Not just a conscientious bystander

I am a Christian, but find myself ashamed to admit it because of many evangelical groups that don't show the nonjudgmental, love of Jesus Christ. Recently a Christian pastor called for the boycott of Starbucks because of the support the coffee house gave to gay and lesbian marriages in Washington state. Even Rick Santorum goes around saying that gay relationships don't benefit society. It just so happens that he's wrong. I have gay and lesbian friends that are professors, nurses, authors and friends who have adopted children that no one else would. They are also registered voters. I am outraged each and every time I hear of another hate group bullying the underdog in the name of Christian values. I wish I could be more like Ellen DeGeneres and show grace under these difficult situations. Now, to all of those haters out there, Ellen has the same values I wish to pass along to my children, not your judgemental ideals and intimidating behavior. So, because of JCPenny standing up to One Million Moms' bullying tactics, I too will show my support by shopping at Penny's Department store and Nike, Google, Microsoft,Starbucks and any other company that shows true Christian values. I hope you will show your support too. Here's a clip from Ellen's show talking about JCPenny and the One Million Moms.

Maggie Stiefvater has done it again

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Maggie Stiefvater has done it again. This time with a well written dystopian novel about carnivorous water horses that come out of the ocean each year. They are captured and raced by the islanders with deadly results which attracts tourist to the small island. Like her Wolves of Mercy Falls series she had modified the mythology just enough to lure me into their world.
It's hard to believe that this is just another young adult novel. Maggie does a fantastic job of creating well rounded, believable charters through both their actions and conversation. Puck enters the race as a attempt to save her family, while Sean is a four time champion. This time he is racing for more than just a title. Reading from the authors unique dual protagonist style allow us a glimpse into both Puck and Sean's internal struggles. While the story was obviously building to the climatic race Maggie didn't short change us in resolution which is rich and meaningful.
I have read all of Maggie's books, and this is by far her greatest work.

As mush as I love to hold a book in my hands, I have discovered that audio books, when done right are a wonderful form of entertainment. I happened to listen to an audio version of this book. The point of view of Puck Connolly is read by Fiona Hardingham. While Sean Kendric's perspective is read by Steve West. I encourage you to listen to this book if you have the opportunity; in my opinion, their voices make a huge impact in identifying with the characters.

View all my reviews

Gardening Organically at Home

Last night, Wayne Porter, the Area Horticulture Agent from Mississippi State University Extension Service, presented a workshop on organic gardening. The information was for home gardeners, not for those wanting to sell their produce. If you're local, you might want to attend some of his workshops at the MS State Extension office in Lamar County.
He discussed the three primary concepts in organic gardening. First, he said that the building and maintaining the soil's organic content is important especially in the south. Rainfall and high temperatures break down organic matter much faster than in a cooler climates. Before planting it would be beneficial to have your soil tested so that you know what nutrients your soil needs. The testing should also give you the pH (or alkaline) of the soil. Ideally, the pH should be between 4.7 and 6.5 for vegetables. Here in Mississippi soils are acidic and need something like sulfur to lower the levels. Other adjusters include wood ash, organic matter, crushed shells and limestone. Organic matter is material that was once living.
Secondly, natural materials should be the source of your soil's mineral nutrients. Sources of organic matter include cover crops (like rye or wheat), compost, manure, crop residue and dead organisms. Cover crops are grown to control erosion and can be incorporated into the soil as green manure. Composting is a great way to deal with plant residue and is an essential component of organic gardening.
Using cultural and biologival pest control is the third concept in organic gardening. If necessary, you can purchase organic fertilizer, like blood meal, green sand, fish fertilizer, cottonseed meal, or manure. The advantage of purchasing organic fertilizer is that these fertilizers gradually release nitrogen through out the growing season. Depending on the size of your garden, the cost may make it make it difficult to get the required amount of material. For example, you would need 1,000 lbs of chicken maunre per acre to get the necessary nutrients for your plants. Also know that fresh chicken manure contains large amounts of ammonia and can damage plants. There is no guarantee that the product is organic if it's not labeled certified organic.
The healthier the plants, the less susceptible they will be to disease. Some of the strategies for disease management include crop rotation, proper plant placement, purchasing plants that are disease resistant, proper watering, and weed control. Also, if the seeds are planted at the correct time and in the ideal temperature they will have a better chance of survival. There are products like Neem Oil, Spinosad, sodium bicarbonate, Diatimaceous Earth, lime-sulfur, Rotenone Insecticide, or Bordeaux mix that can protect against predators and disease, but there are other options if you don't feel comfortable using these products. There are beneficial insects like ladybugs and praying mantis that can keep harmful insects in check or you can practice bagging of fruit, shaking, and hand picking. Ideally, planting varieties that are resistant to disease, are rapidly growing, and have a shorter growing season will decrease the chance of insect and disease. An additional problem is weed management. Tilling, flame cultivation, hand pulling, hoeing and mulch are all traditional methods of reducing weeds.
If you are interested in gardening organically, start by identifying your problem areas, gather information on management strategies, develop a list of resources, practice daily scouting, take immediate action, and practice Integrated Pest Management.

