CFSCC presents: EAT THIS!: Baked Rosemary Chicken Thighs & Sweet Potatoes

I'm trying this recipe tonight minus the sweet potatoes.  It will be paired with some fresh collard greens and rice with some butter rolls on the side.  Dessert will be peach cobbler and homemade eggnog ice cream (purchased from Miller Farms).

CFSCC presents: EAT THIS!: Baked Rosemary Chicken Thighs & Sweet Potatoes: This was so simple and yet so delicious. The chicken just fell off the bone and the potatoes were so herby and crispy. I truly recommend usi...

What are you having for dinner tonight?

The 10-Minute Manicure: imPRESS Press On Manicure

 From this.....................................To this!

BEFORE

AFTER

Once again I've had the pleasure of trying out the imPRESS Press On Manicure nails through the complimentary Influenster Vox Box program.  Here is a video of me fitting and applying the nails to my hands.  While the video is just over 12 minutes this manicure can be done in 10-minutes or less (videoing adds a little time to the process). 

Although I received this set of press-on nails free from Influenster I have purchased other sets personally also.  The only thing I would like to see changed about this product is for them to come in longer lengths.

Have you tried these yet?

If you're like me and can't keep polish on your nails I suggest you give these a try.  These even survived me eating crabs today so they are very durable.

***********************************************************************************

Information from the product page:

imPRESS Press-On Manicure

This changes everything!

Introducing imPress Press-On Manicure by Broadway Nails, the revolutionary way to apply polish! Featuring advanced nail technology, you can get a salon-perfect manicure in seconds – simply peel off, press on, and you're done. There's no drying, a killer shine and a manicure that lasts up to a week! And, imPress is so easy to remove, you can change it up to match your mood as often as you want. Check out all 36 colors and patterns, including trendy brights, classic darks and animal prints. With imPress, your nails will always be your best accessory.

Where to Buy

You can find imPress Manicure at CVS, Rite Aid, Duane Reade, KMart, Walgreens, Walmart and more. For a full list of online and in-store retailers, visit imPressManicure.com, where you can download an exclusive coupon and virtually try on all the colors and patterns!

Suggested retail price: $5.99 for colors and $7.99 for patterns

Audiobooks: Are they really the same as reading?

Back in January I wrote the post "Reading Goal": Do Audiobooks Count?  Today I found this article from the Chicago Tribune that speaks on the subject as well and thought I'd share it.

Audiobooks: Are they really the same as reading?

I'm seriously considering re-signing up for an Audible.com account because I really enjoyed it. 

Do you have any audiobooks to recommend?

Do you have a favorite narrator?

The Resurrection/Easter Story in Videos

Today is the day the world celebrates "Easter", but is more appropriately titled----->>>>

Hear the story of Jesus' resurrection.

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From: http://www.youtube.com/user/jwnetlive?feature=watch 

********************** 

 What's Easter?  Why does it matter?

 

*********************

  

From: http://www.youtube.com/user/ChipsandSalsaStudios/videos

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I am thankful for my Lord and Savior dying for ME and YOU and forever grateful that He ROSE with all power in His hands!

REVIEW: Venus & Olay Razor

Below is a video review of the Gillette Venus & Olay Razor I received compliments of the Influenster VoxBox program.  This was included in the Love VoxBox, which  was received near the end of February.

Google Reader: I'm addicted

I know Google Reader has been around for like FOREVER, but I've just recently begun using it on a daily basis to keep up with the ton of blogs I'm following. 

You know you are addicted to blog reading when you choose to do that over watching TV and/or you browse blogs while watching TV and have to pause the TV show to read a particularly good post.  Yes, I do that.  :-)

Still being fairly new to the blog world I was frustrated with how to best keep up with blogs I was following.  I used to go to my dashboard and click on individual blogs that were at the top of my list since those had the most recent updates.  That was too time consuming and didn't allow me to get through most of the updates. 

One day I happened to notice the "View in Google Reader" link and WHA-LA! My eyes were opened to a whole new method for tracking, reading and even sharing blogs with others.  I'm not sure if reading blogs in this manner allows the bloggers to know their blog has been read by recording it as a "page view" though.  So on post that are particularly interesting to me I will click on them and go to the actual page so that it's counted and oftentimes, those are the ones I leave comments on.  Hmmm...if only Google Reader would add "Leave a Comment" to the main reader page would be awesome!!!  

How do you track the blogs you are following?

