Poetry - Gone

Gone

written by Tamara Morgan

 

It was a day very much like any other

Except the fact I had lost something

that meant a lot to me

But now it is gone

I am not sure if I can get it back

It took me along time

To get it in the first place

What will I do if

I never get it back?

Will I never have anything like it again?

Probably not

My tears are the only things, these days

That keep me company

They are the only ones that understand

The pain I am going through

I am not sure if I should look

For something new or run back

Old memories flood my head

And I remember all the late nights

The talks about things only me and you knew about

The good times

When you and I were friends

But the days change and so do people

They grow apart just like me and you have

Friends for ever, it seems only yesterday

We talked and laughed

Except it didn’t last forever

And only in my dreams

Can I have you back with me

 

 

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Music in the Breeze

Good morning my blog friends, today I wanted to try something a little bit different. When I was in high school I loved to write. Poems, short stories, my brain was an endless supplier of ideas and inspirations. I would love to get a hold of that person again and start creating with the written word once more.

In anticipation of this I have found some of my old work and would like to share it with you. And along the way I will be able to start sharing new pieces. I will warn you, some of work is dark however some is very quite funny. I had an amazing creative writing teacher and she helped shape me into the writer I am today.

This is one of the reasons I love blogging so much. Its lets me be myself and share my work and free my soul. I wrote this back in high school as a project and I thought it was so amazing how I used to pour out my soul in everything I did…

My name is Tamara Morgan and I love to write because it helps me grow, to express my feelings and for pure pleasure. Throughout my years, I found that I have naturally loved to read and I am very fascinated on how powerfully authors can make their writing. Despite that, to release stress I write in my journal everyday and pour my feelings and emotions all over the page like a painter would a blank canvas. Above all that, I also write to grow, such as in school, I can get help from students to edit, which helps tremendously. Whereas, I also write for pleaser because it lets me say what is on my mind, but it is still personal. I love writing. As I have said, my name is Tamara Morgan and I love to write for the purpose of my own true desire.

So here is the first piece I want to share with you…

Music in the Breeze

Written by Tamara Morgan

as I walk my dog though the fallen dead leaves
he unexpectedly stopped and blankly stares in to the dark
I suddenly here music in the breeze
looking up seeing nothing, he begins to bark
I look for the source of the music but to my despair
the trees are blank and in the sky nothing but stars
I see nothing that can compare
where is this coming from, music from mars?
it can’t be from that far away, I ponder
I look in to the darkness of the night
how far in these woods must I wonder
these trees they give me such fright
the dog barks and wakes me from my dream
we haven’t entered the forest it was so real , or so it would seem
 

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Movie Monday - Phantom of the Opera

The phantom of the opera is a wondrous movie filled with love, passion, fear and betrayal. The movie is based on the famous opera “The Phantom on the Opera” by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The story along with the design of the entire story is amazing, it truly a remarkable adventure.

The Phantom of the Opera Directed by Joel Schumacher is a story about a girl named Christine. She is the daughter of a famous violinist which had died when she was only a child. She was taken in by Madame Giry, a ballet teacher that worked at the theater, he daughter Meg Giry and Christine become very close. Christine became a back up dancer in the opera theater and on the side took singing lessons from a secret music teacher. She called her teacher The Angel of Music but little did she know it was the Phantom of the Opera. Her voice became his passion. Her love became his obsession. Her refusal became his rage...

The music is so compelling it will make you fall in love with it as soon as you hear it. The orchestra is so talented and the singers must practice all the time because their voices are incredible. Andrew Lloyd Webber truly tells the story through his music, without the video you can still catch a glimpse of the story. You can close your eyes, listen, and the melody can tell a story all on its own, the imagery is remarkable. The softness of the music combined with the shire violent nature of some of the scenes keeps you on your toes the whole time. Wanting and waiting for the next moment of the marvelous musical performance.

The actors in this rendition really make the film come alive, they are brilliant. A part from the imagery of the music, the actor’s feelings really shine through. The lead actor, Gerard Butler (Phantom) and his partner Emmy Rossum (Christine) truly portray all the aspects of love, fear and hate, almost as if it was genuine. They are both fantastic performers moreover their voices are amazing; it really makes the movie come to life. Patrick Wilson (Raoul) does a fabulous job of portraying the star-crossed lover, as a consequence has to keep fighting hard to protect Christine. This love triangle comes to a dramatic end however and the outcome will keep you on your toes in anticipation of the closing scene.

