Stephanie Manley's Blog

Temples On the Other Side: How Wisdom from "Beyond the Veil" Can Help You Right Now

Temples On the Other Side: How Wisdom from "Beyond the Veil" Can Help You Right Now

by Sylvia Browne

First off, let me say that the whole reason I bought a DVR was to record Sylvia Browne on the days she is on the Montel show. I find her gift extraordinary when it comes to bringing insight, and people's past come to life. I have seen the faces of many people when she has help them with her gift. I have even enjoyed several of her books, as I have reviewed them in the past. With that being said, this book was not my personal favorite.

Honestly my issues with this book mainly lie in the Judeo-Christian heritage that I have been brought up in. If you are looking for a more Judeo-Christian slant on what heaven is like, I would suggest Randy Alcorn's Heaven book. This book describes temples and a heaven that I haven't found in my past learnings. I feel that her book often describes heaven as we may want it to be in an ideal world. We all want to believe and know that we will be reunited with our past family, friends, and pets once we have gone onto the afterlife.

I found some of this material recycled from her past books, and that it did not have enough originality to make it worth me reading. Once again, I have enjoyed Sylvia Browne a great deal throughout many years, and I will continue to watch her, an pick up her books. This book simply seemed to implausible to me to enjoy the read.

Simply Irresistible: Unleash Your Inner Siren and Mesmerize Any Man, with Help from the Most Famous--and Infamous--Women in History

Simply Irresistible: Unleash Your Inner Siren and Mesmerize Any Man, with Help from the Most Famous--and Infamous--Women in History

by Ellen T. White

Once in awhile a book comes along that empowers you to feel good about yourself, and helps give you that extra nudge that you want to become the person you desire to be. What women does not want to be irresistible to the man of their choice. Through example of life story after life story this book tells many tales of a variety of different women and the power they held over the men that they were with.

You don't have to be the most attractive, the best dressed, or the best anything to hold a man captive. You simply need to promote your best qualities be it a muse, a mother figure, a companion, or even a sex kitten to really attract a man. I like that it is suggested that you really just need to agument the best qualities that you already have and use those to your advantage.

She uses many examples of a variety of different women such as Mata Hari, Queen Elizabeth II, the Duchess of Windsor, Carol Lombard to name just a few. Each of these women are unique, just as each one of are. Through reading this book you will feel that you are unique and a special person completely capable of finding and holding that special person in your life.

Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents

Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents

by Marty Essen

This book takes you on an adventure with Marty Essen and his wife has they travel the globe in search of interesting creatures. Normally this style of book is something that I would find a bit dull. After reading this book I want to join in and sit down and have a beer with Marty. He has a style of writting that is very descriptive and really brings you the reader into the scene.

You can really get the feel of what the amazon must be like adventuring through the rainforests. The way Marty describes looking for the animals is amazing. You get a wonderful sense of the sights, sounds, and feel of every place that he goes in the book. The way he describes looking for amphibians almost makes me want to join in the "herping".

The photography in this book is amazing. I would love to see a coffee table book of all of the photos that were taken. I know I was scanning through the photos to see if I could find photos of the creatures they were looking for in the book. I think anyone of any age would find this book appealing as it is about the adventure and excitement for looking for unique creatures. I would highly recommend this book to you if you were looking for something different to read.

What Your Mother Never Told You: A Teenage Girls Survival Guide

What Your Mother Never Told You: A Teenage Girls Survival Guide

by Richard Dudum

Being a teenager has to be one of the most difficult ages. You have the body and hormones of an adult and unfortunately you don't have the experience that you do when your older. I think this book is a great source as a guide to open discussion with your teenager, or younger family member.

What I liked about this book was the way the topics were grouped together. I liked that this book went through a variety of issues, such as sex and dating and did so bluntly. For example one of the best bits of advice was that teenage boys will say anything to get what they want from you physically and it was put very bluntly. Most books like to dance around the real issues.

While I may not agree with every point that is made, but I am hopeful that it will open dialogue with other teenagers or even another adult. I think this is a good book to read if you are an adult with a teenager in your life, because it may remind you of what a difficult time it was, and it may help you give better advice. If you are a teenager, I think this is a good book because it is frank and tells you like it is.

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Hidden Dangers of Soy Book by Dianne Gregg - Book Review

I must say I found this book thought provoking. I know of many different people that have a variety of food allergies. I had not known that some people had allergies to soy products. For years I have read up on health and nutrition, and never once read that soy may cause issues for some people. If you do have food allergies or experience any food allergy related symptoms this book may be worth reading.

