Imagine you’ve been torn from your world to save a people you did not even know existed. Your very identity and appearance stolen and altered to fit the schemes of a desperate people looking for salvation at any cost.
Empty of heart, Kridina is consumed not only by her own rage, but by the SunFire that chose her as it’s host. She must learn to control both if she is to not only survive her destiny, but prevent becoming the herald of destruction prophesied about.
Only one thing can temper the SunFire and rage that Kridina carries. An enigma to the ones that arrogantly thought only they knew what was needed. ColdFire. Wielded by no man. Or so they thought..
I would like to direct your attention to my new website where Kri’s Kurious Korner will now be hosted. Please make your way over to Kridina.com and don’t forget to join my email list for the new Kurious Newsletter!
Thanks so much for your support and I hope to see you on the other side.
When our family started this home-schooling adventure, it was such a big and scary thing! As the years went by, it did not seem such a big deal and my boys were frequently complimented for not only their knowledge, but their behavior and kindness towards other. Then, the High-School age began to loom over us and I was uncertain how to handle it as there were not so many helpful blogs and services out there for that particular age group at the time. In fact, the few places I could look went from education in a fun and interesting way to a sudden dry and uninteresting format. As if people hit a sudden block to making learning fun in the high-school years. It’s bull.
I must not have been the only one to feel this way, because more and more authors, blogs, sites, families, companies, and more began offering ideas and products that continued to make learning fun even for the maturing high-schooler. I was thankful and so were my boys. There is so much out there for high-schoolers these days, but perhaps you are wondering where to find them? We have free services, boxed curriculum, and the more niche fitting curriculum a person can use.
So…free you say? yep, there are free and good resources out there for high-schoolers, such as Easy Peasy All-in-One High School, which I consider very user friendly. For a more classical approach, some free resources are: The Classical Curriculum and Ambleside -leaning towards Ambleside more-However, not all materials and needs that go along with it will be free. You can do further research to find matching/similar free book materials here. Ambleside does have some links to free resources available and I feel the format is a bit easier to follow. Still, neither is as easy to follow along as Easy Peasy, which is also pretty all-inclusive when it comes to curriculum needs. One last free resource I think is fabulous is Khan’s Academy. I can not say enough about it. it’s good and can help even the most math reluctant individual out there into learning something.
One site I have used and found great and chock full of helpful utilities at a fairly low cost is SchoolhouseTeachers.com. You can find my review for them here. You can also look into a really fun math and science focused site called Supercharged Science. They have a lot of free online classes and events as well as paid for services (Money Back Guarantee, even). My boys always enjoyed her classes in the past. Another fairly low-cost option is Time4Learning, though we have chosen to go other routes.
For our family, we tend to prefer a combination of resource types and do not rely on only online. In fact, one year we stayed away from it entirely due to the fact one son was not very good at staying away from games and videos having nothing to do with his schooling. Hard to block such things when many online curriculum happen to use the same sites! Not to mention, teenagers figure it out, hmm? For years we relied on My Father’s World curriculum. It was fabulous until High School, where it suddenly got dry and boring and my boys were really unenthusiastic about it. I still think it is wonderful for the grade-school ages, but for High-School we went with Master Books curriculum, which my boys enjoyed far more for their High-School needs.
The thing about learning is this: It truly is life long! Not only do my boys use books, videos, curriculum, and multiple resources to expand their knowledge, I do as well! You are never too old to learn something new or to increase your knowledge on an already known subject. The resources I listed are only a drop in the hat. We are so fortunate to live in an age where so much is at our fingertips. Take advantage! Whether you home school, are seeking additional schooling support, or just want to learn for yourself, these resources are sure to help you get there.
Until next time
*This post contains a few affiliate links, though no one asked me to write it and I was not provided any incentive to.
Steps…what the heck? Yup, I am talking about walking. My journey (Ha! – see what I did there?) to walking more for health and fitness began when I saw a post from a personal friend of mine regarding her new job. She had gotten a Fitbit and posted how many steps she had taken that week. I recall it was over 15,000 steps for just 1 day- 3 times the amount the average American walks each day. I’d been trying to think of ways to fit in more activity despite being busy and not finding time to actually make it to the gym now that I was frequently stuck at a house caring for an infant…and trying to make sure I did a certain number of steps each day seemed something I could accomplish no matter where I was!
