Wow! Liebster Award

When I started blogging here at Being Free, I never expected that I would still be posting 9 years later. The blog has progressed in a lot of ways, but still has a limited following. Limited, but very loyal and supportive. (Thanks you guys! ~MUWAH~)

One of the most amazing ladies I have met is another blogger. I only use the word "amazing" because there's not a nicer one to describe her. Sandy authors the addictingly inspiring Sandy's POV. My blog wants to be her blog when it grows up! LOL

It is Sandy who nominated me for the Liebster Award and I cannot thank her enough.

Now comes the fun part. I'm going to share some information about myself via the following Q & A, then I will pay this honor forward by nominating 11 blogs of my choosing. (Don't worry, I will list the rules at the bottom of this post.)

Ready? Set. Go!

1. How did you decide on the name of your blog?

At that time of my life, I was going through a lot of personal changes. The blog was my way to connect and share with people in a safe way - like free therapy. I didn't want to use my actual name so I decided to call myself "Free" (as in breaking free) and I was temporarily wanting to be "free" of a lot of things. So... I decided on Free Being Free. Because of something to do with Blogger (I don't remember exactly), I ended up with just "Being Free". 

2. Where does your blogging inspiration come from?

At the start, I just wanted to express my own take on people I observed and things that were going on in my life. As I progressed, I started focusing on specific things that interested me. In the past year or so, I have been doing product reviews. Since I like using as many "natural" things as I can for nutrition and personal care, I really enjoy reviewing products and sharing information for that.

3 What is it that you love most about blogging?
Everything, especially since I was hit with a chronic disease that limits my life in other ways. I've "met" so many nice people through blogging. Also, blogging allows me to feel productive and useful during the times I am able to function well. I joke that blogging lets me exercise the parts of my brain that still works well!

4 What is your favorite food?
Pizza. Otherwise, I'm easy. I like just about anything that isn't spicy. My favorite snack is salami sandwiches. I like blended fruits and veggies. And smoke clams. I love smoked clams.

5 What is your favorite thing to drink (alcoholic or not)?
Coffee. With sweetened creamer. I'm not much for alcohol, but I do like iced wines for special occasions. I'm recently drinking more water and trying to make it a habit.

6 What is an item you cannot live without?
My phone. That's because it contains just about everything else I need: my Bible, my address book, and so on. If I didn't have my phone, I'd want my Bible more than all else.

7 What are eleven random facts about yourself?

1. I like being a loner 90% of the time.
2. Blue jeans, t-shirts and tennis shoes as a wardrobe make me very happy.
3. My writing spot is a tiny vintage travel trailer on the side of our house that I am attempting to pretty up. In about 2 weeks' time, I've managed to sand a 12-inch section of a wall. 
4. I don't have kids, but I helped raise four of my nieces and nephews. Now I have a "grandson" who I adore. He also adores me. Mostly because I make him PB&J "sammiches" every day.
5. My nickname is Penny, but my grandkid calls me "BooBoo". He calls people whatever they call him and I always called him "my little booboo". I'm lucky. He calls one of his aunts "Stinky" and a friend of ours is labeled "Juicy". I'm good with BooBoo.
6. I love playing Farmville 2 (and hate myself for it). It's the only way I can farm without being outdoors. 
7. I'm fiercely in love with my big, crazy, wonderful family and can't be happy when I'm too far away from them. I tried to live in England once and lasted about 3 months before I had to get back "home".
8. I was born in Texas, but raised in Alaska. I don't like extreme heat or cold. Go figure that one out.
9. My favorite colors are (currently) red and gold. Unless it's jewelry. I don't like gold jewelry. Unless there are pearls in it. Lots of pearls.
10. I have a piece of metal behind one eye. Don't know how it got there, but I can't have MRIs. I think it might have something to do with having 4 brothers. That's what my doctors have decided.
11. I'm a bit of a conspiracy theorist and I don't think that's a bad thing. Conspiracies happen and I'm allowed to have a theory, right?

