Казахстанскии Сайт Форекс Клуба

It&#;s cranberry season and I am SO here for it! Cranberry and lemon are just tart enough to complement this sweet bread.

In less than 24 hours of making it, I&#;m happy to say there&#;s only a quarter of the loaf left. It&#;s that good!

Coconut flour is the grain free ingredient of choice in this bread, and I haven&#;t tested other flours. When using coconut flour for baking, it&#;s important to use plenty of liquid. The applesauce and eggs take care of that here.

On an unrelated note, if you&#;re looking for the easiest (and most delicious) cranberry sauce ever, check out this one by Serious Eats. I made it twice this Thanksgiving and it&#;s safe to say this will be my go-to forever!

I hope you love this bread as much as I do!  Tag me on Instagram @laurenslovelykitchen if you give it a try!

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 3 TB pure maple syrup
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cranberries, plus more for topping

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to Line a 9&#;5 inch baking pan with parchment paper, grease with coconut oil spray.
2. In a large bowl, combine apple sauce, eggs, almond butter, coconut sugar, maple syrup and lemon zest.
3. In a another bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients except cranberries.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet, stir to combine. Stir in cranberries.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle with extra chopped cranberries if desired.
6. Bake for 45 minutes. Let cool and slice.

Everything that has happened since I got a ride from an Uber driver has been just plain fucking weird.

I&#;m just going to start with the Uber ride. My car is being worked on, so I&#;ve been using Uber a lot lately. Last week I ordered an Uber to meet up with some friends downtown for dinner and then drinks after. The little picture that popped up for my driver was a middle aged balding man named Greg.

Greg had a 5 star rating. He looked harmless enough and I can defend myself pretty well for a 5’3, lb, year-old female if something were to go wrong, which I wasn&#;t worried about since Uber does background checks and what not. The wait time said 7 minutes so I double-checked I had all my things and plopped on the couch to wait.

My phone buzzed at me. Unknown number. “ W Lloyd Ave?” I guessed this was Greg texting me from the app confirming my location. “Yep that&#;s me.” I puffed on my e-cig and watched the Uber map as his Chevy Impala inched closer to my address.

I saw him arriving and hauled my bag over my shoulder, locking the door behind me. My roommate was still at work for the next few hours.

The Greg in the car was the Greg in the photo. He opened the passenger door for me from his side. I used to sit in the back with male drivers for safety reasons but I&#;ve taken Ubers enough since then to not be concerned anymore. I got in and hefted my bag into the backseat.

This guy had the kind of voice you&#;d hear on the radio. Loud and blunt, but he wasn&#;t unfriendly. He wasn&#;t very conversational either. I felt like I had to force a convo in order to avoid an 8 minute awkward session until I got to my destination. We came up on an intersection about halfway there and he started chuckling.

“Heh.” I awkwardly huffed with him, unsure of what was funny. “See that house over there?” He pointed to a white house on the corner across the intersection. “Yeah?” “Ever heard of Fred Garland?” “No?” “The Northside rapist back in the 80s. There&#;s a book on him. That was the house he hid the dildo in and used to scare women.” I was thinking what the fuck. Weird but alright. I gave a fake “heh heh” again and looked on out the window. “You should really read that book. I&#;ve got an extra copy of it.” I responded that I could probably find it at the library or used book store but thanked him for the offer.

We got to my destination, I thanked him, and got out of the car. I tipped him $1 and gave the ride 4 stars. He had strange conversation starters but it could have been worse, right? I didn&#;t think much of it after I had my night out. A friend gave me a ride home that night and I fell sound asleep after a little TV.

Fast forward about three days. I receive a package on my front step. The return address reads the name “Greg Coe.” I thought for a second but didn&#;t recognize it. Not until I opened it. It was a book called “Fred Garland: The Story.”

I realized this must have been from the Uber driver. I hadn&#;t received a ride from him since that night when I went out. I felt a little bit uncomfortable about the situation now. I had ONE ride with this guy and he&#;s sending me books about rapists. I tried to brush it off but I had this lingering heaviness in the back of my skull that wouldn&#;t go away. I told my roommate and the boyfriend about it, and both agreed that it was weird.

To get even creepier, I received a text from that number yesterday before I got off work. It was Greg. It read “Will you be needing a ride after work today?”

There&#;s no way this guy could know where I work and what my schedule is unless he&#;s followed me somehow. I&#;ve been using Uber and public transit to get around but I obviously know his car and haven&#;t noticed it while I&#;ve been out of the house. I replied with a quick “No, thanks” and used Lyft to go home after work. A few hours after I got home last night he texted me again but from a different number. “It&#;s Greg. Did you get the book?” I didn&#;t respond.

I have to go to work but I&#;ll keep updating if I get anymore texts or weird shit happening.

Obviously I’m not at the point of contacting police because what are they gonna do? But I&#;m starting to feel really violated and concerned about my safety. I think I&#;m gonna stay at my boyfriends tonight. I&#;m going to use Lyft again just in case. I&#;ll keep you guys posted if you wanna know more.

