I have been a bad bad girl (in my Fionna Apple voice). I have not posted anything in a month! whoa nelly! I mostly blame this on the intense school schedule I had over the winter semester which recently ended. Now that I have a light summer schedule, its time to get back to business So to get back in the swing of things I have some randoms things to write about.

1- Lady Gaga’s new CD, Born This Way- First off the cd is friggin awesome! I love it. Let me share a bit about my “relationship” with GaGa. When I first heard her song Just Dance (this may not be her first song but to me it is), I thought ok this is a fun dance song but she may be just another bubble gum pop marries dancey dance musician. Then she came out with some more songs that gave me the same feeling until there was Bad Romance and I Like it Rough which demanded me to listen to her lyrics. I realized this chick is speaking of subjects very close to my own experiences and putting them into words that makes them magical and artful. Then came Alejandro and the songs on the albums like Monster, Dance in the Dark, So Happy I Could Die, Starstruck and so much more. I was hooked! I have come to truly appreciate GaGa as an artist. Not only is she an artist but she is a woman who is unafraid to speak on the things we often keep to ourselves, the things we feel, the things we like but feel we shouldn’t, the complicated things, the simple things, and on and on and on.

Then when she came out with the title song for this new CD, Born this Way, she made it clear that she had a message (several messages actually) for her fans. Judas was next which caused commotion but I understand the message and hope others do to. The Edge of Glory sealed the deal that we are in for a treat and this new CD is just that. GaGa cares about her music, she cares about her fans and shows it in this CD which has A LOT of songs. So go buy it, hear the message, and enjoy!

2- Things to come- I have some treats of my own in the making for you all. The main component is VIDEOS! Yay videos! I’m not going to go in specifics right now but you can expect some information that will be useful, fun and celebratory. Yes I said celebratory! Stay tuned

3- Potty training trick- I’m no pro at this parenting thing. I have 1 child and therefore everything is a new experience and chance to learn. Potty Training is the chapter of the textbook that I just cant get passed (I have a feeling there are many more chapters like this to come :/ ). My daughter defiantly refuses to use the potty. I get the whole psychology thing of nature versus society and cultural expectations but geesh! I know your not supposed to bribe them with treats or snacks. The doctor suggested stickers but I just don’t see a toddler understanding the exchange of potty for stickers. So I finally came up with the healthy and effective bribe tool. The park! The weather is warmer and my daughter loves going to the park (esp. with her bike) so I have finally figured out what to do. It is working so far and I will keep you posted (no pun intended, haha get “posted” with my blog post heeeheee…..ok I’m done). This is also killing two birds with one stone because we both get to go out and get fresh air and a little physical activity in.

4- More- You all know I’m all about eating healthy and I want to end today by encouraging you to take advantage of the farmers markets opening up with the warm weather. We know each meal is supposed to contain water, produce and protein, so go a little crazy with the produce will ya? There’s all kinds of fun colorful stuff out there to get fancy and experiment with!

Next lets have a lil chat about another poison you may be giving your family. Before I told you about High Fructose Corn Syrup and now I want to warn you about Sodium Nitrate and Sodium Nitrite.

These chemicals are often put in your processed meats like lunch meat, bacon, canned meats, and pepperonis. This poison has been directly linked to cancer in recent studies and therefore should be avoided at all costs! Like seriously, go to your refrigerator and look at the ingredients on some of the items I mentioned. If they say sodium nitrate or sodium nitrite, you should treat them the same way you would anti-freeze in your kool-aid pitcher. Ok that may be a little extreme but it is serious. So what can you do instead? You know I wasn’t going to leave you without options You can basically spend a lil more money and buy the natural bacon and lunch meats which do exists. But not all “natural” meats are created equally. You MUST read the ingredients, which should be few (like 3) and include something like celery juice or potato starch which do the same job as the sodium nitrate or nitrite. I haven’t found the natural pepperoni or turkey bacon so you may have to get a little more creative in those departments but its worth it!

“observe without judgement” I recently heard Rodney Yee say this on a Yoga DVD I’ve been doing. He was talking about not judging your bodies abilities while beginning yoga (very good advice since yoga can be difficult for a beginner). So anyways I thought about the saying for a few days and what it means to me. I love to chew on/ analyze ideas like that LOL. So anyways I was thinking I want to apply this to the way I raise my daughter specifically. I even put this as a status update on Facebook one day and it striked up an interesting conversation thread with my family. One of my brothers said it was impossible. But is it really? I dont think so. I believe you can really adapt this way of thinking when meeting someone new. If your used to judging people, it might take some strong focus and consciousness to stop the habit but its doable.

Its always been important to me to embrace others who are different from me. I have made some really great friends and learned really cool things this way. I intentionally take my daughter to different places, make her different foods, hang around a variety of people so she is constantly expanding her “comfort zone”. By doing this I know when she is older she will naturally observe w/o judgment.

On to Mojito water…

As you may know I am on a mission to go from a water wuss to a water warrior. I just don’t like the taste of plain ol water! I have really been pushing this since my new eating habit (not a diet!) is to have protein, produce and water with every meal. Last night I made Mojito water! It consists of mint water (you can purchase at the store or make your own with fresh mint leaves), fresh squeezed lime juice and a oh so small dose of raw sugar (we’re not making kool aid, but just a lil pinch won’t hurt). Let me just say this turned out to be amazing! So refreshing and perfect for the warm weather. Also toddler tested

MeOhMiya!

I have a confession to make… I’m enjoying tea and crumpets right now. No I’m kidding (although it is true (-:)  the real confession is I’m a non fiction-self help-business book junkie. My bedroom and living room have shelves and shelves full of all sorts of these kind of books. One of my favorites is Strengths Finder 2.0. The book is basically about discovering your individual strengths (an access code is given to take an online questionnaire which will give you your strengths in the results) and how to apply them to your personal and professional life.

I think this book is great for anyone to read, as most people don’t know all of their strengths and could save a lot of time and frustration in various areas of life if they knew. For example, I started working in the hospitality industry many years ago and had dreams of becoming a Director of Sales one day. I became frustrated when others in my path did not see me as a DOS type because I wasn’t “hungry” enough. One person actually felt that I was more of a human resources type which is much more accurate with my strengths. What are my strengths you ask?

~Empathy ~ Relator ~ Connectedness ~ Futuristic ~ Communication~

Looking at these, its clear I’m no sales person! I much more concerned with helping the individual on a personal level than trying to meet a sales quota. But thats what makes the world great, we all have individual strengths which allows us make our own unique contribution to society. What a boringly boring not to mention chaotic place it would be if our strengths were the same. Look for the book on Amazon.com as it is really a great book to check out.

Another reason I wanted to share my strengths is because it also helps explain my love for this blog and what my goals are with it. I want to connect with you, yes you! Please share comments about your strengths or anything you want.

Peace

~ Me Oh Miya!

Sources: Strengths Finder 2.0 written by Tom Rath & http://www.strengthsfinder.com/home.aspx