8 If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?

Just about anywhere with 4 seasons. And with family somewhere really close by. For now, I'll stick with Alaska because 1 out of 2 ain't bad.

9 If you could meet anyone from history, alive or dead, who would it be?
I'd really like to meet whoever designed freeway roundabouts. So I can smack the back of their head. If I can't have that, I'd like to meet my maternal grandmother because she died when I was a baby.
10 What is your favorite outdoor activity?
Walking. To get back indoors as fast as I can. I'm not an outdoors person.

11 Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Living happily in my "tiny house" travel trailer, finishing the novel I started about 9 years ago. I'll settle for just living happily.

Here are my nominees for the Liebster Award:

1. Bama Blog
2. Seattle Amie Ryan
3. Gwen Sutton
4. Dacotah
5. Small Town Life
6. Samalexwrites 

THE RULES

For those who have been nominated for The Liebster Award AND YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT, write a blog post about the Liebster award in which you: 

• Thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on your blog. 
• Display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”. (Note that the best way to do this is to save the image to your own computer and then upload it to your blog post.)
• Answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided to you by the person who nominated you.
• Provide 11 random facts about yourself.
• Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have a less than 1000 followers. (Note that you can always ask the blog owner this since not all blogs display a widget that lets the readers know this information!)
• Create a new list of questions for the blogger to answer.
• List these rules in your post (You can copy and paste from here.) Once you have written and published it, you then have to:
• Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster award and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it!)

These are your 11 questions:

1. How did you decide on the name of your blog?
2. Where does your blogging inspiration come from?
3. What is it that you love most about blogging?
4. What is your favorite food?
5. What is your favorite thing to drink (alcoholic or not)?
6. What is an item you cannot live without?
7. What are eleven random facts about yourself?
8. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
9. If you could meet anyone from history, alive or dead, who would it be?
10. What is your favorite outdoor activity?
11. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Peace

--Free

**REVIEW** Rechargeable Foot File & Callus Remover

Wow!

I just got to try out this little life-saver here...

This is the Naturalico Rechargeable Electronic Pedicure Foot File & Callus Remover.

Now, I talk about my feet so much because they are the least favorite part of my body. I used to have beautiful feet: nice arches, soft, smooth heels and lovely nails. My feet were made for sandals. At one time.


About 13 years ago, I took on an extra job that was part-time perfect. It was just for the Christmas season, paid great money, and the hours fit with my full-time job. The best thing about it (other than the extra money) was that it was like getting paid to work out and stay fit. The worst thing about it was something I discovered on about the 3rd day: it was ruining my feet. Standing and walking on a concrete floor for around 9 to 10 hours each night was just brutal. I worked the job past the initial 1-month casual/temp contract and lasted around 4 months.

Was the job worth it? In the short term, it was. I paid up and saved up and our family had some extra financial breathing room for about a year. The damage to my feet has lasted longer. When my arches dropped, I started developing calluses and corns. ~sigh~

Anyway. That's the story of my feet.... This is the story about this product:

Let me go over what I really like so much about this:

simple & effective right out of the box

1. No tricky set-up. Can use right out of the box, even if it's not fully charged, because...
2. ... You can use it while it's charging. 
3. Uses a grinder head instead of blades. (I do not like blades!)
4. The grinder head (2 are included) is effective but gentle on even the less callused areas.
5. Very easy to use. No learning curve.
6. Does a great job without me having to exert a lot of pressure.
7. Doesn't jam up like some other similar products.

This works better than I expected. I was probably surprised because I once used a similar product that was really quite useless.

On the technical side, this callus remover spins 360 degrees at the rate of 40 turns per second. 

This callus remover comes with a light that is built in. I really didn't need the light, but it's nice that it's there. I did use the included cleaning brush quite a bit. It's just a small brush with soft bristles that I used to clean out all that icky dead skin from around the grinder and off my feet as I worked.

The product comes with information for registering the product for a Limited Lifetime Warranty on the machine, not the roller. 

