Irishcolleen

I'm more concerned with what happens after the food is harvested. I have a friend who is a chemist who works in food processing. They add so many ingredients to foods it is crazy! They add chemicals to change the texture and taste to make people crave more of it. If you use any processed foods you are eating some strange stuff, I am convinced the best diet would be for me to have my friend tell me what the chemicals are and what they are used for in every food I eat.

We just ask our youth group kids to clean up. They do. Make sure garbage cans are handy before the activity. They are more likely to use them if they can see them. If you are doing games you can always have the losing team vacuum. Have built in clean up times between each stage of the activity. For instance, if you have an activity with sports equipment, have them put the equipment away before snacks. After snacks have a cleanup before closing prayer, etc...

The most important advice I can give you is to give yourself permission to love your baby. I used to work with teen parents and saw that many times in an unplanned pregnancy women would feel that if they expressed love for the baby before he/she was born that others would think she tried to get pregnant. Women with religious backgrounds had difficulty seeing that loving their baby didn't mean they were unrepentant for the sex outside of marriage. Fornication is a sin, but being pregnant is not sin. Your options are adoption or raising your child alone. Even if you don't marry, the baby should still have the father in his/her life. Children raised without a father have a greater risk of dropping out of school, being imprisoned, becoming teen parents, living in poverty, etc... It is hard work raising a child in typical circumstances and even more difficult as a single parent. Adoption can bless another couple, but you will deeply grieve the loss of your baby and sometimes adopted children (sometimes, not always) wonder if they were unlovable or if their mothers didn't love them enough to keep them. Please get counsel from a reputable counseling center. Some agencies that provide adoption tend to push adoption through emotionally coercive means. Try to find a pro-life agency that will walk you through the decision process in an unbiased way. http://pregnancydecisionline.org/ will refer you do a crisis pregnancy center. God does love you! Through the Bible we see that Christ had a very special love for women in difficult situations like this. May I encourage you to read through Mark and John? This will bring you a ton of peace,

I think we get the picture. As others have said workout. Run. Get on an elliptical machine. Swim. Take cold showers. Lift weights. Go rock climbing. Keep your mind occupied- read, draw, crochet, read your scriptures. Don't focus on what you can't have; focus on what you can have.

This is probably the best advice. Thank you so much! I needed to be reminded that she will find her own way and her own husband. I will do my best to play it cool.

I think his parents paid for the air fare because they know the kids are both dirt poor college students. Neither one of them would be there without scholarships. I don't know if the parents are well off. I know the dad has a construction company the boy has worked with through high school. I don't think they are rolling in money because the mom had to go back to work before the kids were grown. I have a feeling the tickets were a big sacrifice.

She had better finish school first. I am sure she will. Both she and her guy are very dedicated and studious.

I asked. She said, and I directly quote, "Well, we've always taken dating seriously...never taken it lightly." Whatever that means...

My daughter is away at college several states away. A year and a half ago she started dating a young man who is also a student and the same age as she is. He will be staying with us before he heads out to his internship which is just the next state over. Our daughter will then go to her internship back near her school. When their internships are over in August they are going to fly out to visit his parents, who live clear across the country, before they go back to school. His family bought the tickets. Because they are getting the parents involved does this mean they are getting serious?

I have learned the hard way to just let my stylist take care of my roots. Instead of using the root cover ups made by the hair color companies you can get this: http://www.sallybeauty.com/haircolor-touch-up/CLSTEV33,default,pd.html#q=root&sz=60&start=33 Just style your hair and only cover the roots where they are obvious. It will wash out in the next shampoo. The other thing you can do is to get your hair highlighted. I get regular color touched up every 6 weeks and highlights every 18 weeks. The highlights make the roots less noticeable. Also, a haircut with more volume on top helps make the roots less noticeable. We grey early in our family. I've had to color my hair since I was 25. So, I've had a lot of experience!

Regular routines are important to children. They help them feel secure. Also, kids should be given age appropriate information. Sometimes when adults hide information they imagine things are far worse than they are. My son witnessed my father having a grand mal seizure. He had always been Gpa's buddy, but after the seizure he stopped going near him. We finally found out that he was afraid of catching what his Gpa had. When we gave him correct, age appropriate info he was back in gpa's arms. Many cancer treatment centers offer counseling and/or support groups for families. They can be a great resource for educating even small children about cancer and for helping parents dealing with cancer. If your oncologist hasn't given a referral for support services like this ask him to do so. Your family will be in our prayers,

I don't care what people wear to church. But, when we go to the Lyric Opera, the CSO and live theater in Chicago I am appalled to see people dress sloppily in those places. A person can go to a resale shop and buy a dress for a couple dollars. For the same price a guy can buy a used dress shirt, pants and tie. A person can also borrow proper attire for occasions like that from friends.

