Chaos Chronicles

Some people call it a Bucket List, but I prefer to call it a Life List.   I don’t want it to be a list of things to do before I die.  I want this list to show the things I want to do to enrich my life and live it to the fullest.    Some things I will do alone, some things I will do with my family, and some things I’ll do with complete strangers.  I hope that with each item I can check off my list, I will learn a little bit more about myself and my family and friends.  This list is in no particular order. I’ll add and check off things every once in a while.   Do you have a Life List /Bucket List?  Link it in the comments.

Lisa’s Life List 2010

1. visit the Effiel Tower
2. Visit the Louver
3. Visit the parthenon
4. Visit Greece
5. Visit the UK
6. Jump from a High Dive
7. Ride a horse bareback
8. Learn to play the guitar
9. Learn to read music
10. Adopt from China
11. Adopt domestically
12. Own waterfront property
13. Raise Poultry
14. Raise Goats/Sheep
15. Learn to drive a stick
16. Drive a sports car
17. Take a course at Harvard
18. Have a home birth
19. Work with Habitat for Humanity
20. Get to my ideal weight
21. Finish my Childbirth Education Diploma
22. Become a Certified Lactation Counselor
23. Become a Master Herbalist
24. Bathe under a waterfall
25. Learn to paddle a Kayak
26. Generate Passive Income
27. Read 30 books in 30 days
28. Be a published Author
29. Put out a album
30. Run a marathon
31. Learn to ride a horse
32. Host Christmas in my first house
33. Go someplace tropical
34. Learn to do a cartwheel
35. Own a successful business

So, after I introduced my newest favorite blog, I went back to the Blog Hop linky at the bottom of my post to check out the other intro posts.   I stumbled upon Debbie Does Drivel.  I have decided that she is my new newest favorite blog.

That lovely woman is from MAINE.  Oh how I wish I was back living in Maine.  She is “an escapee from MA“.  Just like I was.  Sniff Sniff.  I feel connected to this woman! Connected, I say!  In fact we are so connected that our posts introducing other New England Bloggers are eerily similar!   If she hadn’t posted hers first, I’d have wondered if she read mine before posting hers!  But no.  Great minds just think alike I guess. She also used a Maine accent on her post title.  I was also toying with that idea, but didn’t feel like I should being “from away” and all.  But that woman has moxie, I tell you!

I’m extremely happy I hit the refresh button, because I would have missed this post. Love the last photo lol.  Am I a bad newbie vegan?  I think I will defer to Dooce’s t-shirt on this one: Meat is Murder.  Tasty, Tasty Murder. Is that wrong?

I LOVE her Why I Love Me Series. I know you will too, once you check it out.  Go. Now. Check. I’ll wait…(humming muzak in my head).  K, back? Subscribed?  No? Go BACK! I’ll wait…. K, moving on.

GREAT pictoral posts as well!  Like this one for example.  And her “Clippings from the Fridge” posts!  I heart her.  She is a woman with a sense of humor, so I know she’d enjoy and possibly relate to my Bat post.  And after reading her glob-al warming post, I think she’d like my Obama post.

So to sum up Debbie I can use one word. Wicked Awesome.  I know you will think so too.

One day, Elizabeth, from Thoughts From An Evil Overlord, had a really great idea; start a blique for New England Bloggers.  What is a Blique you ask?  A Blique is a blog clique.  (I know, I know.  Stick to my day job.  Wordsmithing is not my forte.  I just thought I’d try it out.  But come on.  I mean, I could have said bloup (blog+group), but that really would have been reaching. Anyway.)

The New England Bloggers are celebrating the beginning of summer with a blog carnival meant to introduce readers to a New England blogger they may have never read before (we even have a nifty badge). So, I’ve decided to introduce Jess from ccbella.

Why Jess, you may ask.  Well,  I was trying to decide on the person above me (ccbella) and the person below me (Caryn Lynn Duncan) on the list of New England Bloggers, and notice Jess didn’t list her state.  I’m a sucker for a mystery.  I wanted to find out more about this Jess from Nowhere.  So off I went to stalk check out her blog. (Note: the links to my posts aren’t working  just yet..)

Jess adds to her coolness by mentioning that her house, built in 1855, is rumored to be a stop on the Underground Railroad.  I’m jealous. For Real.  She is also an awesome photographer.  Here are just some of her gorgeous photos.

The more I read, the more I found in common with Mysterious Jess.

