Friday Night Lights - My Rant about High School Rivalry

It's Rivalry week in NE Ohio. The Perry Pirates take on the Madison Blue Streaks and the Riverside Beavers take on the Harvey Red Raiders. But these rivalries aren't anything like what they were 20+ years ago when my cousins & I would spend a week, once a year every Fall razzing each other about who's school was better. Now, it's no secret that I love football. A trait I inherited from my dad, who spent some time as a Center for the Red Raiders in the 1960's. I even took sports psychology, psychology of coaching, sociology of sports and minored in Athletic Coaching at Kent State. Now, I don't think I would have been a football coach (though now that the Arizona Cardinals employ the first female coach in NFL history, it does sound appealing) but I have always loved the game. From starting kickoff to the final snap, I live for the battle on the field.

 So, imagine how much these rivalries meant (and still mean) to me. In my opinion, the 1994 Red Raiders were the best team out of Harvey in the last 30 years. But then again, I am a little biased since that was my senior year and I graduated with the guys on that team. We've lost at least one of the players from that '94 team. (RIP Tommy Odorcic) But it makes me get choked up when I realize that my daughter, niece and cousins will never get to experience the same level of rivalry that my cousins, sister & I once experienced. In 1994, (maybe even a few years earlier, but I remember '94 so vividly) OHSAA moved the time of the game from 7pm to 630pm to provide more daylight because they worried about fights. Painesville Burger King and Master Pizza Painesville were a sea of black, red & yellow. Students (who shall remain nameless) from each school went to the other's school and TP'd the trees or wrote things like "Raiders Rule" or "Beat the Beavers" in shaving cream on the lawn. The entire week was "Spirit Week" and we raised money for the United Way by paying to participate in various activities through out the week leading up to the big game.  Then, Friday, during the last 2 class periods of the day, we had Pep Rallies.  The bands would play the fight songs and the football players would be announced 1 by 1 just like they would before the game later that day.  And, (now I am only speaking for what happened at the Old Harvey High School Gymnasium) Coach Beeler would give an inspirational speech and get the whole school ready for the game. 

 

I site here wondering, what happened?  When did things become so watered down?  Where are the friendly rivalries?  They seem to be gone.  Just like a full Mr. P's Pizza restaurant on any given Friday night around 9:30 pm.  (Yeah, I almost forgot about sitting at Mr. P's Pizza with my parents, aunt & cousin after those awesome Friday nights - we would meet up after our respective games had ended.  If Perry or Harvey lost, it would be relatively quiet, but if Perry or Harvey won - it was lively and fun).  How can I get my daughter & my niece more excited about these rivalries?  Karey told me that the school really wasn't doing much to get hyped up for the game this week - only a Pep Rally on Friday, in the middle of the day before lunch.  I wondered why?  Are all of the schools just treating this as another "Friday Nigh Football" game?  American Football was started here in Ohio!!!!  We need to get more excited about these games - don't we?

 

 

Those were the glory days of the school rivalries.  It seemed like everywhere you went, you would see cars decked out with school colors - red & black, yellow & black, blue & white, red & white.  Written in shoe polish (they didn't make car window paint back then - or at least if they did, high school kids were too poor to buy it) on the rear windows were various things like "PHS Class of '95", "Madison Senior", "GO HARVEY, BEAT RIVERSIDE" -- sometimes you would even see "Harvey sucks" written in black shoe polish of cars pulling into Riverside's student parking lot. Being a Harvey graduate, I have a special place in my heart for the Red & Black - but now, I have a high school aged daughter of mine own.  Even though we wanted to get her into Perry so that she could go to the same school as my niece, it didn't work out that way.  So, now she is a proud Madison Blue Streak.  My niece is a Perry Pirate. My cousin's son goes to Riverside, but I live in Red Raider Territory.  So what do I do???  Today, as I sit here writing this, I am proudly displaying my Blue Streak Pride - because my daughter - well, she comes first.  Today I must set aside my allegiance to my Alma Mater and support the school that is teaching my daughter how to be a smart, productive, young woman. 