So, I did a little research to find out how many steps was considered “active”. I found that a relatively inactive person does less than 3,000 steps a day, so I thought “I’ll aim for 4,000 so I’m not considered inactive and go from there”. So, because I did not have a Fitbit, I went and downloaded a step app for my phone. I was ready to go! And then I realized a couple things. 1. I don’t always carry my phone around the house, especially if I don’t have a pocket. This meant I was missing out on steps I’d actually done. 2. Making at least 3,000 steps a day while doing Nanny work wasn’t so difficult, but while at home? Sad to say I can tell you of one day where I did under 400 steps. Go ahead and take 400 steps and you will realize how little that is for an entire day.
So, I started looking into the Fitbit idea more and more. Oh, and before you start thinking this is a review or that the links I offer in this post will make me money, they don’t. I did not receive a Fitbit for this post. I simply just found a way to be more active and healthy and wanted to share with you my experience. Perhaps it will motivate you just as seeing my friend’s post motivated me. Anyways, the more I looked into it, the more I liked the idea of something I could wear and not worry about forgetting when I ran up the stairs to get the baby I cared for from a nap or to make a change.
So, there is a wonderful thing about birthdays. You get to tell people what you want for yours! So, I went to my dear hubby and informed him I wanted a Fitbit for my birthday. And yes, for those that know me well, Doctor who was mentioned. I always want Doctor Who stuff, but the Fitbit was top of my list this time! This year my birthday, March 6th, fell on a Monday, so we celebrated it mostly the weekend before and I received my lovely Fitbit Flex 2 from my hubby. My daughter made a big deal of it and said “See, I told you he listened!” He did, indeed.
It will be 2 weeks this weekend since I received my new wonder, and I went from aiming to 4,000, then 8,000, to getting a wee bit competitive using the “Work Day Hustle” challenge feature between my friend and I. Now I’m walking over 15,000 steps every day this week thus far. Made surviving Universal Studios yesterday a breeze! I think I might be OK taking it down a notch this weekend and just try to make sure I move a little every hour and do my usual activity. But, maybe I wont be satisfied if I don’t get in some good walking each day. we shall see.
It’s another home-school day in the gamer’s household. For me, it means contacting my sons from where I am working and going over things when I get off or on days I don’t work. Needing to work has added more challenge to our home-school, but I don’t worry too much because they are well into high school curriculum and can pretty much take care of it themselves. Working outside the home hasn’t been the only recent challenge, though. Helping my sons find their passions and utilize it as growing young men (and very soon adults!) can be hard! Well, let me clarify. It’s not so hard for Sir A. But for Mr. M? He has his passions, but certain things get in the way. Like having Asperger’s and tibial torsion.
For those that don’t know, Asperger’s is a high functioning autism and tibial torsion means Mr. M’s lower legs do not grow straight. He is actually very fortunate as many with his condition can not walk or run, much less ride a bike. While he finds it uncomfortable, he can ride a bike. One thing he can’t really do well at is standing in place for more than a couple minutes. So, when your passion happens to be all things military, this presents a problem. But, perhaps the Home School Adventure Co. could help with that?
I have noticed Mr. M does like camping, fishing, and traveling to a certain extent, which is why I when was offered a free copy of WALKING WITH THE WAODANI STUDY from the Home School Adventure Co. I thought it might be right up his alley. Except, I’ve been having a very hard time getting Mr. M motivated to do anything all this school year! He is now eighteen and now understands his limits much better and it seems to have taken a toll on his enthusiasm. So while Sir A. and I found the unit study interesting, I really had a difficult time coaxing my eldest to care about it.
Still. I have a review to write and perhaps you don’t really care about the plight of Mr. M. But, frankly, your just going to have to deal with my writing about both! Perhaps others out there know my frustration and his pains. I know my son, and I know he would love to go on a mission like the one covered in the unit study. I also know that he’ll most likely have no problem doing it in the fall when he does not have his mind set on the curriculum already presented to him. Mr. M. Has a one track mind and it’s very difficult for him to switch tactics, making my being on the Homeschool Review Crew in the middle of his school year something he’s just not been very gung ho for. I still keep showing Mr. M the different opportunities, and as time goes by, he seems to showing more and more interest.
