Author Archives: Camilla

I Am An Artist

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As I completely lean into writing and blogging, I am tweaking the website a bit to bring more clarity to the type of content one can expect to find here.

“Be Mindful … Super-sized thoughts with a wee bit of photographs, recipes and tips.” (And, possibly soon, some other type of art. We shall see where my experimentation leads with this.)

This website and blog bring together all the pieces of my life, like a snapshot. I am a writer, author, blogger, photographer, an artist, and a life coach. I am Mom to 8 year old Thomas and 12 year old Lillian. (**Update: Lillian is 14 years old now and Thomas is 9 years old.)

Lillian has a chromosome abnormality simply called 18p-. This means she is missing a piece of the short arm of chromosome #18. Her younger brother, Thomas, is an amazing and loving helper!

I love taking pictures with my mobile devices. Currently an iPhone 3G and a Samsung Galaxy Tab (mine is a Model gt-p3113). I purposely shoot all photos with these devices as I don’t choose to invest in a fancy camera and/or deal with and learn all the details involved and to show others we can easily and economically capture the beauty and awe of nature anywhere and anytime. (**Update: Now using an iPhone 4G and I have an instagram account for posting pictures as time allows … @camilladowns …)

I love writing about mindful, inspired, simple living as it relates to the choices I make, daily living, being a parent, experiencing nature and …. food.

I am inspired by this place I have chosen as our home … Reno, Nevada. When he was 7 years old, my son, Thomas, summed it up with one beautifully crafted comment. “It’s like we are at an art show and nature keeps changing the art for us.”

I freely and openly share my journey as I sail through life. The ups, the downs, the loop the loops. I have good days, I have bad days. I share in the hopes that you will find at least one nugget to take away and apply to your own life. My wish is that you become inspired, your own passion to simplify life is ignited, or a path to mindful living is illuminated.

I am available for freelance writing opportunities and guest blogging. I’m a life coach too! Contact me here to inquire further.

**Disclosure: I am not an expert on how anyone should be or could be living their life; except for my own …. and that’s only sometimes! I attempt to be non-judgmental and to allow others to BE! Go forth and BE MINDFULLY YOU!

(To help support my blogging I will include an Amazon link to items I use or you will see google ads from time to time. I LOVE sharing my journey and choices with you and this just helps to keep me going!) 

Recipe: Healthier Homemade Cranberry Sauce

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I grew up eating can shaped jellied cranberry sauce every Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s clear why many of us choose to continue eating this version. It’s sweetness and texture is like eating ultra sweet jelly with a slight hint of cranberry flavor. Another factor that’s possibly even more powerful is the nostalgic feeling and fond memories of childhood holidays that always included canned cranberry sauce.

Prominently on the ingredient list is sugar, corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup. About a year ago I quit serving food to my family that had the last two ingredients. A quick search online will reveal why it’s not kind to our body to keep ingesting this stuff.

I have been making homemade cranberry sauce for at least 10 years or more. However, I had been using plain white sugar. In the last year, I have been eliminating white sugar from our diet. It’s not totally gone, but I’ve made great strides!

Here’s how I did it this year:

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:

1 Cup Organic Coconut Palm Sugar
1 Cup Water or Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
One 12 ounce Bag of Cranberries (preferably organic)

Directions:

Thoroughly rinse the cranberries of any debris
Add the sugar and water (or juice) in a medium sauce pan
Bring to a boil
Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes
Add the cranberries and simmer until the cranberries begin to pop (the absolute coolest thing!!)
Remove from heat, place in a beautiful serving bowl and let cool
Once cooled place in the fridge until ready to use
*It’s best to make this the day before you plan to eat it.

I don’t know if it was just that I was pleased with myself for not using white sugar or if the substitution really made a difference, but these cranberries tasted like the best I’d ever made. I even bought another package so I could make them again!!

I had a small bowl of Trader Joe’s French Vanilla ice cream with a spoonful of the cranberry sauce the night I made it. So GOOD! I’ve been eating the left over cranberry sauce in my oatmeal and on my toast (a spoonful at a time).

Coconut palm sugar has a glycemic rating of 35 and refined white sugar has a rating somewhere between 58-68.

If you like this recipe you may also like my Almond Cookie Recipe! Happy and Mindful Eating Y’all!

(To help support my blogging I will include an Amazon link to items I use or you will see google ads from time to time. I LOVE sharing my journey and choices with you and this just helps to keep me going!) 

Inspired Living: Believe in You

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In June of 2012 my daughter, Lillian, recorded herself singing a song of her own making titled “You Can Believe in Yourself.”