Additional resources: Sustainable Agriculture and Research and National Substaniable Agriculture Information Service

Resolutions

As I was walking this morning I felt an overwhelming sense of disappointment at the lack of progress I've made over the past six months. On my birthday I decided to start making healthier lifestyle choices. I began cutting back on carbs and walking. I feel good about the choices I've made, and I didn't beat myself up when I ate a bite of a sugar cookie over the holidays. My disappointment stems from the fact that I haven't lost any weight, nothing. I believe my inability to lose weight stems from my PCOS. Two months before I started my "diet" I had a doctor tell me that all I needed to do was eat less calories than I expended. Well, I guess I proved him wrong. I won't stop walking and I will continue to make healthier choices in the food that I eat, but I have to lose weight.

As for my New Year's Resolution, I want to become more organized. I'm afraid to open a closet or cabinet because I randomly put thing away just to get them out of my site. I am so disorganized that I can't even keep appointments on my calendar straight. I'm surprised that I made it through the holidays. Christmas dinner was late, because I did remember to put the chicken in the oven on time. I don't really have a plan yet, but I assure you I will get organized.

What are you new year resolutions?

Overthrowing Christmas

I haven't been out shopping, but maybe once or twice during this Christmas season. We are trying to make this season more about being together and celebrating the birth of Christ than about having the most elaborate decorations, extravagant gifts, and an excessive amount of food. Yesterday, I had an opportunity to get out of the house without the kids, so took advantage of that time and drove into town. The traffic was ridiculous, the crowds were out of control and worst yet, everyone was in a fowl mood. I was feeling rather chipper and I wasn’t going to let anyone spoil my time to browse around at the different shops so, when someone pushed, grunted, or snarled at me I smiled and said, “I hope you have a happy Christmas!” My joy was met with several shocked expressions and a few death stares. It reminded me of the year I was working at a home décor store. I was ringing a customer up when I heard someone yell at one of the other employee, “You have ruined my whole Christmas!” As it turned out, she wasn’t going to be able to enjoy her Christmas because our store was sold out of a particular ornament that she wanted.
Is this what Christmas has be come? I think it’s time we all stepped back and took a look around. I doubt there is anything we can do about the traffic or the crowds, but we certainly don’t have to walk around in our self-centered, self-serving bubble bumping into everyone we encounter trying to make Christmas something special. It already is special. All we have to do is enjoy that glory. It’s not too late; join the conspiracy!

IS Foundation

I think most of you know that I am committed to doing my part to help preserve the environment and will support anyone I can in their efforts. That's why I want to encourage you to support the Ian Somerhalder (IS) Foundation. The goal of the IS Foundation to ”…empower, educate, and collaborate with people and projects to positively impact the planet and its creatures.” Today is the official kick off and the foundation is asking for donations. Ideally, they would like for you to donate $32 to help celebrate Ian’s 32nd birthday, but it doesn’t have to be $32. If you are unable to give that much or if you have more to give, you can just click on this link and donate what you can afford. In addition Vampire Support, who’s mission is to “…raise awareness of the Gulf oil spill…” is selling t-shirt and donating the profits to the IS Foundation. The shirts feature one vampire biting a bunny with the words human rights activist and another vampire biting a human with the words animal rights activist. You can check out the design and purchase a t-shirt here. I hope that you will consider donating to this worthy cause, I know I will.

Green Gift Monday

Now that Black Friday is over it's time to focus on Cyber Monday. Five years ago Cyber Monday became the biggest on-line shopping day of the year. The Nature Conservatory wants to turn Cyber Monday into Green Gift Monday. The goal here is to give green gifts this holiday season.

