This was the year I decided to accomplish my one New Year Resolution…that is, to loose weight.  After I saw the Oprah show where Dr. Oz firmly stated that Type II Diabetes is not only preventable, but curable. It all had to do with your belly fat. Being on the fast track to probably only inches if not months from being diagnosed with Diabetes, all my siblings in my family is diabetic, I knew NOW was the time.

I signed up for the same HCG diet program my friend is using, and was blown away at how fast the fat started melting. After only 4 weeks, I am already down one dress size and one pant size. At first I was afraid of the 500 calorie diet thinking that I would starve, but decided to make it a mission to start on the road to healthier eating. We already raise our own grass fed beef, so the basic lifestyle change was to eat way more veggies, and completely cut out anything “white” which means flours, pastas, grains. When the diet is complete, I will add back a few wheat grains, maybe. I am finding most of my other health issues have already resolved. Anyone who knows me can ask me what those are.

But to help those who are struggling with this HCG diet, I have come up with some great recipes which will actually help you carry over this eating habit into your real life, and share it with the rest of the family. My husband now eats like me, and I don’t feel like I am eating alone.

Keep checking back for new recipes. And remember these are specifically portioned for the 500 calorie diet. If making for more than one, adjust accordingly.

Creole Gumbo

3.5 oz White Fish, cooked til flaky tender

Cabbage, diced

12 grape tomatoes chunked in processor

Old Bay seasoning Pinch

1 cup Swanson Chicken Broth

Cook til cabbage is tender or about 4 minutes in microwave.

Serve with 1 Melba Toast

Print Your Own Fabric Label is easy

I did some research recently on how to print your own fabric labels and came up with a pretty simple process. It wasn’t as time consuming as I first thought, and worked quite well.

Here are the supplies you need to print your own fabric labels:

Freezer paper cut into 8.5×11  sheets (use a sheet of printer paper as a guide to be sure you have square corners and straight edges)

100% cotton fabric, white, washed, dried and pressed to remove any sizing

Printer, computer

First design your label. I used a simple Lucinda Calligraphy Font, with the intent of printing my fabric labels in black. This was my first try of course. If you want to get more adventurous, you could go into graphic designer  mode and  design a three color logo and get fancy, but I figure, I’d save time on the learning curving by keeping it simple.

I loaded this design in a simple Publisher label format that makes 1 1/2×3″ mailing labels.  After centering and adding other pertinent information to the label, like stuff needed for CPSIA, I am ready to print my own fabric label.

Now, to get the fabric sheets ready to print. Simply iron the freezer paper onto the fabric, using cotton setting, pressing on the paper side to avoid scorching. Use gentle pressure, as you are not pressing wrinkles, but “ironing on the paper”. If you are pressing more than one sheet of freezer paper, leave 1/2 inch between each sheet to cut them apart. You might need to iron on the kitchen table with a bed sheet folded several times so as not to ruin your table. Most iron boards are too soft to do this. If you are a quilter, you most likely have a pressing board. I also find the cheapo table top iron boards work well for these. I have a closet full of them when my kids realized they really didn’t need these in the college dorm…who has time to iron?

Cut the excess fabric very carefully without raveling, using a very sharp fabric scissors.  Remember when your mother yelled at you to not use her “fabric” scissors for paper? Well, don’t cut the paper! Not only will it ruin your scissors, forever, she says, but you will not have even paper for the printer, duh!

Ok, now you are ready to print. Place one “fabric sheet” in the printer. Do the computer magic to print off a sheet of labels. I found I had to “guide” my fabric out of the printer, or it would get hung up on one edge.If you have difficulty with your printer, you could put masking tape on the starter edge to make it firmer.

Print Your Own Fabric Labels Easily

When printing is done, gently remove freezer paper starting at one corner. Try not to pull your fabric all out of shape.

Fill your bathroom sink with cold water, enough to cover fabric. I added ice cubes to make it really cold. This is supposed to rid any stray ink from your fabric, and if printed too thick, help with that. I did see some flecks in the sink, but if your printer is like mine I am always just one page away from “empty ink cartridge” anyway, so maybe even with printing on “best” there was medium to light ink on the fabric.

Of course if you used a new cartridge, and the fancy fandango full graphic three color design, you really do need this step.