While Dianne Gregg may not be a medical authority she has real life experience, and was willing to investigate what caused her food allergy. Her issue was soy and soy products. I am certain she isn't the only one. I think some of the most interesting topics she raised were the fact that soy is touted as being completely healthy without always having quantitative values on the health benefits. Another topic she brings up is that large industritial farming does not always keep the consumer in mind, it is about large business.

I liked that she did a good job of talking about where soy can be found. It seems much like salt, it can linger just about anywhere. I had never realized that soy was in things like breads, MSG, seasoned salt, frozen dinners, margarine, ice cream, and other baked goods. She gives many great ideas about being aggressive about what you put into your body.

While this book isn't written by a medical authority it is written by someone who has experienced ill effects by eating soy products. You or someone you know may have the same problems. Many people are not bothered by peanuts, but those who are, can experience extreme problems with them. I think this book brings up many great suggestions in dealing with this, and I liked the added touch of including many recipes that you can make and not be worried about any allergic effect.

Worms Worms Worms week 3

So my happy worm ranch has been going now for two weeks.  I must say I really have been enjoying the worm farm.  I had done vermiculture in a plastic tub, which worked perfectly well, but think it will be easier to keep the castings and the food supply somewhat seperate.  I have added the second tray.  I have filled it with shredded newspapers, lint from the dryer, and old leaves that I have found in the yard.

The worms are both in the bottom layer where their food is, and busily mulling around in the second later were more of the fiberous material is.  I have been feeding them coffee grounds, kitchen scraps such as onion pieces, slices of cucumber, avocado peals, and other random vegetable wastes from the kitchen.  I am happy that the farm seems moist but not too dry.  I haven't added any water to this, except when I dampened the yard waste to add it into the bin. 

I do not think it is going to be a month before I can harvest castings from the bottom tray, I actually think it is going to be much longer as while they are decomposing the waste fairly well, I do not see a bunch of castings on the bottom layer at this point.  I will stop adding food to the bottom tray at the end of May though.  I figure by then, they will have decomposed enough of the next layer that I can add the third tray into the system.

Time Heals All

You know I didn't realize it had been almost a year since the last posting. I have gotten a lot of compliments and comments on the topic of life with a narcissistic person. It has been almost three years since my relationship with this type of person, and I promise to each and everyone of you life goes on. I also understand the pain that many of you express in your comments and emails.

I can honestly say that my relationship with my narcissist was one in which I had many high points, and their were many, many low points. This came home recently when planning a vacation with friends to a place I had been with this particular person. Now I have been back to this vacation spot with other people but there are some moments with that person that have turned into a chuckle now. Did I ever think that would happen? No.

Honestly the turning point in my relationship with that person came from reading about personality disorders and journaling. I journaled every day that I could to track what was going on, what was being said. I also kept all emails and instant message conversations as well. These were important, because I could see in black and white what was being said, and then later just show that person what was being said. This helped me to realize this relationship was not healthly.

My next plan of action was reading up on this disorder, and realizing that you can not make this person better. Any efforts in doing to are completely wasted. In most normal relationships where people care about each other if you tell someone something is bothering them, they are likely to work on things with you. Think about it, would a person that you are involved with said hey stop stepping on my toe it hurts, and you replied no, I want to step where I wanted to. What would the other person think, they would think man, I am not going to continue to be around that person if they are always stepping on my toe. Your relationship with a significant other shouldn't be any different.

Once I realized I couldn't make this person any better, I began to cut my contact with them. It was difficult as he could be as charming as anyone. They have to be, they have nothing else to offer to anyone. The darn thing about it is they have had a lifetime to perfect their charm, and man, they have it. You have to cut yourself off from that person, and not pay them any attention. My particular relationship finally ended after being stalked, harassed by him, and others, when I got the police involved. If necessary I recommend law enforcement.

Then came the healing. It has been a long journey. I have continually tried equipping myself with good knowledge about relationships, and surrounding myself with healthy people. I promise you will eventually get to the point where you don't think about this person constantly. I promise that eventually you can chuckle about the weird things that happened in the relationship, and you will move on.

Vermiculture

I am starting up another Vermiculture habitat, or as some might say I just adopted 10,000 pets.  I am raising red wigglers, they are the best worms you can use for vermiculture.  To put this simply, you can use household waste and turn it into wonderfully rich fertilizer for your plants and garden.  Which I will be using this for later.  Worms can eat multiple waste products that any normal house produces, you can feed the worms shredded newspapers, coffee grounds, coffee filters, vegetable scraps and in moderation yard waste.