The Daily Green has some great green gift ideas for everyone on your shopping list. I especially like their eleven ideas for not giving 'stuff.' I for one would love a volunteer vacation or a year of farm fresh produce. Treehugger also offers up some great ideas ranging from organic baby toys to recycled dog beds. If you really feel that you have to have a gift wrapped and placed under the tree Why Go Ecotourism offers eco friendly polar fleece blankets and reusable grocery shopping bags as gifts that can be given year round.

For those of you that like to send flowers why not send an organic bouquet this year. Or if you'd rather, Fiddler's Green Farm offers organic gift baskets at very reasonable prices. Of course you're going to need Christmas cards so why not buy your cards from Pear Tree. They have a variety of green holiday cards to choose from.

Don't forget that all that wrapping paper is only going to end up in a land fill unless you try out some more creative ideas. You can make the wrapping a part of the gift. Why not use a scarf or towels instead of paper or maybe give a tea pot with a gift card inside to that chef who has everything. If you are a die hard traditionalist the Green Field Paper Company offers 100% recycled wrapping paper. Have a very green Christmas!

give more; spend less

Today is Advent Sunday. This is a season that we, as Christians, prepare for the coming of Jesus. I want this season to be about more than running around to parties, fighting the traffic and getting the right gift. In preperation our family went and served Thanksgiving lunch downtown at Brownstone's Free Thanksgiving Dinner. It felt good to be take a small amount of our time and help out those who are under resourced.

Last year our church introduced us to The Advent Conspiracy.
The AC encourages congregations to, "think of meaningful acts of kindness as meaningful gift options to replace traditional gifts." This grassroots movement also supports Living Water International. LWI is addressing the world's water crisis in Ethiopia, Brazil, Haiti, and Mexico just to name a few places.

Another organization that has recently entered the scene in the Ian Somerhalder Foundation. They want to, "empower, educate and collaborate with people and projects to positively impact the planet and its creatures." Vampire Support has teamed up with the IS Foundation and is selling t-shirts where, "All profits made will go directly to the IS Foundation. [The foundation] will set aside the money from the shirts for projects with The National Wildlife Federation and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill clean up efforts."

If you are interested in supporting an organization that's goal is to end poverty and hunger, you may want to give to Heifer International. We had the opportunity to tour Heifer International's green office in Little Rock, AR several years ago. HI believes that they can't end world hunger without also saving the earth. Their philosophy is offer a long term solutions by empowering those in poverty and encouraging them to pass along their knowledge and the off spring of their animal to others is their community.

Rice and Bean Ministry is trying to feed 500 families for a month. It takes approximately 100 to feed each family. I know Fred and his team would appreciate your support. They are, of course, trying to feed families all year around in Costa Rica. It only cost $10 dollars to buy a bag a food to feed a family for a week.

If you are ready to give more and spend less (two of the AC founding principles) I encourage you to consider giving some of what you would normal spend on Christmas gift to one of these worthwhile causes.

eating healthy through the holidays

I'm sure I'm not the only one concerned about surviving the holidays intact. I am not so much worried about the gift giving and the running around to see everyone. My issue is with all that scrumptious food.

When I decided that I wanted to take better care of myself by eating right and exercising it was June 3RD, my birthday, and I wasn't thinking about Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. I hadn't considered what it was going to be like to eat healthy through the holidays.

Fortunately, I've been making better choices for the past 4 1/2 months; I survived Halloween without eating a single piece of candy. The fact of the matter is that I don't have any desire for watermelon Jolly Ranchers or plain M&M's. What I do crave are those yummy sauces and gravies! Then there is all of that cornbread dressing and those mash potatoes. I could literally drown myself in a vat of gravy, oh the goodness!

But no, not this year, this is the year that I make healthy lifestyle choices. I have a plan. The first thing is that I am only going to drink water or herbal tea. I am not wasting calories on sweet tea; I don't drink anything but water now anyway, so that shouldn't be too hard. Next, I am going to keep on exercising, maybe even increasing my workout on the days that I am likely to want to eat more. The third thing that I am going to is to map out my eating. In other words, I am not going to put anything on my plate that doesn’t have a purpose. I know that if I eat more protein it will help my body process the carbs more efficiently so I’ll eat more lean meat and beans. I’m also planning on using a smaller plate and avoiding going back for seconds. I figure if I eat slowly and enjoy my food I won’t need to load up my plate.