WIne is overrated. Beer is gross. There is no point to hard liquor except to get drunk. I guess, aside for the occasional recipe, there is no reason to consume alcohol. Most recipes with wine are just fine if you substitute wine vinegar, apple juice, or broth for the wine.

I am quite happy and content. This doesn't mean my life is perfect. It just means I feel truly blessed by all God has done for me and given me. We aren't rich. Our home is small. Our cars are old. I am frequently sick, thanks to lupus. But, I have a husband who loves me, wonderful children (two grown, one almost grown) a darling doggy, good friends, peace in our home and most of all the complete assurance of God's love for me as an individual.

They should be able to run a partial plate with the car type. This happened to us with a truck once. WHen we got to the next toll booth they held him at the toll booth and the state police were there with him. It is very scary! I'm glad you are OK!

This is one of those situation where a the old wisdom of the basic black dress can help. People probably won't be able to change the older ladies' attitudes. But, they will be dead or wearing diapers at some point, so the issue of dress won't be permanent. Until then just wear a classic little basic black dress. I still feel every woman should have one in their closet. They are practical and can be worn in almost any situation.

We had a problem getting our oldest daughter to sleep in her bed. We were exhausted and out of options. We had tried everything. One night she came into our room (she was almost 3) and I just felt like groaning. Then I had a burst of inspiration. I told her that Daddy was going to fart really loud and it was going to smell. I also told her that after Daddy farted we would start picking each other's noses. She looked at me like we were crazy, turned around and went back to her own bed. She never slept with us again. It was a gross thing to say, but it worked.

I agree with everyone that mentioned gratitude. Make a list of things you are thankful for and thank God for them. Whenever a negative thought pops into your mind replace it with a positive one. I believe that happiness is a choice. This verse helps: "...for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. " Phil. 4:11-13 This verse can apply to many situations. When you have a long work week you lack time and energy for other things. God can teach you to be content even when you lack these things. His grace is sufficent!

It is important to know the best time to bring food as well as what type of food. My husband gets home later than many guys do- about 6:30pm, so when we were brought food after my surgery in December I preferred things that I could heat up instead of things brought to the house already warm at 5:00pm. When I bring food I always ask the recipient if they prefer something they can heat up or something fully cooked. I also ask about food allergies, etc.... Another thing we do at our church is to have people bring 2 meals worth of food. That way we can provide meals for a longer period of time; so a new mom, for instance, recieves meals for two weeks instead of one- or longer if need be.

My hubby has the sexiest beard imaginable. It is neat, well groomed and not at all long- more a Ryan Gosling than a Duck Dynasty. He is currently searching for a job in Utah. Will he have to shave to be considered for a job? It already breaks my heart that he had to cut off his long, beautiful curly hair.

We have been married more than 20 years and we still sleep in a full sized bed. We can't sleep when we are apart because we are used to being so close physically. We joke that we need to hold each other through the night or one of us will fall off the bed. There are times when I would love to just stretch my legs out, but I know my DH loves sleeping close, so I enjoy the fact that he likes being near me after so many years even knowing all my faults.

The Irish Century series by Morgam Llywelyn is great and also anything by Jeff Shaara. Both are historical fiction about real people and events and are very well researched. Even though we know how the events turn out, they still have you at the edge of your seat. It gives insight not only to the events, but to the personalities and emotions that shaped the events.

Once we had to pay an unexpected amount because my husband got a raise that pushed us into a higher tax bracket.

I wouldn't want my son's personality to change, but I would like his life to be easier. I am thrilled that he went to college and is a successful programmer who lives independently. But I am sad that girls aren't interested in him even though he is sweet, caring and always puts others first. And I am sad that it took him so long to find a job because of discrimination. I think all mom's with kids in the spectrum wish their kids lives would be easier and free from a lot of the pain that comes along with autism. If it could be in the form of a cure it would be great- but only if the cure didn't change their child's personality. You do bring up an interesting point as our experience can shape our personality. It is similar to the argument over cochlear implants in the deaf community.

I recently read that Utah and New Jersey have the highest rates of autism. I have a son on the mild end of the spectrum and one of my dearest friends has a son at the most severe end. I know many families with at least one child with autism. When I was growing up I didn't know anyone with autism. I only knew about it because I spent a summer volunteering at a school for developmentally disabled children. Now it seems common. Do I just think it's more common because of people I know? I don't think it can be that because the statistics seem to back up my experience. I wish there was a cure- or at least a known cause. Some think it's vaccines. I've read there is a link if the mom has an autoimmune disease (like my lupus). I've also heard and believe there can be a diet connection, as gluten and casein free seems to benefit many. Some people think it is overload of toxins. There is even controversy over which type of treatment is best. Insurance seems to only cover ABA, but I know people who have had success with other treatments. I'm wondering what your thoughts are on cause and effective treatments.