Book #Review: A Desert Journey by Dr. Jerry Burgener

About the Author: Jerry Burgener grew up in Illinois. He spent most of his career as a forensic psychologist and is now in private practice. 

Book Description: Reeling from yet another relationship failure, Jerry travels to the American Southwest to spend a couple of months riding his horse, savoring the warm weather, and finding respite from the daily grind. But what begins as a simple escape to the wide-open spaces of Arizona soon becomes a powerful odyssey of self-discovery. When Jerry comes upon an Indian named Tom in the middle of the Superstition Mountains, he senses that the meeting is no casual encounter. Wise and unreserved, Tom speaks to Jerry with a knowingness that both unnerves and captivates him.
Jerry is compelled to return to the mountain again and again to accept Tom’s challenges, exercises, and assignments for living in the moment, tuning into the love all around him, and honoring a connection to Spirit. With Tom as his guide, Jerry uses dreams and visions of his own past lives to make sense of his modern reality. Tom’s lessons cause Jerry to question long-held beliefs, but they also afford him the insight he needs to move beyond pain and make his metaphysical journey toward inner peace and enlightenment.


My Impressions: While 'Desert Journey' is labeled fiction it reads as though it is spoken from experience. The main character is named Jerry like the author. I later found out that much of this story is indeed from experience with liberties taken to aid in storytelling. Jerry leaves it up to the reader to decide how real of a character Tom is... I enjoy this shroud of mystery a great deal and I must say, I wonder with a childlike curiosity.


This book certainly struck a chord with me. First of all, it reminded me quite vividly of a dream I had last year. In this dream I was travelling through the desert on a journey with my best friend. Near the end of the dream we had come to a point between two cliffs (much like the cover image) where a veil separated and as we passed through we entered a land where colors shone vividly with an incomparable depth.

I enjoyed reading this book so much that it has already begun cycling through my friends. I read most of this book on a blanket in my dining room in a lovely patch of sun one morning. It was a beautiful and thoughtful experience.


Disclaimer: I received a copy of Desert Journey by Dr. Jerry Burgener in exchange for my honest opinion. 

#Review - #Vegan Jerky from Primal Spirit Foods

I tried the Meatless Vegan Jerky Strips from Primal Spirit Foods, while I definitely didn't expect it to taste anything like meat I was amazed with the texture and consistency.

However, I have learned 2 things while on my meatless jerky adventure.
(1) Vegan Jerky does not satisfy my craving for Beef Jerky
(2) I have to be in the mood for Vegan Jerky to find it appetizing.

Please don't let me leave you with the impression that I do not like the vegan jerky. I do like it. I like most people on the meat/non-fence unfortunately have a strong meat memory. The flavors and textures are all interesting and uniquely vegan. The vegetable spices at times we're sweetened a tad too much with the cane sugar for my liking. This was the case with the Texas BBQ, in my opinion. Again that depends on my mood, the amount of sugar (if any) that I put in my tea varies from day to day.  The Texas BBQ was my least favorite out of all the varieties.

I was pleased to see that they had options for Gluten Free diets. Both the Texas BBQ and the Hickory Smoked are made with Soy Protein. Primal Spirit Foods offers Non-GMO's, Vegan/Kosher made with all natural ingredients. They contain no preservatives or artificial flavors. These jerky strips are high in protein and I would love to see them offer a low Glycemic line in the future.

Now back on the sweetness train, the Mesquite Lime was sweet and sour and I enjoyed it much more then I thought I would.  The show stopper for me was the Hot and Spicy Shiitake Mushroom, it was my favorite. The consistency was the closest to meat out of all that were tried. I really would like to see more flavors made from Shiitake mushroom.

Disclaimer: I received samples of this product from Primal Spirit Foods in exchange for my honest review. No additional compensation was received. All opinions are my own.