I put this plan into action yesterday and it didn't go too badly. I only put half of a twice baked potato on my plate, I drank water and I resisted dessert by eating an apple. So far, so good. Do you have a plan for eating healthy through the holidays?

square foot gardening?

I don't think we can ever know everything that there is about any subject; that is especially true of gardening. While I was at my favorite garden center the other day, I picked up a copy of a book by Mel Bartholomew called All New Square Food Gardening. Not that we have a shortage of space, but I was interested in what he had to say about his gardening system.

I will tell you honestly that I did not sit down and read his book cover to cover. It was repetitive enough that I got the idea fairly quickly and just skimmed the remainder of the book. I tried to keep an open mind and I paid careful attention to what he said about building boxes, using his special, Mel's Mix soil, and staggering the plantings.

According to his method of gardening you should build 4 X 4 foot boxes. The plants will only require 6 inches of soil to grow, but he wants you to avoid using filler dirt since it increases the chances of weeds. After filling the boxes with equal parts of peat moss, vermiculite and blended compost, you should lay out a permanent grid. The end result is a very orderly garden.

I am loaning my copy of Mel's book to a friend, who clearly likes order. I, on the other hand, will will probably keep my raised rows and avoid obsessive compulsive gardening, it's just not my style. How do you like to set up your garden?

Bullying is an epidemic

Who are the people that have most impacted you life? A teacher? Your parents? An author? Friends? Did those influential people affect your life positively or negatively?

At some point we realize that we don’t make ourselves; we are shaped. We are who we are because of other people. Hopefully, by people who have made sacrifices, people who have been present in our lives and not by those whose impact has had an adverse effect.

Bullying has harmful effects. It is a topic that has been receiving a lot of air time lately, but it is not a new problem. Bullying affects thousands of children every day, bringing some to the point of suicide. I was bullied as a child. It started out as verbal abuse by the popular girls when we moved from the South to culturally different region of the US. I was in 6th grade. The bullying persisted for the three years that we lived there, becoming more aggressive as time passed. I can recall being bombarded by water balloons on the way home my last day of school.

But I was lucky, once home, I was safe inside my house. That is not the case with children today. They are bombarded through cyber bullying. Due to the growing role of technology in our lives it stands to reason that the harassment these children are receiving at school would follow them through texting and onto social networks.

If you or someone you know is being bullied there are a few thing you can do. Most importantly don't get physical with those bullying you. If you let them know that what they are doing is affecting you it will fuel their cause. If possible walk away. It is going to be important that you take charge of you life and who you are. You may need to talk to a counselor, friend or parent about your feelings. Also, you need to find out who your true friends are, and stick together. There is a campaign called Stop Bullying Now that offers information for both parents and children. I urge you to read this information and become aware of how we can overcome this epidemic.

GM Foods

I spoke to a farmer recently that, like many in is business, support genetically modified crops. His argument was that the poor wouldn’t be able to feed their families if crops were grow organically because it is so much more expensive to raise crops using natural methods. He also said that the extra expense would spill over into other products like sugar, milk, and bread. I can’t argue against the cost of growing GMO’s, but I can’t support it just because it’s more cost effective. According to US Department of Agriculture the percentage of GM corn grown in the United States grown from 7 to 70 percent, and 93 percent of the soybeans grown in the US are GM.

I’m sure you’ve read Jonathan Berr's article that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA )is considering whether to approve the production and sale of genetically modified fish, or frankenfish as it’s being called. Apparently, the argument is over labeling. The biotech industry is concerned that consumers won’t buy the fish if the product label spells out that the fish is genetically modified. Most fish in the US are raised on fish farms, but salmon, by in large, is still caught in the wild. The fishermen aren’t able to keep up with the demand and the supply of wild salmon in this country is shrinking. I assure you, the solution is not to make a frankenfish. According to CNN

"The fish's rapid growth will be boosted by the injection of a combination of a growth gene (GH-coding sequences) from the Pacific Chinook salmon and genetic material (the AFP gene) from the ocean pout - a large, eel-like fish - into the fertilized eggs of Atlantic salmon, making the recombined DNA present in cells throughout the body of the fish. The Chinook gene promotes the growth to market size, and the pout gene allows the fish to grow in the winter as well as the summer."