After about 5 minutes of letting this set in cold water, gently remove, fold twice and press between towel to get rid of excess water. DO NOT SQUEEZE OR WRING!

I patted mine almost dry, then with DRY iron on cotton setting, gently press ink side to set the ink into the fabric. Throwing this in the dryer for 40 minutes will do the same thing, but unless you are making 1,000 labels, and just did 75 sheets of paper, it’s not the brightest thing to throw one sheet in the dryer. Ironing will do just fine.

When dry, cut labels apart, and either sew them in, or use iron on stuff to glue them onto your product. I used a pinking shears to cut them apart, and they work just fine.

If you prefer to just stitch them in, and don’t want to turn under edges or worried about raveling in the washer, then using cotton jersey knit is the key. You can use fray check on the edges, but geesh, this was supposed to be simple. You choose.

Hope this helps. Go ahead and get fancy on the next set of labels you make.

If you wish to do the more faster method, you can buy the “Printable fabric sheets” from Joann Fabric store, or online and use those instead.  I live out in the back woods, and have no such store around. I also did not want to wait for shipment. I had freezer paper, and fabric, so this was the route I took.

I also use the “Iron On Fabric Transfer” from Walmart to make a fancier label with just my shop name. This I use on non CSPIA stuff to label my pretties.

Have fun, contact me if you got problems.

Are you looking to get back together with your ex? Do not write the relationship off completely simply because you were dumped. If you really want to get back together with your ex, getting results is possible with some hard work and understanding.

People in relationships can be totally fickle. In 75 percent of all relationships, for example, the woman calls the relationship. More often than not however, they are also open to re-establishing relationships.

Your break up may have been impulsive, meaning that your significant other may be willing to rekindle things if you give it enough time.

If you really want to get back together with ex, you need to focus on the positive aspects of the situation. Prevent yourself from giving up, writing things off or responding badly to the situation at hand. Bad things happen, but there are resolutions and not every break up means the permanent end to the relationship.

Figuring out what went wrong is part of the process of learning how to get back together with ex.  This enables  you to change those things and move on. If  these things are not fixed, then the your relationship is never going to be capable of being rekindled and those same bad things will occur again.

Was she bored in the relationship? Was he looking for more space? Find out the root of the problem and find a way to change things. If you really want to get back together with ex, you need to show your ex that you are the person that he or she really wants in life.

One of the ways that you can figure out how to get back together with ex is to show your ex that you are in demand. By showing them that you are moving on and that you are satisfied with life rather than dwelling on the past gives them the impression that you are trying to balance out your life.. This will show your ex that you can be mature and happy, and it may just remind them how much they need and want you.

Go out and have some fun with your friends and show your ex that you can live without him or her, and you may just help them remember how much they want to be with you, which is a great way to learn how to get back together with ex.

When you are serious about wanting to get back together with ex, you need to realize that making things work is about doing the right things and rekindling the right feelings and emotions. There is a power shift that needs to occur, and you need to restore the balance in order to make things comfortable enough again that you can get back together with ex.

You can learn how to get back together with ex, simply be patient and willing to listen to the right advice in order to make it happen. Become teachable to sound advice.

Finding reputable advice on how to get back together with your ex can be confusing and frustrating. Our advice and techniques are simple and doable. With these practical tips, you can be back with your ex in no time.

Don’t waste your time reinventing the wheel, take the plunge and do it right the first time with http://www.get-your-ex-back-tips.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sue_Mueller
]]> http://coolestchicontheplanet.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/get-back-together-with-your-ex-how-to-rekindle-your-relationship/feed/ 0 coolestchicontheplanet http://coolestchicontheplanet.wordpress.com/2009/08/03/running-of-the-bulls/ http://coolestchicontheplanet.wordpress.com/2009/08/03/running-of-the-bulls/#comments Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:49:46 +0000 coolestchicontheplanet http://coolestchicontheplanet.wordpress.com/?p=197 ]]>

The Girls

Saturday was a big day at the ranch. Not only did the girls look good, but they were busy munching the grass around my house…YAY!!! No more rattler, as I am sure he lit outa there when 150 PrimeRibs arrived.