#Review - Nugo Slim and Smarte Carb - Low Sugar Options

Whether you are looking to reduce the amount of sugars in your life for health reasons, weight reduction or due to diabetes there are delicious food bars available to satisfy all diets.

The first bar I am going to review is the Nugo Slim - Brownie Crunch Bar. Kosher and gluten-free, it contains 15 grams of protein, 2 grams of Sugar and 9 grams of Fiber. That is a lot of fiber!! This was my husbands favorite. He is a dark chocolate lover so I wasn't surprised that he enjoyed it so much. This bar contains no artificial sweeteners and is filled with natural ingredients. It is coated with dark chocolate and the inside does bring brownie crunch to mind. There are small peanut bits throughout the bar, I enjoyed the peanut bits, a little too much. I wanted more peanut bits... the taste was bitter with a hint of sweetness.

The Peanut Butter Crunch -  Smarte Carb Bar is a sugar free option available for diabetics or those on a low carb diet. Sweetened with Sucralose, this protein bar weighs in at 20 grams per bar. Each bar contains 170 calories, 5 grams of fiber, 260 mg of sodium. This bar is jammed full of vitamins and nutrients. With many sugar substitutes, I often am left with a terrible aftertaste in my mouth. The bar did not leave a horrible aftertaste however. I found it quite pleasant. This bar was my favorite out of the two, my husband enjoyed it as well.

Disclaimer: I received a samples of each of these products from the Low Carb Grocery in exchange for my honest opinion. No additional compensation was received.

Frantic McGee - Packs for TO

So, I found a terrific site to help me pack for my flight. Mat specifically requested that I only bring a carry on. He really wants to avoid the luggage check. I think we both view it to contain the potential for terrible things... specifically misplaced luggage. I find being able to personally guard my belongings quite appealing, although I am sad that this also means no musical instruments as we don't have any that classify as a small instrument (I've been meaning to pick up a Ukelele).

I must say though, I am a little bummed out that I won't be able to bring my guitar for the trip. I really would love to have one kicking around the hotel room for jams... a friend did raise the option of renting one for the weekend just to have in the room. Believe me, it is quite tempting. We have spent a lot of money already on the plane ticket and on renting a car to drive to the Halifax to catch our flight. Our 22 year old Toyota is on it's last legs right now and we barely trust it's ability to make it to town and back let alone make the 3+ hour jaunt to the city.

Today, I scavenged around my house looking for beauty products that are in containers under 100 ml. I was surprised to learn just how many products I had in handy little travel sized containers. This is going to be fun.

#Review - Ground Cayenne Pepper from Joy's Teaspoon

Often, I ingest a teaspoon with a mix of honey, cayenne, ginger, lemon juice and pureed raw onion as an immune booster. It is a great way to dissolve the mucus from my allergies without throwing my body completely off balance. I make small portions and keep it in my fridge in a small sized mason jar for quick consumption. I'm big on natural remedies. I believe it is important to seek balance through healthy diet and lifestyle choices and sometimes what your body needs can be found in the kitchen.

I received a sample of ground Cayenne Pepper from Joy's Teaspoon, this organically cultivated spice has a bold fiery orange color and was a very welcomed addition to my last batch of immune booster. We were very grateful to have this mix during flu season. Cayenne has wonderful health benefits. It can help draw an infection out of the body by creating heat within the body. It helps the body sweat so you flush out toxins and other chemicals.

Disclaimer: I received a sample of Cayenne Pepper from Joy's Teaspoon in exchange for my honest review. No additional compensation was received. All opinions are my own.

3 Cheers for Nature + #DIY - Oven Drying Herbs

I like to garden and with spring around the corner I have been trying to allow thoughts of spring, new growth and gardening fill my mind. Gardening is peaceful, regardless of the work involved. I feel connected to the beauty of the world around me when I garden. Thoughts flow freely and I think a part of me dances eternally when I play in the dirt. At the end of the day it doesn't even matter if anything grows, although I will nurture and love it dearly if it does.