Once again, I was more than surprised by the ease of use and effectiveness of this product. I'm glad I got to try it and I will be buying one to give out as a gift for someone who has an upcoming birthday :-)

Peace

--Free

DISCLOSURE: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

My reviews will also any negative feedback that I have regarding a product.

**REVIEW** LG G4 Wallet Case by Abacus 24-7

As promised, I have some more product reviews ready (though not in the order I expected!)

This first item up is this phone case I plan to give to a friend when this review is finished.

It's the LG G4 Wallet Case from Abacus 24-7. The case has four functions:

1. Case
2. Wallet (holds cards, ID and cash)
3. Stand (for viewing videos, etc,)
4. Protects the out part of the phone

And, best of all, you could get it for under $10 if you catch the discounted price. 

Now, that said, I have bought cases in the same price range that were a total waste of the money. Get what you pay for, right? One case that I paid around $20 for (still not too pricey, but...) and the clasp didn't work if you put more than one card in a slot. Another case I bought literally started to come apart at the seams. My library card sliced right through one of the slots because the "leather" was like paper.

This case is not real leather. Of course not. It's a $10 item. The product info describes it as "premium quality artificial leather". Okay.

On the plus side, the artificial material is not that shiny, cheapest-looking kind.

What I like about this is that, for the price, it's not bad. The clasp does work, even when you put a card in each of the slots. I only had three bills to test the cash slot with, but... the magnetic clasp still closed.

The artificial leather is thin. When the description indicates protection for your phone, I take that to mean that it will protect the outer parts from scratching. This is not one of those cases that keep your phones safe from being dropped on hard surfaces. Not a lot of cushioning.

It looks good. Though it might not stand up to a lot of long-term wear and tear, this is actually a decent case. Best uses will be for when you don't want to carry a big purse (or a purse at all) and just need to keep your phone, ID, cards and some cash nearby.

Like I said, I got this to give to someone who likes the case I keep my phone in. I'm always dashing to the store or just up the street, and I love having my essentials with me without hauling the luggage I use as a purse! LOL

Also, this comes with the assurance of "30 day risk-free buying" and there is a 1 year warranty. You don't always get that with a product triple the price. Not a bad gift for yourself, a friend or a young person. By the way, Abacus 24-7 has cases for various phone models.

Peace

--Free

DISCLOSURE: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

More Reviews Are Coming (promise)

Sorry that I've been slacking off on the reviews lately. I'm really trying to get back in the groove with the blogs. There are a couple of reviews coming up on this one, and I have been posting a bit on This Woman Child, but it's hard to keep up with anything when I feel so wiped out.

Yeah, yeah, yawn...

The water challenge is helping. Matter of fact, I no longer consider it a temporary challenge but as an addition to my lifestyle. Not that hard to drink the water now that I have set a do-able daily goal (6 of my 18-ounce bottles) that helps with my digestion as well as keeping me hydrated.

Don't nominate me yet!
(source)

My problem right now is fatigue. I've been so exhausted the last couple of days that I forgot to take my weekly medicine - which is kind of a big deal... My sister Mike used to remind me to take the med, but since she's been gone, I've either been too sick with colds to take it, or I've just forgotten. But mostly just fatigued. Ugh.


The other problem is that I just can't always focus as well as I'd like to. Good days, bad days. I'm sure stress doesn't help.

ANYWAY...

I have some reviews coming up very soon.The one I'm most excited about has to do with feet! Yes, me and these dawgs of mine are going to be trying out another product. Can't wait to see how it works and share the news with you.

The other product is one that you'll be interested in if you are as into using natural oils as I am. It's not an oil, but it's going to help me use the ones I already have.

Then there is a product I got to try out with my phone. ~sigh~ The problem with having a good (i.e.: expensive) phone is that I have to do all that I can to make it last several years. By the way, the phone accessory that I will be reviewing via Tomoson is not so much for protection as it is for style. Never fear, though, I will be reviewing an accessory that is for protecting the phone. Good news for owners of the Galaxy Note 4 because I haven't seen many good cases for that model yet.

Anyway, this is just a post to update you on the product reviews that are coming shortly. Also, I am going to start reviewing products on my other blog. These will be items and services that might interest anyone with Christian faith.