Saturday House Cleaning :-(

Really!  Who LIKES to clean house on Saturday's.  Any day for that matter!

Like most people I enjoy having a clean house, but hate making the time to clean it.  Of particular annoyance to me is the dust accumulation on my hard wood and manufactured wood floors.  Typically I sweep the floor and within a short time the floors are dusty again.  

Today I thought about the fact that dust particles are sent airborne when you sweep and those particles end up back on the floor.  So, I said to myself "I need to do something different to keep the dust from flying".  It dawned on me that I should try spraying Endust on the bottom of the broom to keep the dust particles from going airborne.  IT WORKED LIKE A CHARM!  I will now instruct my family members to do the same.

After I was done I decided to do some internet searching to see what other "dusty floor" sweeping tips I could find and in particular to see if anyone else was doing the same as I had just done.  And of course I did!  I think I may have done this before, but forgotten about it.  Hopefully I'll remember from now on.

Today I don't have too many outside events/activities to attend so my goal is to get more house cleaning done in between reading three chapters for my class.

#1 Cleaning Tip

 

Delegate Cleaning Tasks: Why We LOVE Having Families!

Wordless Wednesday: Only the Word of God can do this

I would love to give credit to the creator of this image. If that is you, please contact me.

I received my 21-Day Challenge Badge!

I'm so excited to have completed this Bible reading challenge by YouVersion.  It's one thing to say you are GOING to do something, but its a WONDERFUL feeling when you actually COMPLETE it.  Here's the badge I received for it.

Of course there was an incentive to complete this; an iPad or Kindle Fire could be won.   However, even if I don't win one of those items I'm still a WINNER.  Statistics indicate that it takes 21-days to make something a habit in your life.

This is a HABIT worth having!

MM #3: Fred Hammond

Music Monday

It's Music Monday and I want to spotlight Fred Hammond. Today I'm listening to Fred Hammond's latest project "God, Love, Romance". 

Fred released this project in January, 2012 with much praise and a healthy dose of critics.  I'm still in the process of listening to the entire 2-cd project which is a change from his normal heavy hitting praise and worship based projects.  This project is focused on the love between not only God and man, but between a man and a women, which is natural, right?  So why all the fuss over this project by the "saints"?

Take a listen to what Fred Hammond has to say about it, keeping it all the way real.

Have you read from the Song of Solomon?  

As Fred stated in his interview, let's  not leave out a book that God clearly felt it important enough to include in the Word of God.

Life A Bit Sweeter: Family: Shelly and John

Family memories in the making! I so love my family members and wish we got together more frequently, but it's moments like the one described in this post that will be forever etched in our hearts.

The linked story is about an impromptu family get-together at a basketball game just to show our love for one another. Check it out!

Life A Bit Sweeter: Family: Shelly and John

How do you create family memories?

Review: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Ann Jacobs

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I started this book very impressed! Thinking to myself, what an amazing story that this former slave girl was able to teach herself to read and write, or at least that's what I assumed, and ultimately to write this story of her life. I don't recall specific details in the actual book telling us how she actually learned yet she tells of many instances of her receiving notes from her master who was a Doctor. Initially, she hid the fact that she could read from the master by pretending to not know what his note said when he would ask her why she didn't respond.

I was further impressed with how she somehow seemed to maintain her physical 'innocence' to this slave master who clearly was longing to be intimate with her. As these stories continued about how she found ways to avoid his advances I started to wonder if this story was really true. In slave times it was not uncommon for the masters to have sex with the slaves against their will so I found it rather strange that this master was being so "endearing" towards her even in spite of her sassy mouth. Speaking of which, this was another thing I struggled to believe. A sassy mouth was sure to land the slave a severe whipping, but not in this story.

The preface of the book goes on to state that the book did not receive the usual editing in order to maintain an authentic feel and read from the slave girls perspective. However, as I got further and further into the book I again found myself not believing a real slave wrote the book. The one thing that increased this disbelief was when the author stated that if she had a copy of a particular letter she would have included it in the book for the readers to see. However, there are many very detailed quotes from letters that were written, which made me think...out of all these letters that are being quoted you mean to tell me that not ONE letter was preserved to be offered as proof? I highly doubt that. But hey...that's just me, perhaps.

It took me some time to get through this book as I found myself skipping 2-3 days between reading it because it began to be more and more unbelievable, thus it was boring me. I really hate to write this review because I wanted to believe the story, but in the end I just don't.