I find myself frequently laying about the house in whatever sun patch I can find, reading or meditatively resting and exploring the inner realms of my mind. I find this easier to connect to the silence within when I am able to perceive beauty. I sat and watched the full moon rise a few evenings back with the conscious awareness of how connected I felt in that moment. I understood that I felt that way because I loved what I experienced and if I learned to see the beauty in all of emotionally ugly moments then I would be capable of greatness... and that the same goes for you and everyone else in the room... it is so easy when the mind wants to work for it, but requires a vast amount of active practice.
 

The children are being increasingly creative. I love seeing all forms of their expression and watching them bond... they grow to fast. Half way to being moved out already, it all goes by in the blink of an eye.

Care for a random bit of information I discovered in a blog post I began writing about two years ago? It sat for that long as a draft and now finally, it reaches all of your lovely eyes! The information most likely came out of a book I have that contains about 7000 bits of useful information about living in the country.

Oven drying your herbs:
Spread herbs on a mesh rack and place the rack in a slow oven set from 100 to 125 degrees Fahrenheit. It is important not to increase heat any more than that as you will destroy the volatile oils. Leave the oven door open and stand nearby because some leaves dry quite quickly.

So... We Won, eh.

I can't even begin to express my gratitude to everyone who watched the video that Mat and I worked so hard to create. We are very excited to be going to Canadian Music Week later this month. I will be taking my laptop and recording as much of our trip as I can so expect to see some videos filled with music, fun and all sorts of other antics.

I've already had tiny panics... the main thing is since I've never been on a plane before I'm not entirely sure what I am allowed to carry on. Mat has asked that I keep everything I need for the weekend condensed within a carry on so it is unfortunate that I won't be able to bring my guitar but I've heard horror stories about guitars and airlines anyway... in fact there have been songs written about them.

The main thing I have been worried about is making sure I remember my Identification. It would be a terrible thing to make the 3 hour drive to Halifax get ready to board the plane and then not have my identification. I forgot it a couple weekends ago when we went to the city and my activity was ridiculously limited. I don't leave the house very often and since I live in a small town when I do go out to watch bands play, I'm often not asked as I'm recognized by the doorman at the establishment. So, in my frantic medicine haze rush to make sure that all the loose ends were tied before I left the house, I forgot to grab my wallet. The wallet even came to my conscious mind before I left the house, but I reasoned that since Mat had the important things that there was nothing I could possibly need in that wallet... except for that important piece of identifying information that has a picture of me on it. Yup.

All panic aside, I can't express enough gratitude for everything Music Nova Scotia has done for Mat and I to enjoy this trip together.

Wordless Wednesday - Laundry Kittay... No Purr??

Disclaimer: No 'Lady the Fuzzy Fuzzard Itch A Scritch Phoenix's' were harmed by this laundry pile. It was only slightly annoyed, which is a rather regular occurrence. Please be advised: Kitty Cats that live in this home are subject to extraordinarily lengthy name evolutions.

#US and #Canada - #Win 1 of 2 Prize Packages from Gardein

 

Gardein offers a large selection of award winning meatless entrees. The entrees are vegan certified, no-GMO and made with soy grown in the US and Canada. The products contain no dairy and no eggs and it is easy to digest. That is certainly good news for those with special diets or sensitive digestive systems. The products are flavored with non-msg yeast extract and other vegetable based flavours and spices. Gardein products can be Barbequed, Baked, Microwaved or Fried and each package comes with instructions for each cooking method.

The kind folks at Gardein have offered 2 prize packages to my US and Canadian readers. The prize includes an adorable Cheat on Meat T-Shirts and 3 full product coupons to each winner. A total retail value of $30 per prize. Neat!