 

Before I sign off for today - I want to share an article that was shared with me today by a co-worker who is an old high school friend.  The News Herald published a story about the Harvey-Riverside Rivalry (which truthfully prompted this blog post) and shared over 300 never before seen photos from that rivalry over the years.  The rivalry just isn't what it used to be and the fun times of the early to mid-1990's are long since past.  But maybe, just maybe, my generation can teach our children's generation how much fun and excitement there is when you have something to look forward to. 

 

Good Luck to all of the schools tonight as Riverside travels to Harvey and Perry travels to Madison.  Me?  I will be wearing the Blue & White of the Madison Blue Streaks but secretly, I will be cheering for the Red Raiders to break the 20 years streak of losses against Riverside. 

 

News Herald Photos of Harvey - Riverside Football over the years:

http://media.news-herald.com/2016/09/06/photos-battle-of-painesville-photos-from-harvey-riverside-football/#1

News-Herald Article - http://www.news-herald.com/sports/20160906/chris-lillstrung-streak-taints-battle-of-painesville-for-riverside-Harvey

 

 

 

 

 

All About Lavender Oil

As I still try to figure out exactly where my blogs are going, I decided that maybe I should start with things I know about.  Things that I am passionate about.  One of the things I am most passionate about are Essential Oils and the many different things for which they can be used. 

Over the next several weeks, I am going to be sharing what I know about Essential Oils and provide you with the information that you need in order to maximize their use in your life.  I know that there are still so many people who don't believe in the benefits of using Essential Oils, but I hope that by my sharing my knowledge, those skeptics may be willing to give it a try.

I am going to start this series off by discussing Lavender oil.  First, I want to talk about the different companies out there that sell essential oils.  Sadly, not all of them are therapeutic grade; which means that you may not get the benefits you are hoping for if you don't purchase the right oil.

I personally use Purely brand essential oils.  Not only because I am a Purely Consultant but because they are the best value that I have found for therapeutic grade oils.

Now, let's talk about Lavender Essential Oil.  Purely uses the Lavender flower from France to make their Lavender Oil.  The aroma of Lavender Oil is refreshing and clean.  As an aromatherapy, it can be used for relaxation and helps to provide a sense of calmness.  If you have never used essential oils before, this should be your first oil.  The benefits that it provides are simply amazing.

Here is a list of some of its benefits and uses:

• Can be used for bathing, cooking, and in perfumes
• It calms and soothes the body & mind
• Calms skin irritations and aids in accelerating skin recovery
• Minimizes scarring
• Eases muscle tension
• Aids in sleeping
• Reduces the appearance of wrinkles and acne
• Lessens muscle stress 
• Helps to relieve allergies, anxiety and appetite loss
• Heals bites, stings, blisters, boils, burns, chicken pox, cuts, diaper rash, hay fever, inguinal hernias, herpes simplex, impetigo, poison ivy/oak, rashes, skin ulcers, thrush, and wounds. 
• Helps in treating agitation, concentration, depression, convulsions, dandruff, diabetic sores, exhaustion, fever, gangrene, gas/flatulence, grief/sorrow, hyperactivity, inflammation, insomnia, itching, jet lag, menopause, mental stress, mood swings, muscular paralysis, pain, Parkinson's Disease, Phlebitis, physical stress, Postpartum Depression, Rheumatoid arthritis, dry and sensitive skin, seizures, skin ulcers, stretch marks, sunburn, tachycardia, teeth grinding, teething pain, tension, vertigo, withdrawal, worms and wrinkles

As you can see, Lavender is a universal oil that has been used for many ailments and is traditionally known to balance the body and it works wherever there is need.  

There are three ways that lavender oil can be used: topically, diffusion and by ingesting.  When applying lavender topically it can be done "neat" (use in its pure form, without diluting with a carrier oil) or it can be applied diluted in shea butter, coco butter, or carrier oil.  Diffusion is the most common way all essential oils are used as an aromatherapy.  You can purchase an oil diffuser in which you put water in a dish attached to an electrical unit and put a few drops of neat oil in the water.  The diffuser produces a mist that allows the fragrance of the oil to enter the air.  Lastly, ingestion of lavender order can be done several ways.  You can place 1-2 drops of oil under the tongue, take in capsules like a pill or put a few drops in beverages or as flavoring for cooking and baking.  