View all my reviews

A Timely & Unplanned Tribute to Whitney Houston on GLEE

For those that don't watch GLEE here's a tribute done just days after the passing of Whitney Houston that surprisingly wasn't planned, yet perfectly timed.  Amber Riley did an AWESOME job.

We'll Always Remember

&

Love You Whitney!

Adventures in the Wonderland of my Mind: PCOS: The Other Reason I Went Natural, Part 1

Very interesting so far. I can't wait to read the rest of her story. Check it out, you may learn something about Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

Note to the author: You are beautiful inside and out!

Adventures in the Wonderland of my Mind: PCOS: The Other Reason I Went Natural, Part 1: This is a blog entry is from my blog at Nappturality.com. I wanted to post it here hoping that women would be encouraged or at least feel a ...

Black History Month: Reading

In honor of Black History Month this year as part of my reading goal I will focus on reading books by and/or about African Americans of a historic nature.  Here are the books I currently have on my "Black History" to-read list on Goodreads.com.

Cateyesmd's bookshelf: black-history

Bicycles

by Nikki Giovanni

tagged: to-read and black-history

The Souls of Black Folk

by W.E.B. DuBois

tagged: to-read and black-history

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man

by James Weldon, 1871-1938 Johnson

tagged: to-read and black-history

Up from Slavery: an autobiography

by Booker T. Washington

tagged: to-read and black-history

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

by Harriet Ann Jacobs

tagged: to-read and black-history

Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present

by Harriet A. Washington

tagged: to-read and black-history

Today I started on Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and so far I'm really enjoying it.  It is actually written by the slave girl and apparently was not not heavily edited for grammar in order to keep the true first person writing style from an uneducated slaves perspective.  The surprise is that, while I'm only about 25% into the book the writing of this "uneducated" slave girl is very well done considering the time period it was written.  I'm really looking for to finishing this book and sharing my full review with you.

Next up on my list will be Medical Apartheid.  I anticipate that due to the length and what I assume will be some really technical writing I will read this book while reading others through the month.

I anticipate 4 books being my limit for the month and even though I have more than four on my list now I would love to hear your suggestions for some great reading pleasure.  Leave our recommendation in the comments section.  Thanks and stay tuned for my review of Same Kind of Different as Me!

Wordless Wednesday 2-1-12

Review: Sex in the Sanctuary

Sex in the Sanctuary by Lutishia Lovely

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



A whirlwind of emotions throughout this book! The author really nailed it in this book when it comes to "reality" as it relates to singleness and the desire to be married at almost any cost and the attack of the enemy on men called to do the work of the Lord and how it affects their families. Infidelity is difficult to deal with from any standpoint, but when it happens in the First Family its magnified even the more.

In this story you will journey along and share in the emotional rollercoaster one first lady has in dealing with her husbands infidelity, a saved single women who is so sure she has heard the voice of God that she does the "unthinkable", a saved single man who is trusting God for His best for him and doesn't surrender to his flesh and a mirade of characters in between.

The language to me was at bit on the extreme for "contemporary Christian" fiction. It's raw, but real so if you can get past that as I did you will enjoy this story and feel that it is something that you could see played out in almost any church, BUT for God! This is how I felt until just before the very end when I was like "Why did she mess it up by putting this in the book!", LOL. The ending will having you cracking up in utter disbelief about what one character did, but you will feel sorry for her too.

If not for the lanquage and one too many steamy sex scenes I would have given this 5 stars





View all my reviews

Paying It Forward Pt. 2: I was a recipient, WOW

I had planned to do a Part 2 to the Paying It Forward post I did on on January 9th and share with you ways I pay it forward that weren't listed in my first post.  However I wasn't expecting to be the recipient of such measure.

At 1:05 PM I TWEETED that I had just put a book on my Kindle Love Wish List.

I just wished for: 'Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans... via @amazon amazon.com/wishlist/KIJMG…
— CateyesMD (@cateyesmd) January 23, 2012

I was sharing that information as a means of sharing the title of the book with others.

At 1:13 PM I received an email from Amazon indicating I had received a gift from one of my friends who had obviously seen the TWEET.