So! Walking with the Waodani, eh? What is this and why would I think teenagers would be interested in such a thing? For one, it involves a true and sincere story of another young man, a teenager himself, wanting to follow in the footsteps of some brave missionaries to Ecuador. Imagine being the parents of such a young man and having to make the decision on whether or not to allow him to go on such a journey? Ecuador is not well known for its safety to outsiders, especially from the Waodani, but their story and eventual acceptation of the Christian faith is an amazing testimony of love and forgiveness.
This unit study shares a fabulous and inspiring story that began in 1949 when the mission aviation base was established in the abandoned Shell Mera oil base. A group of missionaries reached out to the Waodoni in 1956, which ended in tragedy. But, this tragedy did not stop the spirit inspired hearts of the family members of those lost. It is their story that inspires the young man in this wonderful unit study to go to Ecuador himself, decades later.
Hungry for more??
So, how did our family use this unit study? With curriculum already in place and a son who isn’t very receptive to changing stuff up, it forced me to think of ways I could…sneak it in! First, we already have a required reading time, so I had them read it on their own time. We then used dinner time and other impromptu moments to just talk about what was read. I used the including worksheets and questions as the basis for our discussions and then allowed the conversation to flow naturally from there. Let’s just say grubs and spaghetti dinner wasn’t well liked by their father, but it did give us a very interesting and energetic meal time conversation and quite a bit of laughter!
One benefit of getting snippets of new curriculum such as this unit study is it helps me gauge what my boys might be interested for the summer or fall, and I can say that my boys would be quite happy to compete this study with all the different activities found within it. Even my eldest, reluctant, son easily participated in the conversations and because he does like to read, he got more out of it than I had originally anticipated . So, it goes to show you that introducing new things, no matter the age or challenges involved, can help open up a new world of opportunities you might have otherwise missed. Don’t give up if your child is in a difficult emotional spot or having to come to terms with things that might limit them. Be sure to apply this to yourself when it comes to your own challenges and limits.
MOVING ON…
I really do think you would be fascinated by the story of the Waodani in Ecuador. Interestingly enough, my youngest son found one thing that stuck out at him the most. The Waodani was known to be one of the most blood thirsty tribes in the world. So blood thirsty that when they began to seek a more peaceful life style, they ran into a problem. What to do as they got older! You see, they were usually killed and unable to experience being an older person! My son’s comment on this, and I believe it’s echoed in the study itself: It’s a good problem to have, don’t you think?
Sir A. watches one of the videos about the young man’s experiences on HomeSchoolAdventure YouTube channel
I’ve been trying to think of a witty conclusion to this post, but the funny thing about life? it sorta just keeps going even when you are ready for an off day. or week. Nah, I’m looking for a month, at least! Yes, being on the Homeschool Review Crew has been challenging, but it’s given me and my family such great opportunities to explore possibilities I would not otherwise have, such as getting a sneak peak at the study about the Waodani in Ecuador. Soon, you should be able to find it on Amazon, and I’ll be sure to update this post with that link when it is. This price is subject to change, but they anticipate Walking with Waodani to be $14.95 for the digital edition and $18.95 for the print edition. Also, to see more ways other families are using this study, check out other reviews here! Keep and eye out and I’ll be around.
It should be no secret by now that I am a gamer. I’ll play games on the table, the PC, a console, and on the run with my iPhone or iPad (Think Pokemon Go). Mostly I like PC games. I also happen to like people and I seem to like them better while playing on the PC. It seems the types of games on the PC attract a certain type of player. However, because of my disabilities and challenges I found myself frequently trying to run groups with an eye on helping others, like me, to enjoy gaming without the stress of some of the more militant groups. IE: I run a guild and have for years. I play games to have fun and to take a break from the every day grind and pains of life. Happens to all of us, after all. But, sometimes it feels like the game becomes the job and it loses it’s ability to provide a positive outlet for my recreational time.