 

#Review - Dixie Diner's Sticky Bars from Low Carb Grocery

Over the next few months, I will be reviewing various products from a Canadian based Low Carb company called the Low Carb Grocery. The majority of which are Dixie Diner or Baker's Deluxe products. Today I am going to review 3 different Dixie Diner sticky bars that I received: The Trail Mix Sticky Bar, the Cranberry, Almond and Flax Sticky Bar and last but not least the Peanut, Caramel and Flax Sticky Bar.

Made with no added sugar, the Cranberry, Almond and Flax Sticky Bar in made with natural ingredients. It contains 3 net carbs, 2600 mg of Omegas from the Flax seeds. It is Gluten Free and completely Vegan. I must say I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of Cranberry and the size of the Almond Shavings contained in this bar. This bar was the sweetest of all the sticky bars I sampled on account of the Cranberries. None of the bars were too sweet however.

All 3 of the sticky bars that I have sampled contain natural Oligosaccharides which promote the growth of beneficial Probiotic intenstinal microflora. I simply love that each package has a reminder to enjoy your favorite beverage with this healthy fiber snack. Although tea is my favorite beverage, water is what immediately comes to mind and I certainly appreciate the reminder. While nuts are excellent at satisfying hunger, I do find that because the bars are so light that you really do need to wait before that feeling of satisfaction arises.

The Trail Mix Sticky bar is a big winner with only 2 grams of fat and 5 mg of sodium. The Peanut Caramel and Flax Sticky Bar has 4 grams of fat and 116 mg of sodium in comparison and tastes like a delicious Peanut Caramel cloud but I personally find the Trail Mix Sticky Bar a little heartier and I would easily start my day off with a Trail Mix Sticky bar and a companion piece of fruit if I were pressed for time.



Disclaimer: I received various products from the Low Carb Grocery to review over the next few months. All opinions are my honest ones and I received no other products or compensation for these posts.

#Canada - #Win a 7 day supply of CHIAlicious and more

I received a box of Chia-licious, a food-based Detox and Weight Management Program, from Naturally Nova Scotia. It comes with 7 single-serve packages of Powdered drink mix. Along with the box I was sent some information by Jeanette from Naturally Nova Scotia (who also maintains the blog called Wellness From Within) about what kind of diet would help me make the most out of this detox. Perhaps I would even find my body a little more in balanced.

Do any of you garden? At times, it may seem as simple as putting some seeds in the ground and making sure that they get enough water. While you are bound to have some successes with a new garden plot dug from an area that grows good grass, providing you get a reasonably weathered growing season. You soon discover that you have to do a little planning and often get scientific when it comes down to having the appropriate soil PH to grow different plant varieties. Our diets need the same consideration. Few of us get the recommended daily amount of water, fruits and vegetables let alone the right alkalinity of food.

Chia-licious is low carb, high in dietary fiber and contains more than 60% omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The beverage is seedy but delicious. It slightly resembles a smoothie and is filled with nutrition and vitamin C. Often I would drink the liquid and find many of the nutritious seeds left at the bottom of my cup. I found that by frequently diluting I would eventually drink all of the seeds and it increased my fluid intake.

After the second day of being on the program I noticed a dramatic increase in my energy. I also noticed that I had healthier cravings and my appetite had been reduced drastically as it was answering much of the natural cravings that my body had. While this is wonderful as an occasional supplement to detox and help manage your weight, I personally feel based on my own bodies demands that a month on this program would be very worth it. A week was a tease and if I could afford it, I would make it a regular part of my diet. In fact, my house was recently hit by that terrible sinus/conjunctivitis virus and now I find my body is craving it. I also found the extra energy I had as a result of this product very self motivating. I was exercising because I had so much energy that had to be expelled. That is definitely a good thing.

Naturally Nova Scotia has offered my readers a 7 day supply of Chia-licious as well as 4 packs of Nausea Relief to one lucky Canadian reader!