Overall, in my option, this movie tells so many stories in one, that if you’re in the mood for a romantic heartfelt tale, than this movie is undoubtedly for you. Moreover if you’re a lover of musicals this is a must see and is essential to add to your repertoire. I give this motion picture 5/5 in all aspects, costume design, cinematography, choreography as well as story.

Have you seen this movie? Tell me what you thought about it…

 

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This is me today...

I havent done this in a while and I thought it would be fun....

 

Song in my head….  Anything and everything Christmas

In my window… complete darkness, and some dust on the sill

I am thinking… I really not ready for Christmas to come yet

I am thankful… all the blessings God has given me in my life, and for the challenges that have made me a better person

One of my favourite things… butternut squash

From the kitchen… all I see is dirty dishes

I am wearing… my pj’s I got for Christmas last year

I am creating… a blog post at the moment, hahah

I am going… to start getting dinner ready, Chicken wings tonight

I am wondering… why I ever stopped writing for fun, not blogging I mean. Like poems and stories

I am reading… sadly nothing at the moment. But dont forget about Talaya's Book review of Iron King is coming up in a few days :) Super exited for that!

I am hoping… my back gets better soon so I won’t be in pain

I am looking forward to… spending Christmas with my family and Skylar this year

I am hearing… the sound of random old Christmas music, right now... "Happy Holiday/The Holiday Season by Andy Williams.

Around the house… the lights are out and all is quite

Fun fact… did you know that mirrors are actually green?

Plans for the week… finish up physio for this week and take a break this weekend. It's my Nephew'S birthday party on Sunday should be lots of fun. His birthday is really on Christmas day! Oh how I miss them now they have moved away.

 Have an amazing weekend everyone!

 

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The truth about GMOs

Did you know that 75% of the packaged foods we consume contain Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)?

I read an article the other day that was so enlighten that I could not wait to share it! For some reason people (big corporations probably) don’t want us to know what we are putting into our bodies. They want to keep us in the dark, head down and ignorant. Well I am here to tell you that if you do that all will be lost. Your health, your families health and much, much more are at risk here.

What are you eating right now? Can you pronounce all the ingredients in that item?
This article was in a local flyer for my health food store, what a great idea to help get the word out. So here it is.

Your Right to know about GMOs

What are GMOs?

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are plants or animals created through the process of genetic engineering. This experimental technology forces DNA from one species in to a different species.

What are the impacts of GMOs?

Over 80% of all GMOs grown worldwide are engineered for herbicide tolerance. As a result, use of toxic herbicides like Roundup has increased 15 times since GMOs were introduced. GMO crops are also responsible for the emergence of “super weeds” and “super bugs” which can only be killed with even more toxic poisons.

GMOs in Canada

In over 50 countries around the world, there are restrictions or outright bans on the production and sale of GMOs. In Canada, the government has approved GMOs based on studies conducted by the same corruptions that created them and profit from their sale. Increasingly, Canadians are taking matters into their own hands and choosing to opt out of the GMO experiment.

Are GMOs Labeled?
Unfortunately, even though polls consistently show that a significant majority of Americans want to know if the food they’re purchasing contains GMOs, the powerful biotech lobby has succeeded in keeping this information from the public. In the absence of mandatory labeling, the Non-GMO Project was created to give consumers the informed choice they deserve.

What is the Non-GMO Project?

The Non-GMO Project offers North America’s ONLY third party verification for products produces according to rigorous best practices for GMO avoidance. Look for the butterfly to easily identify Non-GMO Project Verified products.

How can you avoid GMO foods?

·         Eat certified organic food- GMOs are prohibited from organic farming

·         Avoid eating processed food with corn, soy, and canola ingredients.

·         When buying foods or supplements look for a non-GMO statement on the package or the NON-GMO Project Verified Symbol

·         Buy can sugar to avoid consuming GMO sugar beet.

·         Support farmers who fight GMOs – buying food directly from farmers who do not plant GMOs helps support a supply of GMO free foods.