One key factor is trying to gather people for set days and times. One would think this would make life easier for all. They would know when to meet up and can plan accordingly. The problem with this is that many people, including myself, have jobs, families, problems, and things that just cropup. Some days…weeks..no months..ok for the past…forever..I feel like this happens to me and others all the time.
The problem isn’t always that things happen. That’s life. The problem is few want to take my place when life comes at me hard and fast. I don’t blame them. It’s a lot of work running a guild. See, there is that word: Work. Most hard working folks with families and health issues don’t have the time, energy, or inclination to take on such a task. I am not bothered by this. Happens to me all to often. What bothers me are the people who give me and other leaders a hard time for having to put “real life first” who either were not willing to help or had not offered to help. They want someone to do all the work and they resent that you are no longer doing that for the moment.
This is where you find out who really is someone that gives a damn about the people they game with. They will stay in touch. Check up. Reconnect when things are smoothing out enough in their lives for them to do so. If you have to take a break and someone bails for another group, unfriends you, and leaves no trace of the fact you had counted them as one among your group…you can pretty much be assured they were only there for what they could gain.
Sadly, they missed out on the biggest gain of all: Lifelong friendship with understanding people that will be there for you when life throws you a curve ball. Because, when I come back..I come back for them and for those that are still there over the years cutting me some slack, happy to hear my voice, catch up on whats been going on, and load up that next game….dude, that’s fun. Not a job.
Like many Americans, I’ve watched this politically charged season on the edge of my seat. I’m not one to speak out much on politics. I make my voice heard in the polls, but outside of that I tend to stay pretty quiet.
However, in the world of social media, no matter how much you try to avoid the political tension, you can’t.
It screams.
LOUDLY.
You scroll through social media and see posts on: women’s rights, immigration issues, health care, LGBTQ equality, etc.
And people are MAD.
REALLY MAD.
Now before you decide where I’m headed with this post, let me just say, this is not a commentary on my personal stances on these issues. Although at some point I will most likely speak out, for now, this is simply a response to the noise – to all the fighting, the name calling and the division.
I’ve never been the best at planning. Especially when it comes to planning out my financial health. That is what I consider it now as I near my 43rd birthday. The health of my finances has always been somewhat important to me. Especially when it was poor. And it seems to have been poor for most my life. In recent years I got it to the point where it was…passing. Barely. I just couldn’t get to the point I actually had anything saved! I knew if I did not figure it out, I would wind up in the hole the moment something went wrong. And it did. It always does.
Before you start throwing out helpful remarks, links, books, and programs..let me assure you..my mother has already showed me pretty much all of them. The problem has never been the program. The problem has been with me. I don’t handle money well. I have reasons for these. They would probably even make sense to most if I laid it all out. However, just as I did not give myself an excuse to be a bad parent because things were rough for me growing up, I should not be excusing myself for how I save (or dont, actually) money.
So, yes! My bills were on time for quite a few years. I would immediately pay bills when payday came around. If it was gonna be due before the next one, I paid it. I felt very good about this. I still kinda do. I was always behind in the past and racking up late fees and additional deposits and destroying my credit. Now, I was caught up and not behind. My credit improved and I was quite pleased with myself. However, just as quickly as I paid my bills, I was just as quick to spend what was left of it. I was not saving a thing and not getting any closer to some of my dream goals. A house. A travel Trailer. To not be living off of cat-food when we became too old to work. To actually afford retirement.
So, what is my plan anyways? I am just beginning the general outline. First thing I know I must do…is work. And I have. I have worked my arse off, and in less than 2 weeks, I’ve gotten us out of the hole I dug us into. But, I refuse to be at “ground level” any longer. I am gonna grow my money tree and climb it, dammit! For me, it’s as simple as making a decision and doing it. To have more self control and make my dreams come true. Excuses won’t do that for me. Working hard on it will.
Look, I am not here to give you a grand success story. There is no trick or easy way to make big chances in your life that will take you where you want to go. I’m not going to sell you a lie. I am here to tell you I am not going to make excuses for my poor financial health. Not only that, I plan on doing something about it. One step at a time. Even if it’s just a dollar a week, I am going to save something. I can pretty much guarantee you can do the same. If all else fails, I am sure there is a dime in the street. No more excuses.