The FDA is only looking at whether this fish is safe compared to other farm raised or wild salmon. Today is the last day for your voice to be heard concerning the labeling of this potentially dangerous fish. Aquabay Technologies plans to breed the salmon in an inland facility in Canada, however, they will raise the fish in Panama.

This past summer, according to Micheal J Crumb of the Associated Press, a California judge halted the planting of GM sugar beets until the USDA could complete an impact study on how these organisms affect the traditional crops. Fifty percent of the US’s sugar comes from sugar beets that have been planted with products like Genuity Roundup Ready Sugarbeets. The apparent benefit is that farmers are able to use pesticides on the crops without killing the plant itself. Companies like Monsanto would have you believe that farmers and consumers will suffer if GMO’s aren’t allowed to be planted, but that isn’t the case. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), an office of the USDA, has opened a comment period asking for input from retailers, farmers, university professors, dealers, and agricultural organizations on the Environmental Assessment. All interested parties have until December 6 to make their voices heard.

It is essential that we, as consumers, stay informed. The Non-GMO Project supports the verifying and labeling of products and that believes we have the right to make informed choices about whether we want to consume GM products. The Project’s role is to make certain we have accessible Non-GMO alternatives in our future. Voting Block is a site that allows you to tell your elected representatives where you stand on the issue and what they should to earn your vote. Remember to let your voice be heard!

************UPDATE*************

Article: "Public Says No To Transgenic Fish, Demands Mandatory Labeling "

precious presents

We are fast approaching the holiday season and with that, for some reason, the Christmas shopping season. This Friday is the dreaded Black Friday, named so because this is the day that retailers go from being in the red to being in the black.

Once again I want to challenge you not to fall into the commercialism of the season. One rebellious group, The Adbusters, are campaigning for us to join Buy Nothing Day where you can pledge to not shop from sunrise to sunset on November 26th. I think this is an interesting proposition, since we Americans have more waste that any other country. So, in addition to not shopping on Black Friday I want you to consider some other ways you can make changes this holiday season.

Did you know that 1.8 million people in under resourced countries die every year from dirty drinking water. The Advent Conspiracy who tells us to worship fully, spend less, give more and love all, is asking for support for Living Water International . There is a wonderful video where Chris Seay explains, from the streets of Haiti, how you can spend your Christmas money to save lives.

Samaritan's Purse offers aid to the worlds poor and sick. They have emergency relief programs that provide assistance to victims of war, famine, disease, and natural disaster. At Christmas time you can pack a shoe box and have it sent to a needy child through their Operation Christmas Child program. Their vision is through the story of the good Samaritan.

Fred Curry, of Rice and Beans Ministry, in Costa Rica is asking for support in reaching out to the poor people in the coastal, central and south pacific. Just ten dollars will feed a family for 4 days.

Of course there are children right here in the US that go to bed hungry every day. Many of these kids rely on the school lunch program to receive nutritious meals. On weekends and holidays there the program, Feeding America, that offers additional food through their Backpack Program. They fill children's backpacks with nonperishable and easily consumed food the day before the weekend or holiday. Our church is partnered with a local school and we provide these backpacks,. We are always in need of more backpacks and money to purchase food due to the increasing numbers of qualified applicants.

So, instead of giving into the commercialism of the season, I am begging you, please consider participating in one of these programs or look into another programs in you region where you can give the most precious gift.

A Trip to the Dairy

Just down the road is Country Girls Creamery, a family owned dairy

Twice a day the Smith family has to milk 85 head of cattle.

The cattle primarily eat grass, but are given feed 16-24 ounces of feed at each milking.

By law they must pasteurized the milk. This involves cooking the milk

for 30 minutes at 140 degrees.

The creamery also makes butter, yogurt, and cheese that is sold locally at the Turtle Creek Farmer's Market and at The Little Butcher Shop.

65% of the milk consumed is processed locally, the rest is shipped in from out of state.

Country Girls Creamery has natural, not organic milk. What that means is that they don't use hormones or antibiotics on their cattle, but the grain that they feed them twice daily comes from genetically modified corn. There is, however, an organic dairy in North MS.

GMO VS Organic; which do you want to eat?