For more information on GMOs please visit healthfirst.ca or nongmoproject.org

Wow that’s a lot to take in, I know. But it’s crazy what people think they can get away with these days. Support local and buy antibiotic grass fed meats and organic when you can. Hope this helps you on your journey to real food.

 

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Whats for dinner? -Taco Pie

On the menu tonight, Taco Pie

Don’t you ever get tired of hearing “what’s for dinner?” I know I do. So I have started meal planning and putting it on the fridge so I can avoid this question. When I started meal planning my go to site was/is Pintrest! Love it. I have so many boards of food, Chicken dishes, Pork, Beef, Seafood and even Vegetarian. A little bit of everything anything that I think we might like to eat. Eating Paleo is not restricting at all as some people say, if anything it gives us more ideas and there are millions of recipes out there. I found this little beauty on there and couldn’t wait to try it. Here is all the information you will need. Hope you like it as much as we did, and if you try it out, let us know how it went.

The first time we made this recipe we used crust #1 and it feel apart and made a good mix of flavors. Next time we are going to try crust #2 so I will tell you how that goes. (i'll add pictures once we try it)

I got the recipe from Paleo Newbie and the second pie crust from Coconut Mamma

We changed the recipe a little to fit us and to the fact that honey just cut up everything and put it in a bowl at once. I thought it was better this way however because it blended the flavors nicely. The taco seasoning recipe was a huge hit and honey just loved it, I ended up making a huge jar of it to keep in stock for all the time use!

Ingredients:

Taco Seasoning:

·         1tbs chili powder

·         1tsp sea salt

·         1 tsp ground black pepper

·         1 tsp oregano

·         1 tsp thyme

·         1 ½ tsp cumin

·         ½ tsp paprika

·         ¼ tsp garlic powder

·         ¼ onion powder

·         ¼ tsp red pepper flakes (optional, we didn’t use because my honey doesn’t like it to hot)

Taco Pie Crust #1

·         2 cups of almond flour

·         2 eggs – whisked

·         1 tbs coconut oil

·         1-2 tbs of taco seasoning (see above)

Coconut Flour Pie Crust

Directions for Pie Crust #1

1.       In a medium bowl combine almond flour, whisked eggs and coconut oil into a dough (I used a wooden spoon, then my hands)

2.      This will make a 9-inch pie crust, or enough for about 4 ramekins

3.      Grease pie pan or ramekins

4.      Mix dough and form for which ever vessel you will be using for pie

5.      Press into pie pan or ramekins to form a crust

6.      Bake at 350-degrees F unfilled for about 8-10 min

 

Ingredients for Pie crust recipe #2

·         1/2 cup Grass Fed Butter, Melted

·         2 Eggs, Preferably Local Pastured

·         1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt

·         3/4 Cup Coconut Flour

·         1-2 tbs of taco seasoning (see above)

Directions for Crust #2

1.       Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl beat butter, eggs, taco seasoning and salt together with a fork.

2.       Then add coconut flour. Stir until dough holds together.

3.       Gather the dough into a ball, and then pat into a 9″ greased pie pan.

4.       Prick the dough with a fork.

5.       Bake for 9 minutes.

Taco pie filling

·         1 pound of grass feed beef – browned

·         1 small onion

·         ½ red pepper diced

·         ½ green pepper diced

·         2 tbs taco seasoning (see above)

·         ½ cup of tomato sauce

·         1 can (14 oz) of diced tomatoes or diced tomatoes with green chilies – liquid drained

·         1 avocado- diced

·         1 Large mushroom

 

Instructions

1.       First combine ingredients for the taco seasoning in a small bowl - set aside

2.       Brown ground beef

3.       Drain fat from pan and rinse beef

4.       Add in the taco seasoning and the onions until completely cooked and onion renders down

5.       Time to make the crust... depends on what crust you choose follow instructions above

6.       While the crust is cooking add all other ingredients to the beef

7.       Mix and let cook together for 5 mins

8.       Remove crust  from oven and add the taco filling from the pan

9.       Return to oven and bake at 350-degrees F for another 20 mins

10.   Break up the crust from the bottom to combine with taco filling

11.   Enjoy!

 

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The 5 stages of Hunger

It was a typical Friday night for me and my man, sitting at home doing nothing. We decide to go in to town to see my mom and family, we get there and no one is home. So I call my little sister and they have all gone out for dinner. Well just great, we drove all the way here and now we just have to go home. It has been a few months that we have been on our real food journey, and I have been craving a burger. You know a big greasy burger with some salty fries and a pop. First off, I haven’t eaten Mc D’s in well over 4 months and I haven’t had any pop for much longer. So for me to have this craving, it wasn’t just a ‘well I could have one’ my stomach was like ‘WE ARE HAVING ONE.’ The kind of cravings that take over your whole body and you can’t think about anything else but what it is. So your thought process begins...

