Tuna: Good for Moms-To-Be

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of HealthyTuna.com. All opinions are 100% mine.

I find it very interesting how much differing views concerning pregnancy are out there. When I had my kids, the last one born 25 years ago, I was not told to avoid seafood. Today, pregnant women are told not to eat seafood such as shark, mackerel, swordfish and tilefish because they can be high in mercury and that can be harmful to the developing baby.

One type of seafood that I love is tuna. I ate tuna when I was pregnant with my children. A scientific report published in Environmental Health Perspectives recently stated that locally obtained seafood has higher levels of mercury, but most of the seafood consumed in the United States is not from local areas.

Some women may actually be avoiding seafood when some like healthy tuna could be beneficial to a pregnant woman. Studies have shown that tuna can help prevent depression in pregnant women. The omega-3 fatty acids also assist in brain development of the child.

Women trying to conceive can also benefit because tuna contribute to increased fertility, increases HDL (good) cholesterol and provides nutrients like the already mention Omega-3 fatty acids plus vitamin D and selenium.

Therefore, women should of course talk to their Obstetrician about diet before and during pregnancy and follow the Doctor’s recommendations, but should not be afraid to limit every type of seafood.

I am Da Bomb!

I managed to figure out how to get my images here and how to redirect my original juliannahbydesign blog to my new blog here. Yea for me! The only thing I have not figured out yet is how to get my tags from blogger over here to wordpress. I have not given up yet because Google is my friend and I am sure there is a way. Trust me I will find it if there is a way to make it happen. Three cheers for WordPress plugins!

Merry Christmas to all!

My New Home

Well, I finally made it to my new home on the web. Welcome to juliannahbydesign.net! I feel like Mel Gibson in Braveheart, “Freedom!” I am also happy about using the WordPress platform because it rocks! I also love my new theme. It is unique and pretty at the same time. Hopefully I will be able to design my own in the future. That is another learning curve that I have to tackle after I figure out another multitude of issues. But. I. Will.

Goodbye Blogger. Thanks for starting me out, but I think I have out grown you and I look forward to this new challenge. Trust me it is a challenge. When I login to my cPanel on my hosting site I have to admit I am intimidated, but since I am an info nut, I just keep plugging along.

As I wrote on my other blog, Life is Like a Box of Chocolates, I probably will not be on too much until after Christmas only because I am busy preparingfor the holidays and taking care of LCpl Honda’s deployment issues. But, I will be back. So if you are visiting from my original blog or Chocolates please subscribe and bookmark and follow me here.

Trouble in Blog Land

I tried to switch to a custom domain name and it seemed to go well but when I try to view my blog it starts to load but then it just stops. I posted this problem in Google help and the person checking on it said they could see my blog with no problem. So I have know idea what is going on. Wish me luck on fixing this problem.

Ten Things You Don’t Know About Me

1. I cannot stand when people say Achoo loudly when they sneeze. Not necessary. Why? Did you ever hear a newborn say Achoo?

2. I like reality shows. Current favorite, The Househusbands of Hollywood. I know but sometimes I just need mindless TV.

3. I was a stay-at-home mom in the eighties when it was not very popular to do so. So many people would ask, “What do you do for a career?” When I told them, I was raising my children at home I would usually get a raised eyebrow along with a cool “Oh.”

4. I love living in the Desert Southwest but quite honestly, I am getting really tired of the extreme heat in the summer. Sometimes I would like to run away to an area with grass, big trees and find a house with a wrap-around porch. Then I would sit in a rocking chair on the porch and sip lemonade. However, places with snow or freezing temperatures with just not do. Is that asking too much?

5. I really do not care to watch movies repeatedly. Unless it is ‘From Dusk to Dawn’, ‘School of Rock’, or ‘Walk the Line’, don’t even ask. I know, quite a diverse group of pictures. What can I say? I am diverse and hate repetition.

6. I can easily pass on candy, cookies, cake and sweets in general. If people kept jars of pizza or bagels on their desks, I would be in big trouble.

7. I used to read books all the time when I was younger. Now, since I read newspapers and magazines for a living I have not picked up a good book in a long time. I do however read numerous blogs, internet news and entertainment sites. I have so many bookmarked sites in my favorites I sometimes forget what each site is about.

8. When I was a child, I wanted to be a comedienne when I grew up. Really. I thought I was funny. Still do. But then again I also wanted to be an Indian and live on the land. I actually tried it once in the backyard.

9. I love animals. Sometimes more than people.

10. I try to live like a decent person, although I am not perfect. I had made many mistakes. At the end of the day, I believe if everyone got up in the morning and thought what they could do to make the people in their live’s day a little better, the world would be better off for it. Something to think about.

New Advertising Campaign for the Marines

On 9.19.09 the Marines will launch a new advertising campaign designed to portray what it takes for America’s youth to answer the call to become one of the few and one of the proud. The campaign is called ‘What it Takes’ and is a prequel to the ‘America’s Marines’ campaign which was launched in January of 2009.

Boot Camp is a very grueling and intense 13 weeks where the individual is basically broken down only to be shaped and then built back up to become someone deserving the title of US Marine. The title is not just given out it is earned.