It is an analgesic, anticoagulant, anticonvulsant, antidepressant, antifungal, antihistamine, anti-infectious, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobal, antimutagenic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, antitoxic, antitumor, cardiotonic.  It can be used as a sedative and it also contains regenerative properties. 

In my opinion, Lavender oil is the only oil a person needs to have on hand at all times. If you would like to purchase your Lavender oil to get started with the wonderful world of natural, homeopathic remedies, stop by my site by clicking below 

Purely Lavender Oil

Download a copy of the product information sheet here. 

I want to here from you!  Comment below and let me know your thoughts.

Losing Ourselves in a Social Media World

Laying in bed trying to think of topics to write about and share with the world; I suddenly realized that I think I might be losing something about me and I blame it on this new world of social media.  Don't get me wrong.  I LOVE using social media to keep in contact with old friends and long distance family.  I even enjoy being able to share inspiring photos and quotes while also seeing the latest picture of my best friend's kids being silly.  However, I am starting to realize that I am losing my creativity.  I am losing something inside of me.  I used to be able to write about things that mattered to me without much thought at all.  I wish I still had all those spiral notebooks with the short stories and essays that I wrote sitting at home alone without anything to do.  I can't even remember what I would write about.  

Even though social media has allowed us to stay connected in ways that we never imagined even 10 years ago, are we too connected with one another?  Have I started sharing too much information on my Facebook news feed?  I have started to pay attention to what I am sharing with my Facebook Friends and I am making more of an effort to censor what I post.  I do think that having so much information at our fingertips 24/7 is in fact changing who we are as people.  For example, while standing in line at the polls waiting to vote on the Presidential Primary, no one was talking.  nearly everyone in line was glued to their smart phones.  I am sure that most of those people where engaged in some sort of activity involving social media.  Four years ago when I was standing in line to vote for president, no one was looking at their cell phone, we were making conversation with our neighbors who were also in line to vote.  

It makes me sad to think that because of all of the "great" ways that we can keep in touch with each other, I am losing some of the fundamental things that make me  - well - me.  Are we creating a world of anti-social, tech-dependent human beings who can't carry on an intelligent conversation without staring needlessly at our computers or smartphones?  Then I think about my teenaged daughter.  All she does is stay in her room doing one of may 4 activities:  she is either watching netflix, completing her home school lessons online, listening to music so loud that it drowns out everything else around her or she is texting, snap chatting, or posting selfies on Instagram.  I don't think I have had a meaningful conversation with her in at least a year. 

Now, I know that social media isn't fully to blame, but it sure plays a huge role in the way our lives have changed.  My husband and I sit next to each other watching TV while we each play games on our iPhones.  We go out to a restaurant for dinner and instead of talking to each other about our day, we occupy ourselves by surfing the internet while waiting for the server to bring our meals.  

When I think about how much my life has changed after the advent of social media, I know that I am not the only one.  The majority of people my age and younger build their lives in this Facebook and Twitter world.  How do we find a balance?  How do we stop being so dependent on our social media accounts and get back to the simple pleasures of life like reading books & magazines and sitting at a dinner table, telling each other about our days and sharing our hopes and dreams with our voices, not our fingers.  

10 Free Kindle eBooks about Essential Oils

I have been learning how to use essential oils for aromatherapy, holistic healing & medicinal purposes for the last 18 months.  I have come to rely on a lot of different sources for information on essential oils and their uses.  Perhaps my favorite are the free Kindle ebooks available.