Today seemed like the perfect time to share it with all of YOU! I think you can understand it enough to get the message! May it bring sunshine to your day … xoxo

*Lillian has a chromosome abnormality simply called 18p-; which means she is missing a piece of her short arm of chromosome #18. The main way it manifests for her is that she is speech impaired. 

In Gratitude … November 2013

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I decided to do it different this year for our November month of gratitude.

Team TLC planted our very own Gratitude Garden! We each added to the tree every day. We added so much love to our tree that it became blooming full! Lillian planted the yellow flower and Thomas the purple flower. Thomas cut out most of the fruits and leaves for the tree too!

Here’s our Gratitude Garden and Tree all grown! Next year, we will make our tree larger to better allow for growth of all the leaves and fruits!

I chose to grow our garden freestyle so we didn’t date our fruit and leaves. We just added a word or two of what we are thankful and grateful for, added our name, decorated and then “planted it”!

Here is each of ours in no particular order:

Thomas:

  • School
  • Food
  • Sun
  • Books
  • Cows
  • My birthday
  • Thanksgiving
  • Color
  • Love
  • Ducks
  • Leaf
  • Happy
  • Lemon Book
  • Legos
  • Shrimp
  • Friday
  • Paper

Lillian:

  • Christmas
  • Weather & Seasons
  • Life
  • Ham
  • Kindness
  • Legos
  • Living
  • Library
  • Waffles
  • Color blue
  • Family
  • Junie B. Jones Books
  • Clothes
  • Snow
  • Building
  • Beauty

Camilla:

  • Clothes
  • Love
  • Strength & Courage
  • Goodness & Kindness
  • Imagination
  • Quiet Time & Meditation
  • Shelter – Our Home
  • Water
  • Compassion
  • Excitement
  • Abundance
  • Food
  • Thomas & Lillian – Getting to be their Mom
  • Generosity
  • Books
  • Nature

That’s it! We had a great time creating and planting our Gratitude Garden! May this inspire you to begin planting your own garden of gratitude!

Thomas and Lillian chose to make their own version too! Here they are:

Latest News: Team TLC Amazon Gift Guide

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I have been wanting to put together a gift guide for ages! Finally taking the time to do it.

These are items that we use unless indicated otherwise. This is by no means a comprehensive gift guide. I partly wanted to preserve in the digital world much of what Team TLC’s life is like during this time and perhaps give you an idea or two for your own family for any upcoming special occasion!

First, I am an advocate of shopping local whenever possible. I support going to the local used book store in your neighborhood and all locally owned shops where these or similar items can be purchased.

I am also an advocate of making home made gifts whenever suitable. We make tons of home made gifts in our house and give one another store bought gifts minimally.

I’ll be putting together two additional Gift Guides as well. One that lists unique and different gifts and the other will list natural, simple and/or home made gifts.

Reading and Books:

I don’t own a Kindle, but they seem like the perfect gift for the book lover:

Kindle Fire HDX 8.9″, HDX Display, Wi-Fi, 16 GB – Includes Special Offers

Kindle Accessories

Some of Thomas and Lillian’s favorite books:

The Boxcar Children Bookshelf (The Boxcar Children Mysteries, Books 1-12)

Bobbsey Twins Complete Series Set, 1-12

Junie B.’s Books in a Bus! (Books 1-27!)

Magic Tree House Boxed Set, Books 1-28

Fairy Realm #1: The Charm Bracelet

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car

Encyclopedia Brown Box Set (4 Books)

The Blessing Cup (Paula Wiseman Books)

I have a widget already put together with my reading material .. TOO many to list individually! Camilla’s Favorite Books.

Electronics:

We are a TV-less house. We haven’t had a television in the house for about a year and a half and haven’t paid for television programing since about 2008.

However, we DO have movie night just about every Saturday night. I have a projector that I purchased back when I was facilitating trainings.

The link for the one I use is listed below. I connect it to my MacBook Pro and project it onto the wall in my bedroom. Fun stuff!

Epson EX5220 Wireless XGA 3LCD Projector, 3000 color lumens, 3000 while lumens (V11H551020)

I don’t have a bluetooth wireless speaker but have had the opportunity to be around one and they are amazing!! Much better than trying to hear the movie from the built in laptop speakers. This is on our bucket list:

Bluetooth Wireless Speaker (for GREAT sound while watching your movies)

This is the laptop I want to get for Thomas and Lillian. I like everything I’ve read about it:

Samsung Chromebook (Wi-Fi, 11.6-Inch)

This is fabulous for anyone who uses the iTouch or iPhone as a speech generating device! Serves a GREAT purpose:

iMainGo 2 3.5mm Aux Portable Speaker Case

I’m not a big user of much more electronics other than plugins and an adapter here and there. However, Amazon has their own Electronics Gift Guide with tons of popular items ..