Big Red Bull

Big Red got his chance as “The Bachelor”, so he was checking out the chicks!

Bull Bus

Then the “Bull Bus” came, and unloaded three more bundles of testosterone. Whew! That’s alot of bull!!!

The stare down

Now comes the good part, introductions. It was one challenge after another. The winner of the challenge would “bellow with winners howl”….all night long. And remember these buff boys are in my front yard.

Hot Wired

Yes, that is one, teeny, tiny wire between us. But really, like he’d be interested in this old wrinkly bag of bones, instead of the young stuff in the field?

Another Big Boy

This is another one of the Big Boys, there are now 4 of them, to duke it out and find out who is the leader. I will be glad when they are away from my house, as they give me the willies. They stalk around like big bullies, oh wait, they are.

I will try to download some of the bull fights i caught on camera. Nothing horrible, but I sure wouldn’t want to be in the middle of them.

Boys will be boys, I guess.

SOOC

Cropped and Enhanced

It amazes me how my Darling Daughter got these fish to pose like this. I think they were trying to suck up the coins in their pond.

The SOOC pic of course had date/time stamp, and by the time I cropped for that, all was left was to enhance the pic.

I wonder if these taste good with tartar sauce?

SOOC

Cropped and Enhanced

What can I say? The only thing I did to the SOOC shot is to crop out the date/time, and balance the composition. God did the rest. I would have loved to see this shot done just after a soft rain with droplets of water on the delicate petals.

Simple photoshop quick fixes here, nothing fancy, but this would make a great greeting card….hm, maybe I should keep this one.

SOOC

I could sit here all day!

The top SOOC photo is really a good shot. By again deleting a few behinds of other people out of the right side of photo, and drawing the bottom up just a bit to release some of the white reflection, this shot balanced itself out perfectly.

Then just simple quick fixes did the rest.

My only question is this: The rocks are smooth, which indicate they came from a roaring river with lots of powerful waterflow to errod the rocks smooth. Like the Colorado River would make. So, will people understand the contrast of this reflecting pool. These smooth rocks are living out the rest of their life in tranquility. Lucky rocks.

SOOC

Recompositioned and Enhanced

This particular shot was taken with the date/time stamp. Sometimes we just aren’t thinking straight.  It’s not like we are going to print these out or anything, so why save the date. I like the commercials with ALL the photos stored in the camera, it’s just handy right?

Anyway, the composition on this piece is awesome, but the horizontal balance could use a little loosing up. There are so many different shapes in the composition, that the formal and almost exact amount of sky, middle, and bottom makes this feel “locked” up. Luckily by cropping the date/time out, and a couple of rear ends of people on the right, it really loosened up the stiff horizontal lines making it flow much nicer. It also put the focal point, which is the “Ball Tree” just where it needs to be…the focal point! Ta! Da!

Enjoy. I might just make this one into a “canvas print” and hang on my wall. Oh wait, it doesn’t belong to me!!!!

SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera)

Enhanced, Lifelike

I was jaunting around Facebook the other day, when I noticed my Darling Daughter put up some new pics of a place her BF and her went. That is the only way you know what is going on in their lives, right?  They were really pretty awesome pics coming from a point and shoot. Not only were they breathtaking, the composition and lighting seemed almost perfect. The day was a bit cloudy, so I think God’s natural filter, the clouds, helped a whole lot. And…well, they are both artists, so composition I am sure was not a mistake, they have good design eyes!

Having gotten Photoshop recently, I have been dying to try it out on some photos.  However, not having anything good in the way of pics lying around, I thought playing with her pics would be fun.

The first pic is SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera). Don’t know if this is a real term or not, but lots of the “photomaniacs” on forums use the term, so there it is.

The second shot is “PS’d”. Now my husband can’t tell muchdifference on these, but let me tell you. A flick of the click and PS the grandchild, and WOW!!! he can tell a difference. Although, I truly can’t see how our little BabyCakes can get any cuter than cute than cute!

Tell me if you can tell the difference. I can almost smell the second flower. Check back, as I will be posting all the ones I PS’d

Core Rhythms Workout focuses on the core and the core muscles.  Try working though it 2 times, and you have a quick 15 minute workout. Beware, though, you will sweat, and you will feel it in your core.