Seasons of Change

Just as the seasons change without fail, so do the seasons of our lives. And although change is often difficult, it can also mean new opportunities and fresh beginnings. So as sad as I was to see this past weekend usher in the very last farmer's market of the year in my home town, I really am ready for a breather.

I am eagerly contemplating how I will now use my Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays which for some time have been spent madly baking. One of my short term goals is to finish the third book in my Fern Valley series and then to move onto a completely different work in progress that I have been mulling over for quite some time. This also leaves more time for reading and reviewing!

And speaking of reviewing, I decided to read a book that Emily recently read entitled Ben Franklin's Big Splash - The Mostly True Story of His First Invention. She seemed to really enjoy the story, so I sat down to see why.  What I found was a humorous and well written story that made Ben Franklin seem real to me and not just a part of ancient history. Curiously enough, it also inspired me to keep writing and keep submitting despite the numerous rejections I regularly receive.

Ben doesn't worry about what other people think about him or his inventions, he just keeps inventing. One of my favorite parts of the book says, "Most kids might have felt sad, ashamed, or stupid. Instead, this smart, stubborn, sensible son of a soap-maker simply thought he'd made a mistake___ and wouldn't stop seeking, studying, and struggling until he SUCCEEDED."

My dad always told me that the only way you fail is to not try at all, so just like Ben I will not feel sad, ashamed,  or stupid. Instead, I will keep seeking, studying, and struggling until I succeed. I will keep writing and submitting until an agent or publisher realizes what I already know. That my writing is worthwhile, and I deserve representation.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. And feel free to drop by my personal website, Fun With Aileen, any day of the week for even more on reading, writing, my very own early grade chapter book, Fern Valley, and my sequel, Return To Fern Valley! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.

Editing: A Life Choice

As an author I am very familiar with the term editing which generally refers to correcting, revising, adapting, or assembling written material or film. But editing can also mean modifying, eliminating, or deleting and that is what my family and I have been doing with our life over the past two years especially in the area of our diet.

Our initial attempts at editing our diet came about when my husband did not want to take medication for his high blood pressure. Just as it took me several revisions to get my book in working order, it took a lot of trial and error on my part before our low sodium regimen was successful. Being a very passionate person I went from the extreme of too much salt to too little salt. But I did not give up and eventually I found a balance by switching to Real Salt instead of white processed salt,  finding low sodium recipes and no sodium seasonings, and eliminating certain high sodium items from our diet.

Recently my husband and I felt it was time to edit our diet once again in an effort to become healthier and lose weight. We have incorporated more fruits and vegetable into our diet, we now reach for string cheese and unsalted mixed nuts instead of sugary treats, carbohydrate rich crackers, or greasy potato chips. And since I do love chips from time to time, I  have found some veggie tortilla chips at my local Meijers store that are made with veggies and ancient sprouted grains. Apparently carbohydrate items made from ancient sprouted grains don't turn to sugar in our bodies like white and wheat bread kind of carbohydrates.We are also drinking more water.

Further more, we are trying new recipes high in fiber of which I just read Americans in general don't get enough. I found no sodium garbanzo beans, so I am going to try my hand at hummus real soon. Saturday morning I am going to make spelt flour waffles (one of those ancient sprouted grains) with real maple syrup which apparently is healthier in moderation then imitation syrup.We have also eliminated margarine from our diet and have opted for real butter which is a healthy fat. My husband saw something on television that said how bad margarine was for human beings and they claimed even flies won't land on it. I thought about putting some margarine out to see if this is true, but I decided to just go with the all natural butter on blind faith instead. And for those occasions when I use regular flour, I am at least using unbleached flour now. And last but not least, we have started sweetening our smoothies with all natural honey. And as an FYI, frozen cubed cantaloupe or pineapple is much tastier to use then ice.

Editing seems to have become a life choice in our home and will probably be ongoing for some time to come as we try to modify, eliminate, or delete poor choices. So as you and your family head into this new year, I'd love to hear all the different ways you are editing your life to make it a polished success.

Signing off for now with wishes for a bright and beautiful day!