This Side of Perfect

I celebrated my 35th birthday on Saturday. It doesn't shame me to "out" myself on the internet about my age because I'm quite proud of my age. Every year I have a birthday is another year that God has allowed me to stay above ground (Thanks for the insight, Billy!). It makes sense to me! Funds are bit tight here in the Turtle household. We are attempting to widdle down all of our credit card debt (it's not much) over the course of the year while I am still gainfully employed in order to prepare for my student teaching stint when I will not be gainfully employed. So, that being said, we have been cutting down on some costs (not all – I might go into that at a later time). So, instead of going to an expensive Japanese steakhouse that cooks your meal right at your table, The Man Beast bought two steaks and cooked them along with some roasted potatoes and broccoli. Originally, my dinner was supposed to be on Saturday night, but The Man Beast was unavoidably delayed at…

This is another article I wrote for the Women Within Newsletter. A little backstory: At the time, I was homeschool The Boy and Baby Gurl. Considering Baby Gurl is now entering the 5th grade and I homeschooled her during the Pre-K/K years, it'll give you an idea of how long ago this actually was. However, it's advice that bears repeating.
Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.
- H. Jackson Brown


Everyone has 24 hours to complete whatever it is they feel they need to do. Granted, most of wish we had more, but the fact remains, that regardless, we have 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of nightlight (assuming you don’t live in Alaska, that is).

In order to make the most of our time, many of us get less than 8 hours of sleep and survive on mega doses of caffeine. If you’re one of these people, how’…

Life has a funny way of working out. First, my rant yesterday about the media and its perception of health and now Jenn over at You Know...That Blog?, who hosts the Sensational Haiku Wednesdays, has created HEALTH as her topic this week!

Never one to follow rules (well,not much anyway), I've decided to make a Haiku story instead of just a Haiku. Click the graphic above to read more Sensational Haikus; tell them Iva sent you!

This article was originally published for the Women Within Voices newsletter I did eons ago (Do some of my long-time readers remember?)It's kind of funny how some things change but stay the same, isn't it?
This year is my year to get mad. I’m on a mission: to change the world’s perception of eating right, exercising and permanent lifestyle changes. I get so angry when I hear the media setting the guidelines for what is healthy; not even healthy – what a woman should look like!

I am here to tell the media (and anyone else who feels a woman should be a size 0) that the Constitution might say that all men were created equal, but all women don’t fit into a perfect little box! No! Real women have curves! Yes, some of those curves fit into a size zero pair of jeans but not all of them do. And if a woman’s curves fit into a size 18 jean, so what? She is no less a woman, no less beautiful, and no less worthy of love, admiration or prestige.

Yes, I’m a little ticked.

Anyone wh…

I recently found a fabulous blog hosted by a gorgeous woman named Stacey. Her blog, I'm a Lazy Mom is a bit deceiving. According to her site, a lazy mom:

The short and skinny of it is this... a Lazy Mom is a mom who doesn't do everything for her children, she teaches her children how to do things for themselves, thereby making her a "lazy mom."
She raises her children to be responsible for themselves.
She teaches them to be ready for life when they grow up.
She gives her children boundaries so they feel safe and secure.
She doesn't let them "rule the roost."
She builds within them a "team" mentality.
She takes care of herself so that she can be a better mom. 
She loves her children so she disciplines them when necessary.
She leads her children by example.See? I told you it was misleading. I think a mom who does all of the above criteria is anything but lazy. But a Lazy Mom is also a woman who:
Makes mistakes along the way.
Doesn't always …

I think since school is out for the summer, I'm going to get back onto themed blog posts. Saturdays are a good day to have Lazy Saturdays and in this particular post, I will talk about what almost every other blogger in the blogosphere is talking about: Summer Reading.

I've actually had the pleasure of reviewing two books this summer. I am a member of Reader Spoils,  a website which introduces new authors to readers who are interested in reading their books. I'm always up for a good book and since I'm sitting on a very rough manuscript myself, I'm always interested in helping a fellow writer get the word out. So, in short, I jumped at the chance.
Stolen Soul: The Beginning by S. R. McDaniel is a supernatural-spiritual suspense story which combines the Left Behind series with the Da Vinci Code. The story begins with an interview of a world renowned Christian child psychologist who has discovered a gift in children who have been diagnosed with Autism. These children…

Thanks to my wonderful Man Beast and my Rockin' MIL, I have in my possession, a Keurig. This machine, while initially pricey, is probably the best invention of all time! One might think that individually packaged coffees, teas, and cocoas, would be a waste of money. For those java drinkers who like drinking their Folders or Maxwell House, you would be right. However, if you're a gal (or guy) who likes a little variety in their life or has several caffeine drinkers with different tastes, I'd kindly ask you to reconsider.
Hot coffees, teas, and cocoas are great for winter, you say, but hello - it's 100 billion degrees outside! Yes, yes. It is hot. Which is why I ask you to behold:
The iced coffee - at a fraction of what major coffee would sell them. What you see here is an iced hazelnut with Splenda and 2% milk. If I were to break it down, I'd say it cost me maybe $1 (but probably a lot less). Keurig makes iced versions of their coffee favorites; they are supposed to b…

Does anyone else plan on buying (or at the very least, renting) the new Cars 2 video game?
Do a Google search for "Cars 2: The Video Game" and you'll get thousands of hits about the new game coming out this month!
There are a million games out there that gamers are going mad for, many of which require the user to log hundreds of hours of game time, contain questionable language, violence, and/or sexual situations - none of which I am the least bit interested in playing.
However, a good driving game, I can get behind! And I love game that are geared towards kids but are just as fun for adults to play. I remember when the Boy was much smaller, he and I used to play Lego Racers on the computer. As we drove along the track, we could pick up trick bricks which allowed us to (harmlessly) sabotage other drivers (many of you will recognize the game play if you play Mario Kart). This game seems quite similar except that it features some of our favorite four-tired friends.
While I hav…