AT 1:19 PM I then TWEETED the following:

Touched! TY "Friend" 4 this GIFT: 'Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans amazon.com/dp/B0010SEOYE/…
— CateyesMD (@cateyesmd) January 23, 2012

Of course I sent a personal thank you as well, but wanted to share with others that in this day and time, there are still very nice people around who believe in Paying It Forward.  My "Friend", who holds a public office in the District of Columbia has certainly secured a donation to their next run for public office, should they choose to run again.  Not that that was the intent, but that's how this process works  :-).
Seriously though, I was truly touched at their generosity and can only imagine the feeling it gave me is shared multiple times over when I donate BLOOD and/or PLATELETS through the American Red Cross.  I have been donating blood for many years and platelets for about the last 2-3 years.

You may be asking yourself the following 2 questions now:
(answers from http://www.psbc.org/programs/platelets.htm)

Who Needs Platelets?
Many lifesaving medical treatments require platelet transfusions. Cancer patients, those receiving organ or bone marrow transplants, victims of traumatic injuries, and patients undergoing open heart surgery require platelet transfusions to survive.

Because platelets can be stored for only five days, the need for platelet donations is vast and continuous.

Platelet transfusions are needed each year by thousands of patients like these:

• Heart Surgery Patient, 6 units
• Burn Patient, 20 units
• Organ Transplant Patient, 30 units
• Bone Marrow Transplant Patient, 120 units

Who Can be an Apheresis Donor?
If you meet the requirements for donating blood, you probably can give platelets. Apheresis donors must:

• be at least 18 years old
• be in good health
• weigh at least 110 pounds
• not have taken aspirin or products containing aspirin 48 hours prior to donation.

IMAGINE THIS!

If you began donating blood at age 17 and donated every 56 days until you reached 76, you would have donated 48 gallons of blood, potentially helping save more than 1,000 lives!

How many lives are you willing to save?

Sew Saturday 1.21.12

Today's Sew Satuday is specifically for those interested in learning and/or improving their sewing skills.

Several years ago I recall coming across this site and found it extremely useful.  The site is sewing.org.  Their SEW-lutions Guidelines are easy to read PDF's that you can download and make your own guide book by storing them in a binder.  The guides cover very basic sewing information including tools needed and progress to more complicated information such as installing invisible zippers.

 Check out the site and learn a new SEW-lution!

Review: Kindred

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I read this book over a 2-day period while on vacation and was drawn in from the very beginning. I'm not a sci-fi reader, but this was extremely good without the "science". I thought it was very cleaver to basically end the book where it started off. The Reader's Guide (Critical Essay) was very helpful in understanding the mindset of the Author and gives great insight into the actual time period that the main character time-traveled to. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading books set in slavery times. If you can't stomach slave stories I would stay away because it is very graphic in that sense.



View all my reviews

Book Review: Water for Elephants

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Just a quick snippet until my full review...

I started this book and quickly began to wonder if I was going to enjoy it. It wasn't until I was about half-way through the book that the yearning to complete the book and find out how it ends finally developed in me. At this point I couldn't wait until I could read(listen) more without distraction.

I used my Kindle "Text to Speech" feature to listen to the majority of this book, but would occasionally stop to read and/or reread some sections that I had gotten distracted on. I'm actually toying with the idea to read this book through a second time.

I really enjoyed how it ended and was surprised at the end because you have an expectation of how it's supposed to end and then you see that what your THOUGHT happened...well read it! :-) 

So, It's just January and I've got two (2) books completed towards my reading goal for the year so far.  I'm currently reading the third book: "Same Kind of Different As Me: A Modern-Day Slave, and International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together" by Ron Hall, Denver Moore and Lynn Vincent (Collaborator). Whew...that's a mouthful!  I hope to complete this book before the end of the month so stay tuned for that review.  You can see more of my 2012 planned reading in my "Reading Goal": Do Audiobooks count? post.

What are you reading?

Top Ten Tuesday: Music Artists

OK, so since I goofed and posted a Music Monday on a Tuesday I think it's fitting I post my most recent Top 10 Music Artists as my "Top Ten Tuesday" post.  They are listed in no particular order, just as they come to mind.  These are the artist I've been listening to most frequently lately.

My Top Ten recent Artist:

1. CeCe Winans
2. Leah Smith:  CD "Beautifully Made" can be purchased on iTunes
3. Ameen Butler:  CD "Vertical Relationship" can be found on CD Baby
4. Ben Tankard
5. Donnie McClurkin
6. Marvin Winans 
7.  Francesca Battistelli
8. Israel & New Breed 
9. Angella Christie 
10.  Casting Crowns 

For those that don't know me personally, I'm sure you noticed that this list doesn't include any R&B, Hip Hop, etc. artists.  I do not listen to such artists in my personal leisure time, though I am familiar with such artists and their work through TV, movies and publicly played music when I'm out and about.

