Are you a left brain or right brain thinker?

A couple of months ago my daughter had the opportunity to participate in a wonderful program here in our area called "Brain Camp". It is generally held in the summer for a week and is an intensive study of how we think, study, take notes, and test taking skills. She participated in a three Saturday session so it was condensed but the material was very well presented.

During her participation I had the chance to discuss her studies with one of my coaches Pat Sullivan with Body Talk in Seattle. As you may recall from my previous posts, the Body Talk System works by first identifying the weakened energy circuits within the body. The practitioner relies on the body’s inherent knowledge of itself to locate the energy circuits that need repair by using a form of biofeedback, which is a subtle muscle-testing technique. The practitioner then taps the client on the sternum to “announce” the corrected energy flows to the rest of the body. http://www.bodytalksystem.com/bodytalk/overview/detail.cfm.

After a session of discussing her participation in the program and left and right brain thinking Pat shared this video link that she acquired from a newspaper talking specifically about left/right brain function.

You too can take this simple test and double check if you are a left or right brain thinker. Thank you Pat for the link!

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22556281-661,00.html

Pat's program is amazing and I have seen positive things in me as a result of my visits. As Pat says, " Its acupuncture without the needles! ".

Pat's information: pat@bodytalkwa.com

Easter Sunday

HAPPY EASTER

Easter Egg Hunts and Bakerella!

Ahh,.... the joys of the day before Easter. Getting up early, dressing up, going to the egg hunt and brunch with mom and grandma! Those days are long gone in our home! However, moving on we are now playing Little League games, and cleaning golf clubs and clothes off the floor! How time flies.

For those of you that do have some time the day before Easter why not bring back some memories and make the above cupcake from Bakerella. If you have not found this web site and love to bake you need to bookmark it now! It offers some wonderful step by step photos and tips. You will really enjoy the site if you are a baker.


http://www.bakerella.blogspot.com/

Carolina Smoke On Site BBQ Restaurant Grand Opening!

The day has finally arrived! David's restaurant will open today Friday 4/10 at 10:30 am! After many years of dreaming and starting his own catering company, David is now making his dream come true of opening his own restaurant. So often when he was doing parties people would say, " This food is so good! Where is your restaurant?" Well folks... here it is! We now have Carolina Smoke the restaurant!

23806 Bothell Everett Hwy Ste A
Bothell Wa, 98021

David will still offer his catering services to events and corporations so please visit his web site at

http://www.carolinasmoke.com/

We are taking the day off from work and school and will be up there today at 10:30 to officially open the doors!

Congratulations David and thank you to all your friends who helped you make this day possible!

The Sharper your knife the less you cry- Kathleen Flinn

Another vacation book review! Here is the other book I managed to squeak out during my fun in the sun! Not having a whole lot of time to cook lately I lived vicariously thru Kathleen Flinn's book The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry.

Kathleen's book flows beautifully and it's obvious that she has a journalism background. The narration of her journey is brilliant!

Why should I pick up this book and why would you feature it on your blog which talks about food for the mind, soul and body? Because Kathleen's journey does just that. The story begins with her employed as an executive with a major software company in London England and is abruptly laid off. She is an American living in London without a job, and without a job can not stay.

Kathleen after a moment of panic and "what would my mom advise me to do" Calls her boyfriend Mike in Seattle Washington. It's easy he comments, you do what you've always wanted to do: study and earn your diploma from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris France!

In the balance of the book she shares her journey of going thru the "classic cycle" Basic, Intermediate, and Superior Cuisine.

I won't tell you what happens along the way as you'll have to get the book to find out. However, it does raise one question, If you were laid off from your job today, what would you do? Would you fill the void with a job that doesn't fulfill your needs? Or would you seize the opportunity to do something you've always longed to do?

Sounds ironic during these turbulent times? It just so happens that Kathleen is Seattle and she has her own web site http://kathleenflinn.com/index.html. You will see from her web site that she is busier than ever and offers classes on food writing, photography and food blogging ( quite popular these days! )

The book is also a perfect fit for book clubs and the back offers meeting suggestions and topics of conversations.

Bon Appetite!

90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper

Sitting in LAX on a Sunday afternoon I picked up one book I hadn't read yet on my cruise:

90 minutes in Heaven

by

Don Piper

I started it at at 1 pm and finished when we arrived before the gate at SEA TAC at 6:30 pm.

Am I a fast reader? Not necessarily. Was it the content of the book that held me captive? Yes!

Don Piper is an amazing man who has had quite a journey.

This book begins with Don Piper recalling his story about driving home from a Baptist Convention and becomes a victim of a horrific accident. At the scene Don is pronounced dead by the paramedics. Traveling home on the same road is another attendee of the convention. The traffic is backed up so he gets out of his car as all the others to see what is going on ahead. That is when God calls on this man to go to Don and pray for him. As he approaches the scene the paramedics tell him that Don is already deceased but the individual insists that he still needs to go to Don's side and pray. Within those moments of prayer Don is in heaven and does awaken beside the this man who is praying for him.

The balance of the book is Don's recount of his struggle in recovery. His constant question is , why am I here in all this pain when I could be in heaven? I want to go back to heaven. As Don recovers he slowly trusts some with his story about heaven and his experiences while he was clinically dead here on earth.

Don now knows why God did not have him stay on heaven and why he endured a painful recovery and is now helping people all over the world with his story.

I have to say that some parts of the book were repetitive and could have been condensed. But overall it was a good and easy read. It truly does make you think about God, Heaven, and how do we serve God here on earth.

I thought it was ironic that I was reading this book on Holy Week!

I've added a clip below that I found on the Internet of Don speaking on the 700 club about his experience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjFpdetXVVk

Spring Break Adventure Carnival Cruise!

Ok... so Makaela wasn't the only one who could leave for spring break and have a good time! Branden and I headed off with our friends Kelly, Hannah and Tuker for a five day Carnival Cruise on the new ship Splendor out of San Pedro, LA. and down to Cabo! Five days of fun in the sun! Here are some pics of us having some fun on the beach! Plenty of time to relax, and get some "sea legs". Read a couple good books ( one in the airport today ) that I'll be posting here on the blog in the next couple of days!

Branden on the beach in Cabo!

Mom on the beach in Cabo!

Both of us out in the boat ready for Branden to para sail! What a great time! Now we go back to work to save for the next great adventure!