Amazon’s Electronics Gift Guide

Movies:

Here at The Team TLC Casa we currently only watch G rated movies. I’ve let a few PG movies slip by and wasn’t pleased with the last one.

Family Movie Night:

Finding Nemo (Three-Disc Collector’s Edition: Blu-ray/DVD in Blu-ray Packaging)

Felicity – An American Girl Adventure

The Red Balloon (The Criterion Collection)

Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates

The Princess Diaries: Two-Movie Collection (Three-Disc Combo Blu-ray/DVD Combo in Blu-ray Packaging)

Babes in Toyland

The Apple Dumpling Gang (Special Edition)

The Fox and the Hound / The Fox and the Hound II (Two-Pack)

Disney 4-Movie Collection: Herbie (Love Bug / Herbie Goes Bananas / Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo / Herbie Rides Again)

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Full Screen Edition)

Follow Me, Boys!

The Incredible Mr. Limpet (Keepcase)

Kiki’s Delivery Service

Babar The Movie

Swiss Family Robinson (Vault Disney Collection)

Adult Movie Night:

It Happened One Night

Harvey

His Girl Friday

We’ve got way too many movie favorites so I’ve put together a widget to house them all! Much more efficient than listing them. Team TLC Favorite Movies.

Arts & Crafts:

Elmer’s 3D Washable Glitter Pens, Classic Rainbow and Glitter Colors, Pack of 10 Pens (E199)

Crayola 240 Sheet Construction Paper

Yuzen Chiyogami- set of 40 Origami sheets (#YW-112)

Canvas panels 8 x 10 inch (pack of 12)

Dimensions Needlecrafts Paintworks Paint By Number, Butterflies And Bamboo

RoseArt Washable Poster Paints, 12-Count, Assorted Colors, Packaging May Vary (354VA-6)

Crayola 64 Ct Short Colored Pencils Kids Choice Colors

Crayola 64 Ct Crayons

Home:

Lillian cannot drink from a regular cup. It just spills all down her front side. This is what we use. I use one per week and then throw it away:

Hefty Zoo Pals Cups Safari Collection Cups, Lids & Bendy Straws

I love using this:

Bodum Brazil 8-Cup French Press Coffee Maker, 34-Ounce, Black

This is not the exact one I use, but it’s similar. I use mine daily and this is the one I use to make my homemade fries:

Victorinox Swiss Army 8-Inch Fibrox Straight Edge Chef’s Knife

This is not the exact paring knife I use. Mine is very old with a wooden handle. I use this daily too:

Mercer Cutlery Genesis 3.5″ Forged Paring Knife, Steel/Black

I use these almost daily. Multi-purpose! I use for ketchup, nuts, candy on movie night, and more:

NEW, Dozen 2½ Oz. (Ounce) All-Purpose Ramekin Individual Sauce Cups, Condiment Sauce Cups, Sauce Ramekins, Dipping Sauce Cups, Stainless Steel, Commercial/Restaurant Grade Quality

I use one like this to make the Rooibos tea that Thomas and I love so much:

Luigi Bormioli Michelangelo Masterpiece 84-ounce Pitcher

I love my little teapot for loose tea! Works great with tea bags too:

Heat Resistant Glass Teapot With Removable Infuser 24 oz

I stopped using the microwave about 6 months ago so I use this daily. I warm left overs in this or I use the stove top or oven. Just depends on what I’m warming:

Black & Decker TO1332SBD 4-Slice Toaster Oven

I use these for all sorts of things. I store popcorn, nuts, crackers, chocolate chips, and dried fruit in these jars. I also use them to drink my Rooibos tea! I prefer glass to plastic for storage and I LOVE that they are multi-purpose and not one use like canister sets:

Ball Wide Mouth Quart Jars with Lids and Bands, Set of 12

I have had this for over 10 years. I use it for not only pizza, but when I make fries or nachos. When I make fries or nachos I layer the pan with aluminum foil and coat with either olive oil spray or coconut oil spray:

AirBake Ultra by T-fal T492ABA2 Insulated 15.75-Inch Perforated Pizza Pan Dishwasher Safe Bakeware, Silver

Lillian and I love these towels since we both have long hair. Perfect:

Turbie Twist Cotton (3 Pack): Aqua, Purple, Navy Blue

Games:

I grew up playing this with my cousins, aunts and uncles! I just love playing it with Thomas and Lillian:

UNO 40th Anniversery Edition Card Game

This one too:

Sorry Classic Edition Board Game

This too! My cousins and I played tons of Go Fish and Crazy Eight:

Economy Playing Cards, 12-Decks

This too:

Games: Marbles: Classic Marbles

This too … except Lillian won’t play it due to her inability to copy with the unexpected!! (The buzzing when accidentally touching the sides!):

Operation Game

This is a fun and fabulous game that I’ve had since Lillian was a toddler. They both love it! We hardly play it anymore as they’ve moved past this type of game:

Ravensburger Snail’s Pace Race – Children’s Game

I didn’t play this one growing up, but love playing it with Thomas and Lillian:

Candy Land – The Kingdom of Sweets Board Game

This too:

Chutes and Ladders

We don’t own this one, but I played it tons and tons with my cousins! Would love to have it for our family:

Pressman Toys Pre205312 Chinese Checkers

Spent hours and hours with this growing up:

Green Toys Jump Rope, Green

This too:

Classic Hula Hoop Set of 3

Thomas and Lillian LOVE playing with this:

Play-Doh 24-Pack of Colors

This too! They love the one with glitter in it:

Crayola 57-4415 Model Magic Modeling Compound, 2-lb. Bucket, Asstd Colors, Four 8-oz. Pouches

Thomas LOVES these! I personally don’t like the licensed themes or the play themes that would have him use his imagination for battle and destruction type of scenarios.

Thomas has this one:

LEGO City Police Forest Station 4440

And this one:

LEGO City Police Patrol Car 4436

And this one:

LEGO Space Moon Buggy 3365

He wants this one:

LEGO City Fire Station 60004

And this one:

LEGO City 60022 Cargo Terminal Toy Building Set

And this one:

LEGO City Fire Truck 60002

And this one:

LEGO Space Center 3368

And this one:

LEGO Space Shuttle 3367

You get the idea … 🙂

(Amazon Affiliate Links)

Latest News: Team TLC Favorite Movies

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Team TLC has movie night just about every Saturday night. We are a TV-less house but we DO have a family movie night once per week.

I use this projector which I acquired when facilitating trainings, Epson EX7220 Wireless WXGA 3LCD Projector, 3000 lumen color, 3000 lumen white (V11H550020), (amazon affiliate link) connected to my MacBook and project our movie onto my bedroom wall! Fun Stuff Y’all!

We mostly watch G rated movies. However, I have found some PG movies that are acceptable for my preferences. Whenever Thomas and Lillian are having a sleepover with The Romano Duo (my Mom and Step-Father), I have a Team Member C movie night. You’ll be able to tell which are mine! I prefer the oldies!

I get most of our movies from the library. We have just about seen all of the appropriate movies the Washoe County library has available. So, sometimes I rent/stream from Amazon. I search for the $1.99 or $2.99 movies.

Here’s a fun and frugal tip! With Amazon Prime Membership you not only get free 2 day shipping, but you get access to unlimited streaming of 40,000 movies and tv episodes and you get to borrow books from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. My book is available there!

You can sign up for a 30 day free trial Amazon Prime membership and receive these benefits! Just remember to mark your calendar to cancel the membership BEFORE you get charged the yearly fee … unless you think it’s worth it to keep it.

Here ya go!

Invaluable: Blog Mentoring Testimonial

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“Feeling inspired to write on a particular topic, I kept putting off taking any action toward the goal. It occurred to me that if I started the process by beginning to write on a blog it would get me writing and provided a platform to be of service to others in the process.

Always captivated by Camilla’s enthusiasm and expertise at whatever she undertakes, I knew I could trust her to set up the blog without me having to figure out how to do it (which, to be honest, I know I would have never done!).

Camilla met with me and covered all of the details, giving me the opportunity to simply start writing. She has been readily available if I have any question, large or small, since I started posting.

Camilla’s assistance has been invaluable to me in taking real steps to launching this leg of my creative expression. I am grateful!” –Terry Lowey, M.S., M.F.T. Austin, Texas — Author of Secret of the Wizard’s Wand and Blogging about being Single at Terry Lowey –November 2013

**Note from Camilla: Terry and I met in 2007 in Reno. We established an immediate connection. She just recently moved to Austin and we continue to stay connected. I highly recommend visiting her blog. She is writing authentic and useful material that I am so in sync with … and you may find something that is exactly what you needed!

Terry wanted simple and basic just so she could begin writing. She knew if it was too complicated, she would not do it!