1. Her daughter (who looked super cute in her leotard) just had a dance recital; so did mine.
2. Her daughter went to Kindergarten this year; so did mine.
3. She is crafty (LOVE those crayon holders.), like me
4. She takes her daughter to umpteen million activities   We share the sickness lol.

Needless to say, I’ll definitely be stalking following Mystery Jess.  Hopefully, the posts I’ve shared with you will pique your interest in her musings, and you will soon assimilate and become a follower too! Muahahaha. Ok. That came from nowhere.  Definitely bedtime.  Night All!

I haven’t posted in sooo long.  I have an excuse. I’ve been busy. REALLY busy.
My only free time was on Saturdays. Every Monday thru Thursday Paul had Baseball practice and games on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Monday, Thursday and Friday’s I had Daycare at my home for 2 little boys. Every Tuesday the girls had Gymnastics. Every other Tuesday I had Daisy Girl Scouts (I’m the Leader). Every Wednesday Paul had Boyscouts. Every Wednesday and Friday the girls had dance class and every Sunday the girls had AWANA. I’m also a member of a fundraising committee for the local library, the PTO vice president, the Habitat for Humanity volunteer Coordinator for a local build, the cultural enrichment coordinator for our elementary school, the registrar for my girl scout service unit. Yeah. I have a sickness. I can’t say no, hence the volunteering, and I love it when my kids are involved in extra-curriculars.

Leena wants to add Soccer in the fall. I think I’m going to have to make them cut back though. It’s been crazy this past year. Do I dare try it again for another year?!?!

Cause let me tell ya, I’m REALLY enjoying the summer so far. It’s only five days in, but I have no daycare duties right now, no extra-curriculars, no lkids to get up and off to school, nothing. I have slept in late almost every day. Next week starts up VBS. I’ll have to make serious use of a house will no children in it for 3 hours! Is it sad that all I can think to do is take a hot soak and sip chai while reading a book in the bath?

There are plans in the works with some friends to host a week-long mock summer camp for our kids. Then there will be another week of VBS in August as well as a Family Vacation with some PA friends of ours. Then school starts. It doesn’t even seem like there will be enough time to do all the things I want to, with the kids, before school starts again. Anyone else feel like that? What are your summer plans?

I am taking a course called Adcanced Woman’s Herbal and Aromatherapy Course with dual certification from Birth Arts International and Heart of Herbs Schools.  I’m very excited to be taking this course and can’t wait to start brewing concoctions lol.  Not only will I be able to create remedies for clients, but I can bring the knowledge home and create healing applications for my family as well!

I completed 2 assignments already; a 500-700 word essay on “What Herbalism Means To Me” and an assignment on “The Various Methods of Application for Herbalism”  I got 100% on both.  I also have to submit 4 applications and their recipes.  I will be going Monday to pick up some herbs.  Anyone know any good herbal recipes? Only one of my applications can be a tea.

If you are interested in taking the Advanced Women’s Herbal and Aromatherapy course, check it out at the Birth Arts International website.   I think they are still running the special where you pay $50. instead of $250.  Here is the link to sign up.  AWH

It’s a certification of knowledge course and you have 2 years to finish it.

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has decided that February was a great month to be Baldacious!  I agree.  My mother’s birthday was Feb 13th, so I have decided to do this for a birthday present.   I wish she could be here to see it, but through fundraising, the future will bring more hope to cancer patients, and that makes it worth it.

If I can raise $1000.00 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, I will crop my hair and use permanent dye to change it to my mom’s favorite color!  PURPLE!

If I can raise $5000.00 I will buzz it all off!  Yes, BALD. BALD I SAY!

Go and DONATE!!! It’s tax deductable!  http://totallybaldacious.llsevent.org/teamveloza

Here are a couple photos to show what I plan to do.  Color First, then Cut.

My daughter goes to one of their clinics…or I should say, she WENT to one of their clinics. After seeing this news story, I want nothing to do with this chain.

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/dental-chain-reaches-settlement-medical-fraud-performing-unnecessary/story?id=9615119

http://www.thedailyitemoflynn.com/articles/2010/01/30/its_your_business/business01.txt

Helping Mom’s Connect is giving away a pink Cozy!

Leena has been wanting a pink one for the past few Christmases, but we never found one in child size.  Imagine my surprise when I find one that is not only pink, but is being modeled by a cute little 6 yr old that looks almost just like Leena in that picture!

If you want a chance to win that cozy (or just compare the picture to Leena) go check out the giveaway!