I never went through boot camp but LCpl Honda has spoken to me about it many times. These young men and women deserve such respect for making it through boot camp. As does every other person in all military branches.

There is a teaser video on Our.Marines.com and you can read more about the campaign.

Thanks Crafty for bringing this to my attention!

Sunday Brunch

I Remember 9/11

I think everyone remembers what they were doing on September 11th 2001. Getting ready for work this morning and watching the images on TV really took me back to that day. I once again felt the shock, disbelief and the overwhelming sadness over the events that I witnessed.

That morning in 2001 I was doing much the same as today. I was getting ready for work as I turn on the TV. The first plane Flight 175 had already crashed into the south tower and nobody was quite aware what had hit the tower at that point. I continued to get ready for work and Hippie Guy who was in high school at that point, was in the bathroom getting ready for school. I remember looking up and seeing the second plane Flight 11 crash into the north tower. I felt a sick feeling in my stomach and called to Hippie Guy. “Oh my God. I think we are under attack.” We both just stared at the TV in horror.

It was a very fearful day to say the least, but then I realized I did not know what would happen to Cinderella. She was in the Army at that time stationed in Ft. Hood. I tried to get ahold of her all day and when I went to work I had my mom try. Finally later that night she called. She said the Post was on lock down that day and the only reason the let her off was to pick up Butterfly, who was a baby at the time. She did not know what would happen either so the days following 9/11 were still very scary and stressful for me.

One other event occurred on 9/11. LCpl Honda was to celebrate his birthday. As you might suspect our family did not celebrate that day. It took a couple of weeks before we did. LCpl Honda really wanted no part of it. Since them he had felt robbed of a normal birthday and the thought of all those people losing their lives in such a horrible way really weighs on him. He also shies away from telling people the date of his birthday because they usually react with, “Oh, I am so sorry!” Yea, that does not go over very well.

We he did something about it. He became a United States Marine.

He said, “Mom, no one’s birthday is going to be ruined by terrorism again if I can help it.

I do believe he means it.

Happy Birthday LCpl Honda and Semper Fi to you!

Wordless Wednesday – 9/11

~

~

~

Sunday Brunch

It seems that so many celebrities or maybe just famous people have lost their lives this summer. Maybe I am just more aware since we lost our Lolly Pop Kid. I don’t know. I blogged in an earlier post about my feelings after watching the Michael Jackson memorial service which occurred on the two week Angelversary of Lolly’s passing. I woke up that morning to find the sky vividly red. Lolly has flaming red hair.The sight of the sky overwhelmed me. I called my boss and said I would not make it to work that day. I wasn’t going to watch the memorial because I thought it might come off as an over the top spectacle. I was wrong. I sat there that day and watched another family feeling the pain and loss of a loved one.

Yesterday I watched the Ted Kennedy funeral and once again felt the same pain and loss for another family. I have my own opionions about these people who haved passed away this summer, but I will keep those to myself. The point is that each and every one of these people have families that cared about and loved them deeply. Just as our family cares and loves our Lolly.

I do not know what happens in Heaven. Nobody does. I have faith that we will all go one day to a new beautiful place called Heaven and live in eternal peace and love. So that being said, as I said in my earlier post about MJ and Lolly, our Lolly is probably learning to do the Moonwalk and MJ is finally learning what it is like to have a simple, beautiful childhood.

                                        Maybe Lolly is learning how to play the guitar from Les Paul and sing with folk singer, Mike Seeger.

 

John Hughes may be teaching him what teenage life is like through all his films and I am sure Lolly would have a crush on Molly Ringwald as so many teenage boys did in the eighties. After all, she has beautiful red hair too.

DJ AM may be showing him how to spin a mean record and maybe add a few dance moves too. Of course I do believe Michael is the person to go to for the dance lessons.

 

 

 

Eunice Shriver might teach him to have compassion for children and all people with disabilities. I am sure there must be a Special Olympics in Heaven. But on the other hand, everybody is healed in Heaven so everyone participates in the Heaven Olympics.

Ted Kennedy along with his brothers, Jack and Bobby will probably teach him all about politics and public service. But more importantly, they probably teach him about family love until we are with him again. 

Lastly, I am sure that Lolly will know how to clean just about everything because I am sure Billy Mays is real busy making tons of Heaven infomercials. God must be going nuts.

 

 

 

And what do all these people get from Lolly?

The joy and pleasure of knowing our sweet Lolly Pop Kid!

And that’s all I have to say about that.

Today’s Sunday Brunch recipe is:

HARD CANDY LOLLIPOPS

2 c. sugar

2/3 c. light corn syrup

3/4 c. water

Oil flavors (optional)

Color (optional)

In a saucepan, blend sugar, corn syrup, and water. Bring to a boil over high heat, until mixture reaches 290 degrees. Remove pan from heat. Allow to stand until bubbles have simmered down. Add flavoring and color as desired. Too much stirring will cause syrup to solidify into a hard sugary lump. Mold into desired shapes in Pam-sprayed hard candy molds. Work fast.

Keep mixture warm over hot water. If mixture becomes too cold and thick it may be warmed for a few seconds in microwave. Put sucker sticks in molds before pouring mixture.