The Lead Mule: A Brief History

As I posted on Facebook yesterday, the husband and I were planning on going to Canadian Music Week. We intend on showing support to some friends of ours that are showcasing this year and hopefully have the fortune of meeting some new friendly industry faces while on our travels. The issue at hand for us is we are a low income frugal family. While we do manage our money very well it is still expensive for both of us to travel from Nova Scotia to Toronto for a weekend of concerts and gallivanting about. Having said that, it has been a terribly long time (aside from the frequent 3 hour drive to Halifax) since Mat and I have traveled anywhere together for leisure. In fact, aside from the odd camping trip, perhaps a wedding reception and definitely not counting shows in other cities... I don't have any recent memories of any leisurely travels.

The prize is a round trip ticket, hotel room and VIP passes for one. I do find it a touch strange that the prize is for one person considering most contests of this type include a guest. Having said that I am extraordinarily grateful to have this opportunity come our way. It will actually make a trip that would otherwise be too costly much more affordable for us.

Our backyard has a lot of history... Mat and I became a couple in May 2002, it was a few months before my 22nd birthday. Later that summer we had a small concert out back with about 7 bands... one of those bands was a local band called Burnt Black who had currently been disbanded. They gathered together for a reunion show. The property at the time belonged to Mat's father, it was very kind of him to allow all this beautiful chaos to occur under his watchful eye. It was easy to see that he was proud of Mat for bringing it all together.

This was the Lead Mule before it burned down. The stage is buried in the snow.

The next year we decided to make it a bigger production. A good friend of ours took care of booking the 16 bands that were advertized. It was an amazing time. We filmed it, I have copies of the show on VHS somewhere and as soon as I find them I plan on getting them digitally captured. It rained the night before and the ground was soft. We easily turned the soil beneath our feet. When the grass finally returned years later it was greener than ever before. Sadly, at this point the liability involved in holding concerts of this size to large for us to contended with our current means at the time.

The actual Lead (pronounced like the element) Mule burnt down a couple years after our last concert... so we built a temporary stage, named it the Tin Foal and had an tiny acoustic farewell tribute concert in honor of all the memories. I proudly got to play on that stage as Glitter Cinnamon. The name of our YouTube channel was also inspired by the concerts that we had at this backyard venue. It for a few years was a website with a community forum that local musicians and music lovers would frequent. Feel free to subscribe if you like!

This is the video that we made, I shot and edited it and the hubby wrote and acted in it... We did pick up a fair amount of wind on the camera so we ended up having to redo some of the audio tracks to reduce the amount of wind... so it did take a day or two longer then it should have. The contest is based on the amount of You Tube traffic we receive so if you could watch it a time and/or share it with your friends it would be so appreciated. All foul language has been censored with the exception of the "P" word.



If you enjoy this.... comment below or on YouTube and let me know... and I might show you a Lead Mule inspired meme that a friend from Yarmouth Metal after seeing this video!

Apologies, Venting and a Thank You

You may or may not have noticed a tiny debate on the Music and Mommies Facebook page. A few days ago I posted an external link to a page containing information about Bill C10 and also a video to a rant by Rick Mercer... I was met with a concerned who coincidentally is another Canadian Mom and she expressed that she agreed with the bill C10 because it was set up for child porn distributors, etc... Upon first reading this comment I felt slightly discouraged as one of the comments that Rick essentially makes (I say essentially because in this context posting it exactly would just be plain offensive and rude) is that this issue isn't that black and white, NOTHING is that black and white and Canadians don't buy it.

So at this point in time, I got upon my soap box... Why did I feel the need to defend myself? I've asked myself that question a few times.  Well quite honestly, the issues that divide the people the most are the ones that we find the most emotionally invoking. As a mother myself, I felt challenged. Tara wasn't stating that by supporting that Bill I was supporting Sex offenders and Child Porn Distributors. It certainly felt that way...