I have just started reading my free, advanced copy, of One Day Way by Chantel Hobbs, thanks to the WaterBrook Multnomah Blogging for Books Program. Here is some information about the book and it’s author.

I will be posting a review and giveaway for it, so check back soon for an update!

One Day Way by Chantel Hobbs

Summary for One Day Way

The One-Day Way produces lasting results by taking you back to basics. No more complicated weight-loss strategies. No more expensive diet plans that achieve only temporary results. Instead, you will lose weight and get fit with Chantel Hobbs’s simple, high-energy meal plans and her at-home program for cardio exercise and strength training. She will teach you how to change the way you think, which leads to new actions. Before you know it you will be strong, fit, and healthy. All it takes is doing things differently for twenty-four hours—and then repeating it.

The One-Day Way gives you everything you need to lose weight and get fit in body, mind, and spirit:

• Break free from past dieting defeats
• Learn a realistic, life-changing way to measure success
• Change the way you think so you can change your life
• Translate your dreams into goals, and your goals into lasting achievements
• Get strong with thirty-one simple exercises, no fancy equipment required
• Take advantage of ten ways to eat better while you lose weight

By focusing on food, faith, and fitness, Chantel shows you not only how to lose weight, but how to build the new life you were designed to live. You don’t have to wait any longer. The One-Day Way gives you all the tools for success, starting right now.

Author Bio:
The author of Never Say Diet and The Never Say Diet Personal Fitness Trainer, Chantel Hobbs, is a motivational speaker, life coach, personal trainer, marathon runner, wife, and mother of four whose story has been featured on Oprah, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Fox & Friends, the 700 Club, and the covers of People and First magazines. She appears weekly on two fitness-themed radio programs and promotes her One-Day Way Learning System on television. Visit Chantel at ChantelHobbs.com for fitness updates and coaching tips.

The wonderful people at WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing (A Division of Random House) supplied me with this book to review, and then gift to my readers, as part of their Blogging for Books Program.  The rules for the giveaway can be found below my review.  Thanks for reading!   If you haven’t read my previous post about this book, you can check it out here.

——————————REVIEW——————————

Thirsty by Tracey Bateman

Thirsty by Tracey Bateman
Chaos Chronicles Rating: Rating:

Thirsty is a really good read, but I had a hard time believing it was vampire fiction.  It’s a great story, and I couldn’t put it down, though that was due to a combination of really good story lines and wondering when it will start reading like vampire fiction.

The main character, Nina Parker, does not have a lot going for her.  Alcohol destroyed her reputation and veterinary practice as well as her family.  Hard times follow this woman where ever she goes, as far back as her childhood.  She is a great character, and you get a good glimpse into her life.

This book is very well written as a regular work of fiction, but doesn’t really cut it as vampire fiction.  The vampire characters were more background characters and were not fleshed out enough to deem this vampire fiction. Instead, the author focused mostly on Nina Parker’s life.

The ending was a little disappointing as well.  While it was a good ending leaving the reading wanting more, it was wrapped up all too quickly and ended in a way I didn’t expect from a book that is supposed to be vampire fiction.

If you read Thirsty knowing it’s not really vampire fiction, it’s a much better read.  If you are expecting a good christian vampire novel, you will most likely be disappointed.

——————————GIVEAWAY——————————

How Can I Enter To Win Thirsty by Tracey Bateman?

Here is the deal! To enter the giveaway all you have to do is leave me a comment telling me about a good vampire fiction novel you’ve come across recently.  You get two entries for the price of one if the novel is Christian. If you do not include this in your comment, it doesn’t count.

For additional entries you can do any or all of the following, but you must let me know how you entered by leaving individual comments for each entry.

1. Join/Follow my blog using the Google Friend Connect Box to the right. – One Entry

2. Follow me on Twitter @nytshade and then Tweet about this Giveaway. – One Entry.

3. Subscribe to my blog (click the big orange square at the top right corner of my page). – One Entry

4. Blog about this Giveaway and link back to me. Put the link to your blog post in your comment. (comment twice please) – Two Entries

5. If you are an Etsy Seller or just an all around crafty person, you can donate an item to my 1000th Post Month-Long Giveaway Extravaganza! – Five Entries

This giveaway is open to everyone. This giveway will end January 15th, 2010 at midnight EST. Winner will be chosen via Random.org and announced the following day. Make sure to fill in your email address so I can contact you if you win. You will have 72 hours to claim your prize.