Whether you have a garden in your backyard, buy your produce at the local farmer's market or purchase it at a superstore, organic food is better for the health of your family. Many years ago all of our crops were grown without the assistance of genetic engineers; that is not so now. Conventional farming today consists of any agriculture that demands high yields. This requires the use of genetically modified seeds, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

There are advantages and disadvantages to genetically modified organisms (GMO). Plants that have been modified by genetic engineers are drought resistant, tolerant to herbicides, have a tolerance to the cold, and are resistant to many diseases. There by providing an abundance of food at an affordable price. However,these crops do not contain adequate amounts of all necessary nutrients to prevent malnutrition. In fact these plants are causing allergies and cancers in humans yet we continue to accept and consume them on a daily basis. If you don't believe me read this article about the effects of rats eating genetically modified potatoes.

Genetically modified foods are not only grown for our consumption, but for the consumption of animals. Once the animal eats the GMO feed it transfers foreign DNA into that animal which is then passed on to any humans consuming that beef, pork, or poultry. Even more disturbing, is that the FDA is considering approving the first genetically modified animal for human consumption. If you don’t want to eat genetically modified salmon, you can let your voice be heard here.

I understand that not everyone can grow a self sustaining garden in their back yard, but we can all make well educated decisions when shopping. We have the greatest influence on what is being offered. Europeans have shunned GMO’s. If we refuse to accept foods that have been genetically altered, the farming industry will stop giving into the genetic engineers and biotech companies. One of the ways to make your voice heard is to join the True Food Network. You can also reading labels, buying only organic meat and produce, and eating foods that are in season.

Distracted Driving

I have a friend that was seriously injured in this car accident recently because, the other driver (that ran a red light and plowed into my friends truck) was texting. Just weeks before that, it could have been me that cause that wreck. Yes, I am guilty of texting while driving, I admit it. I don't even have a good excuse, because the reality is, there is no reason that anyone should text and drive.

I read an article that reported that 81 percent of people in the US admit to texting while driving in their vehicle. Did you know that there are only eight states that prohibit using handheld devices while driving? Only seven are primary enforcement laws, which means that the police can pull you over without there being another traffic offence. Twenty eight states prohibit novice drivers from using cell phones while 30 stats ban texting while operating a mother vehicle.

Until the law catches up with technology, it has to be our responsibility to say no to text messaging while driving. While I'm not a huge Oprah fan, I am aware that she is against distracted driving. In fact, she has a pledge that you can sign that says you won't text and drive. I've agreed not to text and drive, won't you?

The Oil Spill Six Months Later

With the rising demands for oil and the shrinking reserve, the oil industry has move drilling from the shallow rigs to deep water. One of the problems is that clean up methods have not been keeping pace with technology. Since 1969 there have been ten platform spills including Deepwater Horizon. The federal agency, Minerals Management Service, that regulates off shore drilling claimed that there was less that one percent chance of a blowout.

Then, on April 20, 2010 the 9 year old semi-submersible Deepwater Horizon drilling rig leased to BP exploded after fail-safe blowout preventer allowed methane gas to spewed out of the drilling column. Eleven platform workers were killed and 17 others were injured. Many of BP's decisions have been brought into question. Decisions like having one long pipe, or the decision to have only six centralizers instead of 21 when there were indications that the well wasn't stable. They [BP] underestimated the worst-case spill and listed a marine biologist that had been dead for years as an emergency responder. Poor decisions don't start there, if you look at BP's history you will find that after the merger with Amaco and ARCO BP forced experienced workers into early retirement. All of these factors added up to their bumbling the worst oil spill in history.

For three months 4.9 million barrels of oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico from the sea floor. Skimmers were brought in along with local shrimp boats that corralled the oil on the surface and ignited it with homemade napalm. It is estimated that BP only cleaned up a quarter of the oil. The oil that has fallen to the bottom in the Louisiana marshes will not be broken down and can debase the environment for decades.

On July 15 the well was capped. Five months after the explosion the federal government declared the well "effectively dead." Since that time this disaster has moved to the back pages. We cannot forget the tremendous devastation that has resulted from this incident. There has been damage to the marine life, to tourism, the fishing industry, and the oil industry. As a resident of South Mississippi, I fear these issues are being swept under the rug. I have heard stories from friends on the coast of cover ups by BP employees, to mask the scope of devastation and present an inaccurate picture of the clean up efforts to government officials.