Sometimes, I vomit information, we all do at times when we deem it relevant. It happens to the best of us and often comes from the best intentions. At this time I tried to express my own observations about the actions taken by our government that are, in my opinion (and the opinion of various other Canadians), setting us backwards... costing our country more money, putting every family further in debt and creating young criminals. This is not the same as bashing our government... now don't get my wrong... there is certainly frustration behind my opinions and like with anyone else... if another persons feelings aren't on the same wavelength as the self, sometimes they can easily be misconstrued or perceived in a manner that wasn't intended by the person communicating. This is the case for everyone because our opinions are based upon our personal experiences or the experiences of the people in our lives that have shared their story with us and invoked an empathetic response. So, I can certainly understand how opposing views can create conflict, especially when it deals with faith at any level, just as it is easy to understand how I become upset when I read about what kind of decisions this government is making to effect... my Canada... your Canada... a land that belongs to all of us Canadians and why I worry so much when I think about Canada, the land of the free, being filled with prisons... a Canada that Harper envisions that has been tried with terrible consequences in various other locations.

I regret deleting her comment today on the petition link posting about unsubscribing to me in all formats... I felt personally disrespected by her comment in regards to bashing our government after i really tried hard to tiptoe around a sensitive topic in a manner that echoed respect to all walks of life... but it is impossible to try and please everyone all the time and upon rereading it I can see how it could still be misread... I make no claims to perfection... However by deleting her comment,  I was acting against my own integrity. With intent, I filtered information from every single one of you... thus modifying the experience that each of you have. Sometimes that is good, sometimes bad... but i believe that the choice of what to do with that information lays with the individual (or their legal guardian). I respect Tara's right to part ways and while i am saddened that our encounter was marked with our differences in focus, I can say that i have certainly learned a little bit about letting go from this encounter and I personally extend my arms in gratitude for reminding me how important integrity is to my personal values.

I'm just going to continue to be kind however possible and I also apologize if anyone is bothered by the odd links i post. It is simply a means to pass on information to those who might be interested, I realize that not everyone is interested in the same things I am. I want to be able to give the information without overwhelming those who are bothered by it. Please be kind as I learn how to gracefully achieve this balance. If you ever have any suggestions for me or would like to see more or less of something feel free to message me or even email.  this blog has always been a means of expression for me... sometimes I get quite deep in thought and it really bothers me when/if I offend someone... and while increasing my readership has been a focus as of late... If i continually modify and filter what i post to please everyone... then i lose the essence of the me that reflects within this entity. So instead, I plead that we love and embrace each others differences.

You know, I started hosting giveaways on this site, not with the intent of increasing my blog numbers... but to give back as I loved entering them myself. I started approaching healthy food companies because it was something that I personally value in my own life and while I don't eat everything as clean and pure as I would like, I certainly try to make better choices in my life and with awareness... in an effort to grow and constantly expand myself, just like the universe constantly expands... each of us reflects that beauty.

I post songs that I write and videos that I make because the creative arts and expression is such an important part of my life. I talk about my children and how they are indirectly teaching me things about my own growth that and my life here on this planet in ways I never could have imagined... but i don't post a lot about them because like many mothers I am concerned often in the moment scared of what an online presence can do for my child. Often, I am a very reflective individual who keeps a journal filled with my theories to life and what the world means to me. I'm a dreamer, a thinker... I am passionate and kind, I am bright and full of light, I am motivated and I am fire. Above all, I feel... I allow myself to be vulnerable...

Sometimes I get downright silly and nonsensical because laughter and creativity are important to me. Sometimes political issues hit close to home... I am raising tiny little free thinking individuals who I encourage will face their fears with an open heart, filled with love. This is the future that i am working towards creating... In many ways this blog, over time has been about healing... both internally and externally... and it has certainly grown along with me and changed as I have changed.

All and all, this simply a part of my life and I am blessed to share it with you all... thank you for reading... I am happy to meet you, privileged to know you. Thank you for staying... if you are leaving... I'm sorry to hear that, I would love you to stay but blessed to have experienced you regardless... 

In kindness and love.