This time I stated off with the 5 layer system known as the worm factory.  This has five different layers, which helps when you want to harvest the fertilizer also known as castings.  I have done this before in just a plastic tub which makes it more difficult to harvest the castings.  I started out with 2 lbs of red wigglers.  The worm farm came with coconut husk bedding and some shredded newspapper.   I wet everything down until it was very damp.  A couple of days later my worms came in.  I ordered my supplies from the Happy D Ranch, and they were very helpful and even helped me to price out what I wanted better than my initial order.

I placed the worms into their prepared bed, and set in there a few pieces of food scraps, some used single serve coffee filters, some dried bread, and a left over cheese danish.  I then covered this area with dampened newspaper.  I have had them in their new system for about a week now, I have added a few more bits of food such as cut up veggies, and vegetable peels.  It appears for now they are getting used to their new environment, and it may be awhile before they are in full swing production. 

Worms are relatively easy to keep, you don't want to over feed or over water them.  If your system is in balance they don't smell.  Yes, you can use these worms for fishing, and they make great fertilizers for your plants and gardens, all by munching on your household scraps.

You Can Make Anything with Peanut Butter

You can make anything with peanut butter

Peanut butter, isn't just a childhood favorite.  You can use peanut butter to make many different types of dishes.  Peanut butter can be used in desserts as well as savory dishes.  We are going to look at a few different and creative ways you can use peanut butter at any meal. One of the most creative ways, and yes, tasty is from Becky's Diner, in her peanut butter and bacon sandwhich.  Now Becky uses a natural style of peanut butter, this is a smooth peanut butter where you have to stir in the oil before serving.  She also recommends baking the bacon in the oven to the bacon isn't saturated with grease.  This sandwhich may sound unusual, but it is simply hearty bread, peanut butter, and bacon. Click here for recipe Planet Hollywood Chicken Thai Pasta - The Planet Hollywood may not be around quite as much as they used to, but here is another way to serve up pasta, peanut butter and shrimp.  This meal goes very well with a light salad. Click here for recipe California Pizza Kitchen Thai Chicken Pizza - The Californa Pizza Kitchen has always been known for inovative pizza.  One of the key ingredients in Thai Chicken Pizza believe it or not is peanut butter.  You can use your favorite pizza dough on this one, or you may want to use a refrigerated dough in order to save time. Click here for recipe Afternoon Delight Peanut Butter Pie - This is one of our classic dishes on the website. This is similar to what many other restaruants serve.  Cream cheese, half and half, and whipping cream make this a very rich treat for all. Click here for recipe As you can see you can use peanut butter in many different ways.  Peanut butter isn't just for kids, it is a real ingredient that can be used in many different ways.  Peanut butter can be sweet or even savory.  So next time you think about peanut butter, think about the different and creative ways you can use peanut butter.

Don't Let Holiday Cooking Get You Down!

Don’t let the holiday cooking get you down!   With some preplanning, and cooking ahead of time you can cook many holiday meals without all of the stress that you might otherwise have.   No one is a super human that can whisk out a 5 course meal after they have gone to work, but you can utilize cooking head of time, and ease the work you need to put into any given meal, yes, even those special ones you spend with your friends and family.  Many dishes can be cooked ahead of time, and many dishes taste better when reheated.  Be sure to keep ideas like soups, and stews in mind when planning out special meals.  Crock pots are also a good way to save on cooking time. Keep ideas for pot roast or other types of slow cooking meats in mind for holiday meals.  Consider making ahead casserole dishes, like a potato casserole in mind, because you can easily cut out a whole cooking step.  Consider a pasta dish like spaghetti with sauce that you can make ahead of time.  You have lots of options. Consider using appetizers such as pickled stuffed jalapenos to buy yourself more time when cooking during the meal.  You will have time don’t need to feel as rushed if your guests have time to munch on something you have made ahead of time.  If you don’t have time to make something open up some nuts, or a couple of nice cheese and crackers, and you can finish up your meal at a much relaxed pace. Another thing you can do is to plan ahead.  Be sure to plan out your meal, and shop ahead of time.  Do not leave something like this to the last minute.  Consider going to the store during non peak hours, for example after dinner is a great time to go to the grocery store, it is less crowded, or going early in the morning is also another terrific option to save time in a busy store.   Read over your recipes ahead of time, and make sure you have everything on hand.  While making a list ahead of time may seem simple, I know all of us have accidentally forgotten a key ingredient at the last minute. You can easily see that through shopping during non conventional times will have you sailing through the grocery store when it isn’t so busy, and it is much less of a hassle.  You can plan ahead, and not realize you are out of milk at the last minute.  Plan to include one or two dishes that can be made ahead of time, and could be reheated at the last minute.  This way you aren’t too busy to enjoy the evening.  Consider an appetizer that your guests can enjoy while you are finishing up the meal.  You can make your holidays less stressful and easier for yourself so you entertain and have a great holiday occasion.