Family Dinners

This summer, it feels like we have been getting together more frequently as a family for dinners and celebrations. This has been a lot of fun, as I have been able to see more of my nephews and nieces that I am not able to see as often. This past celebration we had on July 4th. It was also a farewell dinner for my brother, Steven and his family as they are moving to Michigan for work. My mom commemorated the event with a "Michigan" dinner... pasties and Boston Coolers (Vernor's and ice cream), and Blueberry cake. I couldn't refuse the food, as I rarely get these, and they are some of my favorites. Unfortunately I was also reminded that I can't eat these foods afterwards.... but it was sooooo worth it :)My mom with the infamous "Aunt Ginny's Blueberry" cake... it was sooooo good!

Steven preparing to make his "Boston Cooler"His Uncle Don was able to get him to laugh so hard that daySeveral people took advantage of the day off... and slept....Last family picture pose.... until October :)

Lindsay's visit!

My sister Lindsay, and her sweet boy came and visited us for a week in June. We had so much fun with watching movies, going swimming, talking, making food, and trying to keep cool... She flew down to Arizona, and then drove up with me to Utah as I went up to present for a Conference at the University of Utah regarding music therapy and substance abuse. The whole 2 weeks still feels like a whirl wind of events. Unfortunately I didn't get many pictures. Here are a few I have, and then a place you can read more about the trip:

I got an opportunity to party/ dance with my nephews and nieces before dinnertime...

Sweet Sedona

In May, I woke up one Saturday morning, and realized I needed a break that day. I woke up my niece and asked if she wanted to go on a road trip with me (....who can refuse an aunt's road trip request at 6am?). We left early that morning and spent the day in Sedona, Arizona (about 2 hours north of Phoenix). The drive was so much fun. We stopped at Montezuma Castle, then spent a few hours in one part of Sedona. It was raining when we arrived at Sedona, and it was COLD rain, not just the warm rain in Phoenix. I heard it snowed not too far from there. We ended up having to buy hats as it was sooo cold. We also got hot water at the Starbucks, so that we could keep out hands warm from the hot cup. It was a great day. Jessica was my photographer for the trip. She has an amazing talent with the camera. Here are just a few of the pictures....Our first bathroom break at an Albertson's just outside of Phoenix... we hit so much road construction and traffic in Phoenix that it took us an extra hour to get out of the city...

Montezuma's castle.... these are homes that they would build and live in as a large community. I think they were telling us that about 100 people were thought to have lived in this home.Jess checking out the tunes to listen to... and her Aunt's latest podcast... favorite for this trip... They Might Be Giants...Sedona view...

Pictures could not express this well enough... the red rock in Sedona is amazing and so peaceful

How to melt your window blinds

My room's large window faces west. This means that mornings are nice and cool, but afternoons and evenings are not so cool with Arizona summers. I've been trying to find ways to cool my room down. I read that you can use an emergency blanket as a curtain. This is supposed to deflect the heat from entering the room. This does work, but I would suggest that you do not have plastic window blinds between the blanket and window. It took just several days for it to melt my blinds. I was shocked to see how when I left for work, my blinds looked normal, and when I returned they began to melt. (I have to admit I laughed at this sight, as I was sure if anyone could, it would be me to find some way of doing this). It's nice to know that the blanket idea is helping to reflect the heat though. My very wise brother suggested that I place the emergency blanket against the window to really reflect all the heat and cool the room down even more. That was one of the best things I heard regarding my situation :)

These pictures may be hard to see the great new shape my blinds morphed into. I realize I should have taken a picture BEFORE I put the emergency blanket on the window...

"Stand By Me"

Life has been really busy lately, but good. I will post what has been happening soon. This was just passed through to me that I wanted to share with others.

Here is a song created with the use of musicians from around the world. It is one of the best pieces of sound engineering work I think I have ever seen. It is a composite audio/video of song whereby additional tracks were laid in by different singers and musicians from different places around the world. The finished product is tremendous!

Enjoy!

Smile

Just thought I would give everyone a little break from thinking... and allow yourself to relax and enjoy this wonderful world :)

Mung Beans

I realize from my last post, that some of you may be wondering what "mung beans" are. These are beans that I had never heard of till recently. During the past couple of months I have been learning more about food and the health benefits that they are towards our body. This has been really good for me considering my past fears towards food. With this knowledge I have been introducing a variety of new foods into my diet. I am going to post about 2 of my new favorite ones: Mung and Adzuki beans. I got some of this information from the internet and from the book "Healing With Whole Foods" by Paul Pitchford

MUNG BEANS are a sweet flavor that is one of the most important beans therapeutically. It detoxifies the body; beneficial to the liver and gallbladder, a diuretic, reduces swelling, Used as a cure for food poisoning (drink liquid from mung soup), dysentery (cook with garlic), diarrhea, painful urination, mumps, burns, lead and pesticide poisoning, boils, heat stroke, conjunctivitis, and edema (especially in the lower extremities)

Actions: clears heat, detoxifies, quenches thirst, promotes urination, reduces swelling, aids edema in the lower limbs.

Conditions: edema, conjunctivitis, diabetes, dysentery, "summer heat" problems, heatstroke, dehydration, food poisoning from spoiled food.

Techniques for Cooking: soak beans overnight or 12 hours in 4 parts water to 1 part bean. Discard the soaking water. Cook 1 cup dried beans to 3-4 cups water for 1 hour.

Nutrition:

100 grams (about a 1/2 cup), cooked

Calories	105
Total Fat (g)	0
Cholesterol (mg)	0
Sodium (mg)	238
Total Carbohydrates (g)	19
Dietary Fiber (g)	8
Folate (mcg)	159 (39%)
Magnesium (mg)	48 (12%)
Potassium (mg)	266 (11%)