Here is my list of 10:


1. Essential Oils: Detailed Essential Oils For Beginners Guide For Physical and Emotional Health
2. Essential Oils: Ultimate Essential Oils Guide and 89 Powerful Essential Oil Recipes!
3. Essential Oils: Your Guide To Kickstart Your Weight Loss With Essential Oils
4. Essential Oils: Learn About The Best Beginners Guide Of Why To Use Essential Oils For Your Health And To Be Energized
5. ESSENTIAL OILS FOR WEIGHT LOSS: The Ultimate Beginners Guide To Lose Weight & Feel Great With Essential Oils
6. ESSENTIAL OILS: Aromatherapy, Essential Oils For Beginners, And Essential Oil Recipes To Improve Your Health
7. Essential Oils: For Beginners

8. The Complete Guide To Clinical Aromatherapy and Essential Oils of The Physical Body: Essential Oils for Beginners (The Secret Healer Book 1)

9. Essential Oils Beauty Secrets Reloaded

10. Essential Oils for Witchcraft, Magic and Spells

Is weight loss surgery right for you?

Have you been wondering if having weight loss surgery is right for you?  For years, I struggled with my weight.  I tried tons of different ways to lose weight.  I told doctors that there was something wrong with me because I just couldn't lose the weight.  The biggest problem was that I wasn't always overweight and I knew that one day I could be that thin, fit, woman that I was in high school.  The reality of it is that I am not in high school anymore and I am nearing "middle age".  With each year that I got older, it became harder and harder to lose weight.

My road to weight loss surgery started about 13 years ago when my daughter was 1 year old.  I had gained over 100 pounds during my pregnancy and I was struggling to get back into shape.  For a year, I gained and lost the same 50 pounds.  When my daughter was a year old I decided that I was going to stop eating.  I developed a very sick relationship with food.  While I viewed food as my "medicine" to help me cope with depression, anxiety and low self-esteem, I also looked at food as something that I didn't really need.  For 11 months I rarely ate solid food.  Instead, I survived on a lot of yogurt, jello, milkshakes, juice and alcohol.  When I was drinking alcohol everyday, I didn't feel like I really needed to eat "real" food.  I would maybe have one "meal" a day - often times it was not anything that would be considered healthy by any stretch of the imagination.  I lost weight, but I was very unhealthy.  I am sure that I was suffering from malnutrition and some psychiatrists would probably have labeled me anorexic; even though I didn't look like I was.

So, after years and years of gaining and losing, gaining and losing; trying all of the popular diets, all I was doing was gaining.  I stepped on the scale one day in late 2014 and I found that I had gained more weight than I did when I was pregnant and I cried for hours after reading the scale - 290 pounds.  I was devistated.  At that exact moment, I decided that I didn't want any more pictures taken of me unless I was dressed in a way that wouldn't make me look fat.  I hated looking at myself in the mirror.  I truly believe that if I was single without a child that I would have gotten rid of every mirror in the house.  I becamse so depressed that all I wanted to do was sleep or eat.  I hated getting up everyday and going to work.  I couldn't go shopping or do anything that required a lot of walking because it caused too much physical pain.  I didn't want to be seen in public and I hated that it had gotten to this point.

It wasn't very long after that that I realized that perhaps I had something medically wrong with me.  I was experiencing other problems like memory loss, inability to focus, diminished comprehension.  I started to realize that there really was something wrong with me.  After fighting with medical professionals for years over things that they thought were "in my head", I decided it was time to take control of my own health.

I started to research weight loss surgery.  I had to decide if this was something that I was willing to do in order to experience the happiness that I hadn't felt in nearly 20 years.  One of the first things I had to do was determine if I was a candidate for surgery.  I learned that in order to be a candidate for weight loss surgery you had to be considered obese with a BMI of 30 or more.  Check.  I knew I had that beat.  I also learned that there are certain co-morbidities that can make a person a candidate.  I knew I had two - depression and heart disease.  The next thing I had to figure out was if I had the ability to commit to lifelong changes.  I certainly did.  I was beyond ready to change my lifestyle.  Third, I had to talk to Jeff about what I wanted to do.  Was he going to support me no matter what?  Was he willing to make changes that he would have to make in order for me to be successful?

I was happy after he agreed to support me no matter what I chose to do.  I attended a consultation at Vanderbilt Center for Surgical Weight Loss.  I met with a nutritionist and the surgeon who would perform the surgery.  I participated in 90 days of medically supervised diet.  After the first 30 days I had gained more weight being on the food plan that was given to me.  I had lots of blood work done and learned the reason I couldn't lose weight - I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis - under active thyroid.  My numbers were so out of wack that it was determined that my thyroid was not functioning at all - which meant that I had no metabolism to burn calories.  This was why all that was happening was me gaining weight!