So, new stuff coming in the next week or so. Hold tight!

Peace
--Free

Day 3 of the Water Challenge

Sooo.... I didn't quite make my water limit today. I just realized that Sundays will need to be a 40 or 60 ounce day of the week. (Do you know how distracting it is to the service for someone to jump and make a bathroom dash every 20 minutes? Do you?)


Anyway, I did great the first 2 days of the challenge, and I will be back on the jug tomorrow. As for how I'm doing, I can tell you that, if I wanted to activate my bowels, I could have skipped that Miracle Tea and gone straight for the water. Water is truly a lubricant. Truly. Trust me.

My skin feels good. I can tell the most difference in my hands and face. My torso and feet still need the extra moisture provided with my oils. I guess it's going to take some time to fully hydrate my body completely.

Here's an interesting observation I made today. I had just an 18 ounce bottle when I woke up, then I sipped my way through another 12 ounces during church. Afterwards, I hit the library and chugged about 16 ounces while I was there.

46 ounces of water would have been a lot for me last week. I guess after doing all the extra water for 2 days, my body was starting to like it. I was so thirsty when I got home that I downed a couple of glasses standing right at the kitchen sink. I haven't had such a craving for water since I lived in Arizona.

Apparently, it's water that does a body good...



Before starting this challenge, there were days I was doing great to get more than 20 ounces of plain water. I think my body was so used to being deprived that it was a bit spoiled by 2 days of the water challenge. Weird, right? Or maybe not.

When I tried to check whether or not my reaction was normal, I ran across lots of comments like this one at the top of this page.

Huh.

Maybe it's just that, since I am drinking more water, I'm not craving (or getting) as much fluid from other sources. I notice I'm drinking less coffee and I am eating less. Because of these changes, I'm probably not getting as much fluid overall. I have a theory that water is far more hydrating that coffee teas and juices.

Whatever the case, I can definitely make two claims from my experience so far:

1. It's getting easier to drink more and more of my gallon jug
2. Parts of my skin is a lot less dry

I've heard from friends that, eventually, I will even stop having to pee as much. I'm not sure how that works. Water in, water out, right? 

I have another theory. This one is about the claims that drinking more water will aid in weight loss. I hear that the weight loss is because you eat less food/have less cravings when you drink more water. I don't think that's it. I believe it's because all the water improves your digestion and, um. waste flow. Seriously. Also, the water flushes out a lot of the salt, and doesn't salt cause a lot of water retention? If I'm flushing out the salt with all the water I'm drinking, then I am retaining less of the wat-

Oh wait. Now I have confused myself!

No, no. I am onto something. You can use water to fight water retention. Whew! Good.

(source)

Nice to know more about how drinking water helps with the weight loss.  Even better to know what it does for the cardiovascular system...

So, yeah, this water challenge is good for me so far. I'm going to check some other sites to see how other challengers  are doing with their chugging.

Peace

--Free

Water Challenge

I started the Water Challenge yesterday. With some modifications.

The challenge is to drink a gallon of water each day for a month. Sorry, but I got halfway through my gallon by lunchtime and knew that it wasn't even feasible for me to do an entire gallon each day - unless I cut out all other fluid sources (coffee, fruit, veggies, etc). I will be shooting for a minimum of 100 ounces each day.

Because I know that it's beneficial to ones health (and vanity) to drink more water, I am sticking to the challenge, but I modified the amount. Not by much, but...

First, because it makes my brain hurt, let's get some math and recommendations out of the way:

• A 'cup' = 8 ounces
• A gallon (U.S.) = 128 ounces
• Certain factors need to be considered to determine individual fluid needs
• Here is a conversion chart for those who need it
• Foods that count as fluid (useful for those on a kidney diet - but see your doctor!)

Most recommendations I've heard of all my life are to drink 8 glasses (or cups) of water each day. So, I decided that my minimum target should be those 8 glasses (8 ounces each) of water each day - or 64 ounces. Like I mentioned, I am going to aim for 100 ounces per day, but I'm okay with 80.