Stage 1: Bargaining

Well I haven’t had it in a long time, what will it hurt. I will just get one small burger, small fries and no pop. Yea no pop that will make it better. No I’ll just go home, I am not that hungry…But I really do want a burger…

Stage 2: Thinking facts

Then you remember about the article that told you that the pickles are made from 7 different ingredients. That the meat is pretty well made of nothing that is going to nourish your body, and that your know you’re going to be hungry in an hour. That last time you had one you had an upset stomach and you had to race to the bathroom as soon as you got home…

Stage 3: Tricking your mind

You try to convince yourself that you are starving and will die without it. You tell yourself, that no matter what you get it won’t satisfy you like that burger will. You think about the first bite and the salt on the fries, how can I not have it plus I don’t know how to make fries at home…

Stage 4: What else could we do

You think to yourself that you could just make a burger at home, yea that’s better. But wait, we don’t have hamburger, lettuce, mayo or anything else to go on a burger for that matter. Ok that’s fine we will buy it. So you rack your brain about the cost. Isn’t that what it all ways comes down to, money? So now your $1.49 cheese burger has now turned in to $20….

Stage 5: To do or not to do

So you convinced yourself that this is what you’re going to do. You’re pulling closer to it; you can see the big bright shining M like a beacon in the dark summoning you towards it. You look around at all the different restaurants and think, ‘I should not be down here’. You pull in to the drive threw…..

Now this is the deciding move, once you go into the drive threw there is no turning back. Skylar pulled up to the drive threw and pulled a little to the side. He looked at me and said “Now are you really sure you want to do this?” He looks at me, the gears in my head just going a mile a minute. Going through all these stages again in my head and a little out load, throwing a million different ideas at him. He calmly looks at me again and repeats “Are you really sure you want to do this?” I start to panic and the guilt sets in and I haven’t even done anything yet. I say… well it was more of a soft shout “NO! Get me out of here!” He pulls the car forward and we leave, with the golden arches in my rear view mirror, I feel better.

However my stomach is still growling, so to the super market we go. We travel down to the meat section, with our $10 budget in hand. Meat $7.00. Wait, that can’t be right I still need more things…

We spent the next hour wondering around looking at food, trying to figure out what we could possibly do to satisfy my craving. Pre-made burgers? Sandwich? Fish sticks? By this time, my stomach is so load I can barely think. We both just get to overwhelmed and we ended up, after over an hour or shopping around, leaving the store with sandwich meat.

We are going to have black forest ham sandwiches; we have all the ingredients at home. And I have been wanting to make mayo for a few days now, this is the perfect time to try. Well 11pm is not a very good time to try and use your food processor, especially when you live in a basement suit. Ok no mayo, and the bread if frozen….

Anyway, we ended up having these super awesome delicious sandwiches and we both felt very good about our decision to stay healthy.

We have both come a long way, I know it doesn’t sound like it but we have, but we have. When Skylar and I first started dating we used to eat at Mc D’s at least twice a week! We did that for years, and when we decided to make the change to real food, we cut it out cold turkey.

We cut out eating out at all! I decided that learning to cook and make food that not only nourished our bodies but made us feel good, was way more important. It has been hard; I am not going to say that it’s super easy when it’s not. But since we have switched we have both noticed huge differences in lots of aspects of our life. We feel more energized, we don’t really get headaches anymore and when we eat we just plain feel better. Skylar has been struggling for a while with his stomach, whenever he eats his stomach goes rock hard and it’s very painful. He had tried a few different things, like taking pills before he ate, taking gut and bloating meds but nothing worked. Ever since we went organic he has not had one issue. He likes eating again and he never has to deal with weighing eating over pain again. We are in transition now to go Paleo because of my dairy problems and it has done amazing things for my energy level that alone is worth it for me. I just have to remember that next time a get a craving.