To learn more about Blog Mentoring, go here.

He Swam Into the World on November 13, 2005

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… And continues to give the gift of himself every minute of every day …

Some people say, “I can’t believe (s)he is already 8 years old.” I think to myself, “I cannot believe he is only 8 years old!”

Having not been able to give birth to Lillian at The Birthing Center, I was so excited to be able to deliver Thomas there and for it to be a water birth also.

Honestly, I had a rougher pregnancy with Thomas than Lillian. He was absolutely healthy, but I felt horrible. I was so nauseas and tired the entire time.

In the late afternoon on November 13th, I began having contractions. Naturally, I decided that this was the very time I had to get caught up with the Wall Street Journal print editions I had gotten behind with reading! There I was pacing around the house reading WSJ and stopping to have contractions in between!

We met the midwife at the birthing center about 9:00 pm. Things were moving along pretty quickly as I was doing my best to stay relaxed so that things could progress. After she checked us both and filled the huge bathtub with water, I got right in. I was having tremendous labor pain in my back but kept visualizing this young man making his exit and relieving me of my pain!

I didn’t have to wait too long as he moved his way right along and joined us pretty quickly! After waiting for my temperature to get back to normal, the three of us made the 10 minute drive home. It was about midnight when we arrived and Lillian was sleeping so she got to meet Thomas the next morning!

Today, November 13, 2013, on HIS special day he came and got me, told me to close my eyes and led me to his room. He said he had a gift for me. When I got to his room I removed my hand from my eyes and he had beautifully made his bed! Take my breath away … HE had a gift for ME on HIS special day! This was more of a gift than a nicely made bed.

I feel that ALL children are a gift and that some of us fail to see the gift they bring to us. Not on purpose. We just seem to forget all that we knew about life when we were young. As some of us get older, we lose the pure love, compassion and generosity that were our nature during childhood.

In the beginning of motherhood I did not get this or choose to see and receive the gift. Being in my 12th year now with this parenting journey, coupled with my own awakening and learning journey, I see it so vividly.

Almost daily I have moments where a gesture or words spoken by Thomas bring forth the feeling that time does not exist, we are engulfed in a wave of silence and I have just been given a lesson that I needed right at that very moment.

By the words of wisdom and gestures I share with him, I am teaching these things to myself. For this young man doesn’t just act like he’s listening, he comprehends my words and actions and shares it with me at a different moment in time.

Yesterday he asked so gently if he could have an ice cream as a birthday treat while we waited for Lillian to finish her therapies. I reminded him we had ice cream at home and that he could have some. He said, “Okay, that sounds good.”

Lillian’s therapy center is only seconds from the fast food place that has soft serve ice cream. After I parked, I filled my mind with thoughts of abundance and generosity and changed my mind. After all, it was only a $1 cone.

Thomas had gotten out to play so I asked if he still wanted that ice cream cone. As I turned into the parking lot a homeless person was sitting on the curb.

In addition to ordering the ice cream for Thomas, I ordered a chicken burger. At least, I think it was me. I felt an overwhelming urge to order that burger and give it to the person we had just passed. I had Thomas hand it to him as we pulled next to him. I have NEVER done this before.

The man thanked us many times. As we drove off, I told Thomas that it doesn’t matter the reason that man is sitting there or even if he is really homeless. I felt moved to share kindness and I did.

I explained that we never want to NOT share kindness due to judgment of another or for fear that our kindness will not be well received. Once we perform an act of kindness it’s really no longer our business. I’m sure Thomas will remind me of this beautiful moment just when I need it most.

“The sage is kind to the kind and kind to the unkind.” -Lao Tzu

My heart is so full of love for Thomas. It adds to my own love of self and truly causes my heart to skip a beat at times. No matter what paths he chooses for his journey or where it leads him, I will always love him.

This amazing child with his wise old soul has brought much into my life. I am blessed daily by his presence, his love, his wisdom and his humor. I LOVE that I get to be his mentor and his mother and that HE gets to be my mentor and son! We knew what we were doing when we chose one another for this journey.

You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one …. And … It’s really none of my business what you think of me … xoxo

 

Inspired Living: Sunset Walk

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Sunset walks! Bliss …. Love quiet walks with these two little people! Perhaps this will inspire you to take a break and enjoy the silence of a sunset, a long walk, and the beauty of nature.

Inspired Living: Inner Happiness Revealed

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A few weeks ago I was prompted to re-read a book I had only read once back in 2007. I met the author of this book in 2007 at a networking event and I now consider him to be a … Continue reading →