Of course, we can find lots of benefits to drinking more water - or, I should say, enough water. I have to tell you that, even after just one day of drinking close to 100 ounces, I noticed one major difference: my hands didn't go bone dry in between moisturizing. Here are some other effects of getting enough water:

• May help prevent some kidney problems. 
• Water helps us feel full so it can help with weight loss
• Helps with food digestion
• Provides hydration which helps with skin issues
• Prevents dehydration. Uh, duh!

Even though there are lots of benefits to drinking water, I do hope people doing these water challenges realize there are also some risks to overdoing it:

• People with certain medical conditions/treatments have to watch fluid intake (dialysis patients, for example)
• There is such a thing as water intoxication.
• And, on a common sense level, don't let water replace intake of proper nutrition
• Always check with your doctor before making any drastic changes - even drinking lots of water for a challenge

I don't think I am going to have to worry about overhydration. I made it halfway through the day and realized why my pedometer app was sending me kudos for almost doubling my daily step level. I made so many trips to the bathroom that I was getting plenty of exercise. That made me want to laugh, but I was in the middle of the grocery store and too far from a bathroom to get into a giggle fit.

Lots of people are talking about drinking more water. I like this idea -

(source)

This is what my gallon jug looked like a couple hours before I went to bed last night (or attempted to) -

sigh...

Yeah. Then, after that, I still managed to put down another 16 ounces or so. It took me three tries to actually settle down and sleep. The first time, I was back up every twenty minutes or so, trotting to the bathroom.  (And I found this both high-larious and useful!!!)

This is what I'm using to drink from. 

It's an 18 ounce bottle that I picked up at Walmart for around $1.08. I feel like I can drain it pretty quick without feeling like I've got a ton of water to drink. It's a good way to pace my intake.

Today, I am going to try to get the first 80 ounces down before 6 or 7 pm. That way, I might be able to get a no-trot night of sleep before church tomorrow. 

I'm thinking that I might ought to mark my gallon jug the way some people are doing - 

Love this one the best
(source)

I love it! Looks so much better than what I did to mine this morning...

a little uninspiring :-(

Yeah. I'm going to be re-doing my bottle! LOL

Anyway, I'll be letting you know how the whole thing goes. If nothing else, I will lost a few pounds from all the extra walking to the bathroom!

yeah, that's me on the left

Peace

--Free

Decorative Dietary Fiber? Yep.

A few years back, when I first started juicing, I ran across an unusual piece of fruit. Tried it, loved it, but didn't get any photos.

Yesterday, I found the fruit at my local grocery store. Yay!

This is the dragon fruit. Or the pitaya.

Top: fruit has been removed
Bottom: Fruit still in the rind

When I was adding my own photos for this post, I found this one online.

Notice that mine didn't have this color of meat inside. Huh.

Now I want to find a piece of fruit with that deeper color of meat. Pretty. By the way, the source for that photo has an awesome smoothie recipe!

Other than being so very, very pretty, it's got a lot of dietary and tasty benefits:

• High in fiber
• Low in calories
• Low in cholesterol 
• Very "meaty" 
• Good source of antioxidants
• Pleasant taste (sort of like a blander kiwi fruit)

Here is a link to more info about and benefits of the fruit. I didn't even know about the fats and Vitamin C until I saw this page. 

If you are thinking of trying it, these links could be useful:

• Some caloric info and recipes
• How to choose, cut and serve the fruit
• Wandering Chopsticks has a recipe I can't wait to try
• Golubka Kitchen even has a salad recipe

So, there are a lot of ways to use this fruit. I kind of wish I could just shellac the shell and use it as decoration! 

Of course, it's kind of pricey. Everything tends to be more expensive up here, but I'm always surprised at the close to $9.00/lb price for this fruit. Thankfully, one piece is enough for at least 2  or 3 uses in juicing.

The advantage to this being such a pretty piece of fruit is that the shell can be used when serving it. 

(source)

(source)

If anyone has any other recipes, let me know.

Peace

--Free