Have you ever been tempted to go to the Golden Arches?

What was your outcome?

 

PS. Food for thought...

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Movie Monday – The Pagemaster

Continuing our theme of childhood favorites here is another one plucked right out of the imagination of a child. The Pagemaster.

 

A cowardly boy who buries himself in accident statistics enters a library to escape a storm only to be transformed into an animated illustration by the Pagemaster. He has to work through obstacles from classic books to return to real life.

I still to this day love watching this movie, I was over at my mom’s house the other day and I stole it off her shelf and took it home. Think she will notice? Well I did tell her and she does want it back, looks like I will just have to buy my own copy. Haha

I love the story of this movie and it’s so well thought out its amazing. The graphics for its time were amazing and they are one of the first film makers to use this technology. They also created a lot of the software just for the movie to take live action and mix it with animation. One of the amazing things they did when animating the film was always making it look like you were in the books. The Cliff is made of books, the stairs, the dragons insides all out of books. Don’t even get me started on the Pagemaster himself. Amazing. His beard is scrolls, his clock is a book, shear genius. If you haven’t seen this movie I really suggest it.

I give this movie 5 Stars and a lifetime of childhood memories :) Let us know what your favorite childhood movie was/is, we would love to hear from you. Have a good week everyone!

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Life is a Roller Coaster Ride

Have you every tied to do something new before? I bet you have, everyday people do and try new things. Have you ever done anything that was our of your comfort zone? Some people have different levels of fear and can and will do more crazy things than others. Some people have been sky diving, not this girl, although someday I wish to be able to try it. Some people go there whole life without doing something out of their comfort zone and their ok with that. Some people don’t live in a bubble and are happy that way too. Not me. I love trying new things but I like my bubble because it is safe. It keeps me in control and nothing ever goes wrong in the bubble right?

Wrong. It doesn’t matter if you like or bubble or not. Life is not always going to be a straight road. It’s going to twist and turn and have its fair share of hills and valleys, I know mine has.

Source

My life up until now has been a roller coaster ride, with little time on the straight stretch. I am constantly learning and doing new things that 2 or even 3 years ago I would have told you couldn’t be done. And just when you think you’re coming up on the end of the ride and your coming up to the landing, the car zooms forward and up another hill you go.

My roller coaster ride has been full of adventure. After Grad I moved two provinces away to be with my boyfriend, away from all my family and friends. It wasn’t so bad and I made new friends and talked on the phone with my family. We ended up staying there for a few years, had a few jobs, still not knowing what I wanted to do. I meet some amazing people that put me on the right track to a career in photography! Sounds fun right. I worked at Wolly world photo lab to learn the behind the scenes of the developing the film. Then I worked as a photographers assistant, learning all the editing a post processing. When I moved back to BC, I had a wonderful opportunity to become a manager at a studio in town. Dream come true, Manager at a Sears Portrait studio. I worked so hard and became the #1 studio in all of Canada out of 365 studios! The Vic President of the company even came to meet me in person; he loved my work and had tons of great advice for me. With him also came a job offer, Regional Trainer. Pretty much my job would be go to different studios all over the province and train people to be better photographers. Talk about a huge ego booster. Since I was little all I ever wanted to be was a teacher, best of both worlds with this new opportunity. It was all planned and set in action, I was going to start on Saturday…However that’s where I saw the landing and then plunged in to a very deep valley.

It was Thursday afternoon on April 10^th 2014, when I got in to my car accident.

You see life doesn’t always give you heads up when things are going to change, one minute it will be sunny and next you’re caught in a rainstorm. Life if not about crying about the weather it’s about how you can learn to love the rain. To see the small joys that you get when it rains, like rainbows, flowers and green grass. Because it’s not always going to rain but it’s not always going to be sunny either. It’s what you do with the day that matters.

You only have one life to live. And whether you decide to live it in your bubble, outside of it or both, your life is what you make it.

Things for me have been on the slow, slow, slow ride back out of the valley, just about to see day light again. And you can be sure that when I reach the sun again I will not complain about the sun in my eyes, but just enjoy the warmth on my face.

 

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