I made a conscience decision to cease listening to "secular" artists when I was about 16 years old, which is when I fully committed my life to serving my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  I don't judge others who do, it's just not my choice.  There's actually a story behind when I realized that type music wasn't doing anything to edify my soul, but that may or may not be another post. :-)

MM #2: Donnie McClurkin

Music Monday

It's Music Monday and I want to spotlight Donnie McClurkin. One of my very favorite gospel artists.  I've been a huge fan of Donnie's since his very first self titled project.  His voice is unique and he has the ability to escort you, through praise and worship, into the very presence of God.


While I love many practically all of his songs, the following song in particular always puts a spring in my step and joy in my heart. 

"Days of Elijah"

These are the days of Elijah
Declaring the Word of the Lord, yes
And these are the days of his servant, Moses
Righteousness being restored
And these are the days of great trial
Of famine and darkness and sword
So we are the voice in the desert crying
Prepare ye the way of the Lord


CHORUS:
Behold he comes
Riding on a cloud
Shining like the sun
At the trumpet's call
Lift your voice
It's the year of jubilee
And out of Zion's hill salvation comes


And these are the days of Ezekiel
With dry bones becoming as flesh
And these are the days of his servant, David
Building the temple of praise, yes
And these are the days of the harvest
The fields are all white in the world
And we are the laborers that are in your vineyard
declaring the word of the Lord


CHORUS 2X
Behold he comes
Riding on a cloud
Shining like the sun
At the trumpet's call
Lift your voice
It's the year of jubilee
And out of Zion's hill salvation comes


There's no God like Jehovah (x8--modulate)
There's no God like Jehovah (x8--modulate)
There's no God like Jehovah (x7)


CHORUS X2

These are the days of Elijah
Declaring the Word of the Lord, yes
And these are the days of his servant, Moses
Righteousness being restored
And these are the days of great trial
Of famine and darkness and sword
So we are the voice in the desert crying
Prepare ye the way of the Lord


CHORUS:
Behold he comes
Riding on a cloud
Shining like the sun
At the trumpet's call
Lift your voice
It's the year of jubilee
And out of Zion's hill salvation comes


And these are the days of Ezekiel
With dry bones becoming as flesh
And these are the days of his servant, David
Building the temple of praise, yes
And these are the days of the harvest
The fields are all white in the world
And we are the laborers that are in your vineyard
declaring the word of the Lord


CHORUS 2X
Behold he comes
Riding on a cloud
Shining like the sun
At the trumpet's call
Lift your voice
It's the year of jubilee
And out of Zion's hill salvation comes


There's no God like Jehovah (x8--modulate)
There's no God like Jehovah (x8--modulate)
There's no God like Jehovah (x7)


CHORUS X2

Reference:  http://www.lyricsmania.com/days_of_elijah_lyrics_donnie_mcclurkin.htm

GIVEAWAY WINNER

From time to time I'll enter Give-A-Ways for items I'm really interested in.  However, I have to admit that I don't expect to win because I hadn't to date.  Don't get me wrong, I win a lot at games and/or live drawings sometimes, but I've never won an online giveaway.

Today when I got up I was checking my email accounts and my eyes were drawn to a particular email in my JUNK EMAIL account.  Yes, I have an account that I call my junk email account that I usually use when registering for online accounts, newsletters, and even giveaways.  I do check it periodically, but most times the emails aren't important enough for me to open.

That email was titled "Giveaway Winner".  My first thought was, it's junk, but when I opened it, it said: "Congratulations! You are the winner of the My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software giveaway on Amelioration!..."

"Amelioration...I remember that name...OMGosh, I really won something!"

Here is another Blogger, who like myself, blogs about her personal interests under the blog name Amelioration.  One of her interests happens to be scrapbooking.  I've been wanting to get involved in digital scrapbooking, but hadn't purchased any software yet.  But thanks to this GIVEAWAY, I'm now a very happy owner of the My Memories Suite, digital scrapbooking software.  I'm sure once I learn the software you'll be seeing some of my work here on the blog.

Thank You Amelioration for making this day an even greater day!

So, I would have to say I'm a believer now.

I believe I too can win online giveaways.  

Guess what?

So can you!

Enter my giveaway HERE.