The Bit

Hey guys! I know I usually lump all of my book reviews into one monthly post, but today I'm bringing you something extra special. I've been asked to participate in a blog tour by a fantastic indie author, Hannah Lynn, on the promotion of her newest book! How amazing is that! So, I'll give you a brief overview and my opinion, as usual, and then there's an extra interview at the end. She's also doing a special on her book. For the length of the blog tour, her book is only 99 cents! Guys, take advantage of this deal. You will love this book. "The Afterlife of Walter Augustus"- Hannah Lynn Even though I've been asked to review this, please don't think that I would automatically give it my seal of approval and flying colors. I take reviews seriously, and I would never recommend a book I didn't like. With that out of the way, this book is something amazing. Truly awesome. Walter just wants what everyone in the interim wants, to move to the oth...

Whether you opened this blog post because you liked "13 Reasons Why" or because you hated it, I'm glad you stopped by. Let me be clear that this post is not a synopsis or review of the Netflix series, but merely why I think everyone should watch it. I'll be honest; I dislike the series. I really do. There are a ton of things wrong with it, but we're not here to discuss it's shortcomings or why you think I'm wrong. We're all entitled to our own opinions. The main reason, I believe, in the creation of this series is to start a conversation. What began as a book (yes, Season One was based on the book with the same title), morphed into a show that everyone has been discussing. Some people love it, while others, not so much. But it's intention was to get us talking. So, let's talk. I'm going to break this down into three categories, primarily focusing on how schools can do better by our children in need, why we need to be diligent with our k...

It's summer, finally! And one of the things we love to do, as a family, is go camping. Anyone else love pitching the tent, hiking, lighting up the campfire, and sleeping under the stars? Even before my husband and I had kids, we enjoyed these activities together. Now that he have kids, we want to share that love with them and make some good memories. So, we took our kids on a camping trip. And it was terrible! There was so much crying, moaning, complaining, and no sleep. I could not understand how we spent all day outside (in the heat!) and neither one of them could sleep that night. You might be wondering, so I'll tell you, we have a son and daughter, four and one respectively. We knew our one year old might be a little young for camping, but we were willing to give it a go. Let me tell you; it took weeks to recover from that trip. I never wanted to take them camping again, but we had another camping trip set up a month later. I needed to make it a success, for my sanity. Up...

I know, I'm amazing! Getting this blog post out almost a week earlier than usual? What! Yes, well, it's been a busy month, and I've had to be a bit more organized with my time. This is a result of planning instead of procrastinating. Anyway. I read two outstanding books this month that I'm excited to share with you. Also, I read another [secret] book that I'm doing a solo blog post about coming up in July. Keep your eyes peeled on social media for the exact date I'll be posting, but trust me, it's going to be good! By the way, besides just reading for pleasure and loving to share what I read with others, I love helping out other authors. I am working (diligently) on publishing my own book and hope that one day, others will return the favor of promoting literature. If you're an author (independent or not!) and you would like me to review your book, feel free to reach out to me on any of my social media accounts, and I'll promptly get back to you....

Hey all and welcome to the final installation of this three-part series depicting my daughter's diagnosis and treatment of Infantile Spasms. In Part One I discussed my daughter's initial diagnosis, hospitalization and recommended treatment of this very rare form of epilepsy. In Part Two I discussed how seeing a chiropractor changed my daughter's life for the better and included an interview with the doctor herself. I feel my daughter's story needs to be told and that it's part of my responsibility as a parent to help other parents who might be going through the same things we went through. I'm glad this series has reached so many people and that it's getting the word out there about Infantile Spasms and the many ways we can treat ailments. In this final installment, I'll be discussing the importance of being an advocate for your children. If you've read the other installations, you know that we were fortunate to get answers so quickly and begin ...

Here we are again! This is the second installment in a three-part series about infant health and wellness/ awareness depicting my daughter's diagnosis of epilepsy. To read about her diagnosis and the recommended treatment we pursued (aka Part One), you can find that here . In this installment, I'll be discussing what we did after continuing recommended medical treatment and the results. As a recap, my daughter was diagnosed with a very rare form of epilepsy, Infantile Spasms (IS), when she was five months old. She endured a five-day hospital stay, several lengthy tests, and was prescribed a Corticotropin (steroid) treatment that lasted six weeks. I covered the first two weeks in Part One when we discussed her diagnosis and the small percentages she, luckily, fell into. Let's begin. -Finishing ACTH The initial two weeks of the ACTH (Corticotropin Steroid Treatment) were extreme. As scheduled, we received an EEG after the two weeks of high dose steroids. This was supp...

If you guys follow along with me regularly, you know that I've mentioned, lightly, that my daughter was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy some months ago. I've decided to write about it finally. This was a tough time for me as a mother. I force myself to remember it because it's important. And I feel like it's my responsibility to share what my daughter went through in case it helps another family. This type of epilepsy is very rare and can be hard to diagnose right away. If I can help at least one family get answers faster then this is a success. I'm breaking this into a three-part series based on wellness and awareness. This first part will be all about the diagnoses and treatment of Infantile Spasms. The other two posts will focus on what we did after the prescribed treatment and then how to advocate for your child. Because advocating is the only reason we got where we are today. Let's get started. Diagnosis When we were finally admitted to the ho...