I came across this in my morning explorations and studies and thought it was too good not to share. This is not my writing, so proper credit is given. You can find the original post here.
You’re Not Messing Up God’s Plan for You
By Ariel Szuch February 22, 2017
For a lot of my life, I’ve wondered if I was messing up God’s plan for me.
I’ve agonized over making THE RIGHT CHOICE—a common dilemma for someone in my stage of life where big decisions are looming. The one on my mind most often lately is where to go next with my career, but before it’s been where to go to college, whom to date, where to live, how to fulfill my calling, and so on. I’ve wondered if I’m even capable of reaching my potential. It’s tempting to think that God has some master plan that He’s measuring me against, and if I take one misstep I’ve missed my chance for happiness forever, or at the very least I’ll be doomed to walk around with the nagging feeling that I’m constantly disappointing God.
But you know what? As I’ve examined that mindset, I’ve learned that I need a better understanding of God and what the term “His plan for me” means.
I’m learning that God is much less a divine dictator who demands perfect compliance to a predetermined plan for our individual lives and much more a co-creator with us of the kind of lives we want to live. I’m learning that His plan for me is a lot less like a laser-crossed minefield and a lot more of a journey of coming to know myself and coming to know Him.
What God’s plan isn’t: My expectations of how my life “should” be
I have a lot of “should” voices in my head. They say things like, “I should be married. I should be better at this dating thing by now. I should know what I want to be when I grow up. I should have a 5-year plan and a 401k and a perfect, step-by-step plan of how to get to my dream career—starting yesterday. Because I don’t, I’m a failure.”
God’s voice, unsurprisingly, does not agree.
What God’s plan is: A journey of joyful discovery that begins where I am
Through multiple impressions, God keeps telling me that this time in my life is a period of joyful discovery—emphasis on the joyful. An impression I received recently as I was stressing over finding the “perfect career” was this: “Ariel, I don’t care what you do to pay the bills. Have fun! Explore. Do what you want to do. Just keep writing, and we will do great things together.”
Well, all right then.
I question answers like that, wondering if this is some sort of test to see if I’ll choose right and win His approval or choose wrong and disappoint Him. I stress out and hesitate to act because I’m worried about doing the “wrong” thing. What an answer like that really means is to move forward with confidence that as I act in accordance with my righteous desires, counseling with God along the way, I’m following His plan for me. God understands where I am. He is patient with my progress, and every sincere effort counts to Him. If He is okay with my learning process, I can be too.
What God’s plan isn’t: God’s will forced upon me
I’ve often battled the fear that if I committed myself to doing whatever God asked, He would force me to do something I didn’t want to do.
I told God I didn’t want to go on a mission. Nope. It’s too hard, and you can’t make me. Besides, I had a plan, and it involved finishing my education and a certain young man that I was certain would be part of my future.
I’m sure you can guess what’s coming.
What God’s plan is: Invitations to reconcile my will with His and practice trusting Him
It’s interesting—with the clearest impressions I’ve ever received, such as the prompting I had to go on a mission, God has always made it just as clear that it is my choice whether or not to obey. He knows the deepest desires of my heart and He wants me to come back to Him, and so as I seek His guidance, He shows me how to achieve those desires. He is always trying to give me what I really, truly want. But it is always, always my choice.
I had a choice to make, and I was terrified. My future had seemed so neatly laid out before me, but with the prospect of a mission, it had changed overnight. I felt much less certain of how my desires for my life would come to pass, but I knew this was an invitation to practice trusting God—trusting that He knew what I wanted better than I did and that this path would be the way to achieve those desires. I chose to serve.
So here I am, several years after my mission. I did graduate from college after returning home, but that young man got married to someone else, and I have yet to see some of my desires materialize. Trusting God is something I practice every day. Being without the desires of my heart has kept me turning to God, kept me seeking Him, and I can’t help but wonder if that was the whole point after all—to use this time in my life to come to know Him and how He works with me.
What God’s plan isn’t: Only one perfect, rigid way to live my life “correctly” with my mistakes and correct choices predetermined by God
God does not dictate every choice we make. It isn’t God’s will for us to make specific wrong choices. It’s God’s will that we have the opportunity to choose for ourselves.
Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other. —2 Nephi 2:16
It’s His will that we have a safe space to learn from our own experience, so lessons can travel from our heads to our hearts. He doesn’t make me make mistakes, but there is room in His plan for mistakes because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
What God’s plan is: Jesus Christ is the Way
So often we want to know “the way” for our lives. Well, guess what? Jesus Christ is the Way—the only way to become like our Father and return to live with Him.
Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not wither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.—John 14:5–6
Following Jesus through the continuous process of exercising faith in Him, repenting, making and keeping covenants, and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost is the way back to the Father. As long as I continue in that process, I’m following the plan.
One day recently I was feeling particularly discouraged about my seeming inability to “get a grip” on my life and measure up to my own expectations. On one side of the whiteboard in my room I wrote down all my expectations for myself. Then I drew a line, and on the other side, across from each of my statements, I wrote what I felt God would have to say about it.
It all came down to this: Me learning is the plan. Me changing is the plan. And there are a lot of good ways to do that. My baptism was a commitment to keep learning and keep turning to Christ. It’s not a commitment to be perfect (and thus fail as soon as I make my first mistake); it’s a commitment to keep practicing. If I keep turning to Jesus after turning away, if I’m committed to keep learning, keep trying, and rest when I need to, I’m following His plan for me.
Ariel Szuch is a writer who originally hails from Boise, Idaho. She loves to read, write, dance, sing, and spend time with her family. She serves as a Sunday School teacher and choir director in her ward.
I am a member of the LDS (Later Day saints) aka “Mormon”. I’m certainly not perfect and there are some things I struggle and even chafe against. One of these is what we call “The Word of Wisdom” or “The Law of Health” found in Doctrine and Covenants 89. Simple put, these are guidelines we are to follow if we wish to maintain our optimum health. This is where faith is needed as current beliefs, both social and scientific, will not always agree. Some things are obvious. Take in what is clean and you will have a clean body sounds easy enough to understand, right?
However, if you are someone that has even dug the tiniest of fractions into what is in our foods today, you will quickly understand; all is not as it seems. Take the drinking of coffee or tea, which many informed people know is something most Mormons do not consumed. It is frequently considered quite silly. I have been one of those people. I’ve been comparing coffee and tea to soda and thinking how much better they are. I did not accept the Wisdom of my Father in heaven. Instead, I chose the lesser of 2 evils to be acceptable. Because it was better than the Dr. Pepper I am always consuming. It made it even easier that advertising and a Google search about teas and coffees will show you a myriad of benefits when you drink them.
I challenge you to do a different search. Instead, search for “In what ways can tea be bad for you” and you will begin to filter out the advertisements and propaganda. And yes, that is exactly what it is. They want you to buy these products, after all. It gains them wealth. But does it truly gain us health? Don’t fall into the same trap I did where I told myself (and everyone believes it!) that “it’s better than soda!”. Sure, one poison is less toxic than another, but…it is still poison.
You may be wondering what prompt today’s blog post. I am changing my life. I am beginning to once again start each day with scripture and talks from those who carry the Spirit strongly so I can better serve the Lord, my fellow humans, and better myself. For today, I decided to read a talk by Elder Quentin L. Cook called “A Banquet of Consequences—The Cumulative Result of All Choices:”. The Word of Wisdom was brought up, as was the drinking of coffee and tea and I decided to make that Google search I mentioned earlier.
In my search, I found one particular article called “Could Tea Be Bad For You? 5 Tea Ingredients That Are Harming Your Health” and it brought home that even though it’s frequently thought to be strange and silly by those who do not know, over time The Word of Wisdom has continued to be proven correct as knowledge increases and people look into things for themselves. This is true for everything in our lives. Don’t just believe what someone tells you. Don’t just believe one random post. Not even mine. Do what I do and dig deeper. Don’t stop when you get the answer you want. Keep going and see if it’s actually just a matter of a paradigm shift -a fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions.- that has been used on you. This is your health and well-being we are talking about, after all. Take charge of it. I guess God actually knew what He was talking about, hmm?
Hungry for more??
Sir A. watches one of the 
Kri's Kurious Korner 