Even if you haven't been directly affected by the oil spill, it is our responsibility to know what's happening. To keep up to date on the clean up efforts and the effects on our environment check out the following sites.

http://www.restorethegulf.gov/ http://www.gulffuture.org/

The Audubon's Oil Spill Videos Huffington Post Sea Turtles of the Gulf Oil Spill from Nov 9, 2010 The Daily Green Sea Turtles Threatened article National Public Radio Oil Spill Investigation Posted Nov 8, 2010

Rice & Beans Ministry

Rice and Beans Ministry helps feed hungry families year around in Costa Rica through the United Methodist Church. Over the past several months I have had the pleasure of getting to know the director, Fred Curry. He began working in missions in 1990 and in Costa Rica in 1996. He established Rice and Beans Ministry in June of 2007. Along with the goal of providing families with enough food for a week, Rice and Beans is trying to build churches, provide medical care and assist in providing uniforms for children so that they can attend school.

It is currently the rainy season in Costa Rica and recently a tropical storm dumped even more rain on the already saturated land. We received reports of flooding, land and rock slides that trapped many people cutting them off from any assistance. Simple homes of plastic sheeting and dirt floors were washed into the rivers along with many families. Local stores are out of food and there is no way to get help. Rice and Beans has been working to house, feed, and clothe the survivors, but they need your help.

If you would like to support these efforts or participate in a mission trip please visit the Rice and Beans Ministry website here.

our garden

I'd like to say that this year's garden was a sight to behold, because we said that every year we would tweak it, making it more efficient. I think our failures came with excuses like: we moved, and we thought this or that would be a good idea.

I'm not saying our garden was a complete failure. We were drowning in okra and tomatoes, we had corn, squash, watermelons and canalope that were so good I'll never be able to look at another piece of fruit without drooling, but there were a few mistakes made.

The first mistake was choosing not to have raised rows. We've always had raised rows in the past because it is so much easier to pile the prepared soil up 6-8 inches in about 3 foot wide rows. Then all we would have to do is drag our hoe down the row making a ditch for planting our seeds. The ideal thing is to pile mulch up around the sides to help reduce weeds and to hold moisture in the soil. Here in South MS pine straw serves as the best mulch.

The other mistake we made was to put down this black cloth to help with the weeds. It did, but now that we need the change the direction of our rows (because of water flow) we are having to rip up the ground cover.

We were planning on planting lettuces, broccoli and spinach in our Fall garden, but we have entirely too much rearranging to do to get everything done in time.

Next spring I'd like to try companion planting. If you don't know what that is, it's simply means putting plants together in the garden that like each other. An example would be to plant corn with beans, cucumbers, or melons. Keeping in mind that corn does not need to be planted with tomatoes. Planting this way can have an impact on the health and yield of your plants.

So here's to next year!

Making Lifestyle Choices

Now that I'm up and moving, I decided that I really need to set a long term goal for myself. The scary thing is that I'm going to share my goal and ask that you help me stay focused. Drum roll please, I want to complete a 5k. Ideally, I want to run the entire 3.1 miles. But, I'm going to be practical and not try and do this until next year; I haven't decided when just yet, but before it gets too hot.

I loved running, in fact, I was on my junior highs track team, but I haven't exercised in about 15 years. Something about working, being married, and having kids *shrugs* Well, that's in the past.

I decided that instead of going out there and trying to run 2 miles a day, then 1, and then not at all, I needed to completly change my lifestyle. I cut back on certain foods like cake and potatoes, increased others (mainly fruits) and as time has gone on I've slowly made changes, each week, until I started walking back in mid September.

Since I've had a history of getting shin splint easily, I decided to walk in a small field just outside my bedroom door. Initially I was only able to make 4 laps, but as I decreased the time it took me to complete that distance I've increased the number of laps, more that doubling what I was walking. I walk a minimum of 3 days a week, but my goal is 5 days.

The biggest problem I've had is that I don't like wearing tennis shoes. In fact, if you were to look in my closest right now you would only be able to find three pairs of shoes that aren't Birkenstocks. And yes, one of those pair are my brand new Nike Vomero 4. It took some time to find the right shoe, but it has made all the difference.

The training for a 5k is typically done in 8 weeks, but I am not your average couch potato. I'm not going to worry about officially training at this point. I figure by mid-march I will have been walking for 6 months. I think that may be the time to start. There's a great site that has a Couch to 5K training program that I plan on following.

Please keep me honest and offer encouragement when you see me, I'll need it!