eye, or EM erythema migrants rash. Unsuspecting individuals might mistake the bull's eye bite and/or rash site for something like a spider bite and/or ring worm, like I did, years and years ago.

Unfortunately, this little bugger can create problems in an individual that might not be recognized for years to come. Patient as dawn before day, infected tick bites can emerge later, without warning, on unsuspecting souls. The scariest part of all- anyone can be bitten at anytime, anywhere, (with a very small exception of a few subnormal climates). So, if you aren’t planning a trip to Antarctica on your next vacation, but you want to protect yourself, even while gardening in your own back yard, stay tuned for some tips to keep you and your family safe as spring comes on.

Now you know what is puzzling me. I have it. I didn't know it. Now it is killing me.

WHAT'S PUZZLING ME....

Many of you know that I am a puzzler. Well, that is a funny way of saying it. I write puzzles. I have for years. I publish them in a church magazine called The Friend. In 2007, I became the co-author of a book of puzzles- 101 of them, in a book called LDS Puzzle Pals. Super gratifying, beyond words gratifying. The very next year, my co-author and I ventured out and published yet another book- LDS Puzzle Pals- Prophets and Apostles. At that point, twice authored, our first book had received an award for best book in the category of Puzzles and Games from our publisher, Cedarfort.

Why do I say all of this? I say all of this to tell you that there is something puzzling me! I have a riddle for you and feel free to comment if you know the answer:

Here’s the riddle: what is smaller than the head of a pin, houses a deadly weapon, lives anywhere there are plant life and sunshine, and has up to 20,000 babies at one time?

Whirl it around in your head and let me know what you think.

Until next time,

MA