Over the next several months I went through about a dozen medication changes.  I had to change my diet completely - no more soy, limit anything with gluten.  Finally, after months of doctors visits, learning how to eat right and lots of prayer, I was finally approved for surgery.

This is not an easy journey.  It's not a quick fix and it certainly is not for people who are not willing to do the work it takes to succeed.  They said that I will probably lose about 70% of the excess weight.  I am determined to be the exception and lose 100% of the excess weight.  It is very difficult and some days I have a really hard time making the right food choices or having the discipline to exercise like I should.  I still have days where I am ashamed of the weight I gained and the lack of physical activity in my life, but each day I make a promise to myself to TRY.  I make a promise to myself that I am going to reach my goal; even if it takes longer than I once expected.

I am turning 40 years old this year.  I want to start the next half of my life on a better note.  So, if you are thinking that weight loss surgery might be your only hope - make sure that you are willing to do what it takes.  This is not an easy fix.  This isn't a miracle cure.  It's a tool to help you make the right decisions and right choices that will lead to a healthier you.

How to protect yourself from the Zika virus

How to protect yourself from the Zika virus

2 months since I was sleeved!

On December 21, 2015 I embarked on one of the most personal and rewarding journeys of my life.  While not as exciting as the day 14 years ago that I became a mother, for me this journey signifies my beginning of a whole new life. It took me a long time to get to this the point.  I struggled for years and years trying to lose weight "my way".  Only to fail time and time again.  Diet program after diet program; cleanse after cleanse; counting calories until I felt like my head was going to explode, but I just couldn't succeed.  I just couldn't get the pounds to come off.  And the worst part was that I seemed to be gaining instead of losing, even when I restricted myself to 800-1000 calories a day.


In March 2015 I decided to take a leap of faith and attend a seminar about weight loss surgery and the options that it provides.  Sitting there listening to that nurse talk about what happens when you have a weight loss surgery, I knew immediately that this was my answer.  It took several months to prepare and complete the requirements for my doctor & my insurance, but I did it and on December 21st I had a vertical sleeve gastrectomy.  So what is that?  It is a procedure where the surgeon removes 80-90% of your stomach and then staples the remaining portion so that it makes a "sleeve" the size of a medium banana.  For the first week after surgery I was on a liquid-only diet.  Because of that, I lost a lot of weight really fast.  As I started to slowly learn how to eat again and what I should and shouldn't or could and couldn't eat, the weight didn't fall off as fast.  But I was starting to feel better. 


The first month after surgery it was all about letting my body heal.  I was off work for the month and for the most part, did nothing but rest.  But then I had to go back to work and had to get myself into a habit of eating my 3 meals a day, drinking 64 oz of water each day and making sure that I got 50-60 grams of protein each day.  Sounds easy right?  Oh but it's not!  It is the toughest thing that I have had to do and I am still not perfect at it.  But I am not giving up.


And then there is the exercise requirement!  That truthfully has been the hardest part.  I used to love to work out and keep myself in shape.  I used to enjoy weight lifting and riding a stationary bike - but now that I have spent that last 14 years of life morbidly obese - I just don't like to do it for fear of failure.  But what makes me think I am going to fail?  I don't know - maybe the years of hearing people talk bad about me and my weight.  Maybe it's the fact that I am older now and just not as confident.  I don't really know, but I do understand that exercise is an important part of this journey and I really need to jump onto that bandwagon again.


Now I have been back to work for nearly a month.  It is getting increasingly difficult not to fall back into my old ways.  For example, my boss bought the whole office pizza today.  OMG do I ever LOVE pizza.  But I am not supposed to eat it anymore - way too high in carbs and low on protein.


As of this writing, I have lost a total 47.6 lbs.  I am ecstatic!  It's been a long time since I could say that I lost that much weight in only 8 weeks!  For now I am going to celebrate all of my weight loss accomplishments.  And I am still committed to making healthy habits a part of my life again.