EDIT UPDATE: guys, things just got weirder. I&#;m at work and my boss calls me into his office and asks me if I know a Greg. I go a little pale and ask him why. Turns out this guy emailed my FUCKING WORK and asked if I need a ride tonight when I&#;m off. The email reads:

Hi there, I&#;m just wondering if Sierra will need a ride after work tonight. Here&#;s my number. &#;**** Greg

As I said before, this dude should not know where I work. On a scale of I&#;m at about a 12 in freak out mode right now. Calling my boyfriend to pick me up tonight. Will update soon.

EDIT UPDATE: safe and sound for the night with my boyfriend at his place. I&#;m wondering if this guy looked me up on Facebook and saw where I work, although I do have that information set to &#;friends only&#; in my privacy settings. Anyway, I contacted Uber to let them know about all of it. My mind isn&#;t really at ease right now though, that email really fucked with me. I&#;m not sure what to do if this goes on further. Should I contact the police, i mean does this count as harassment? I&#;m ready to hit the sack, I&#;m my brain is exhausted and I&#;m working a double shift tomorrow. I&#;ll keep you all posted as any updates come. Thanks for your concern guys it really gives me some peace of mind.

By: Seyeairuh

Ah, the entryway&#; or the foyer, if you’re fancy! We had a rollercoaster of a house hunting experience, but when we first walked into this home, the grand front entry sure made a statement. The double front doors, high ceiling and that sassy curved stairway… it all sort of took my breath away! But it’s beauty was disguised by baby-blue carpet, rainbow sponge paint, and a swirly, curly, over-the-top (dare I say gaudy?) white banister…

After spending months collecting images of the most beautiful rounded stairwells the internet had to offer, I was completely inspired by the many ways I could highlight this lovely architectural feature!

But before we get to the good, let’s take a look at the bad and the ugly…

While I was dreaming of replacing the banister with a new wooden one, I decided to see how much magic could be mustered with a can of paint and several tedious hours! It was hard to tell at first if painting the banister black was making much of a difference because the wall color and carpet still felt so blah.

So I also slapped some paint up on the walls using an extension pole with my paint roller and then duct taping THAT to an extra curtain rod we had laying around… darn those beautiful high ceilings! I ended up with several paint splotches on the ceiling and color that still looked too drab and too blue &#; but let me tell you, anything is better than the rainbow sponge paint we started with! I think we’ll try again this summer with the help of a professional and a nice, bright white color.

I knew I wanted to replace the light fixture, but felt like I should wait to see how the space came together before selecting a style. In the meantime, I removed the glass globes and hanging crystals from the outdated chandelier.

We had already planned to replace all of the flooring throughout the lower level of the house, and since the carpet seemed to cast a blue tint on everything else in the room – including every one of the 7, paint samples I had slapped up on the wall (no wonder I ended up making the wrong choice!) – we knew we needed to tackle the flooring next. Stay tuned for an upcoming post with all the details on the flooring project!

Once the flooring was purchased and the banister painted, I was starting to wonder what all of this would look like when it finally came together with paint, wallpaper, and accessories. Check out my mood board below, and join me next time for Part II to see how the entryway looks today!

There are amenities in the world of resorts I have learned to be skeptical about over the years: spa, gym, trainer. Often, the resorts that tout these amenities come up short. I’ll also admit that my standards are high. As a long time endurance athlete, I have put my body through the wringer and have established a circle of talented fitness coaches, experts and wellness providers here in San Diego. So, I save the spa treatments and fitness activities for when I’m home.

My skepticism met it’s match at the BodyHoliday in St. Lucia.

BodyHoliday is unlike any other resort. It’s a special place evidenced by the fact that they have a 70% return rate. It’s why people stay for ten days on average. It’s why it is hugely popular with solo travelers who instantly seem to find their tribe while there. It’s why it is not uncommon to see staff dining with guests. It’s why BodyHoliday’s guests are the happiest, friendliest resort guests I have ever encountered.

Passing through the property feels like what I imagine walking through Utopia would feel like. A warm ocean breeze, perfectly turquoise Caribbean Sea, the gentle rustle of palm trees and a lot of really happy people. And how could they not be happy? They have an endless number of options to be active (or not), they have their choice of fantastic food and drink, they get to enjoy a spa treatment DAILY, and they are around like-minded people all sharing a slice of paradise.

I want to describe the brilliant concept before I tell you about my stay. Typically, I write about the property in detail, and not that this property is undeserving (especially after it’s expansive renovations), but I will mostly write about BodyHoliday’s unique concept and the fantastic activities and amenities that create your overall experience.

“Give us your body for a week and we’ll give you back your mind”

The BodyHoliday is an all-inclusive wellness retreat. It has invested heavily in top of the line everything: therapists, trainers, equipment, facilities, food and beverage, and recent sweeping renovations (that follow sweeping renovations in ). As another guest said, “they do not cut any corners here.” On average, you have a choice of approximately 40 daily classes/activities in which to participate. They range from a morning run, a beachfront workout, archery, sailing, meditation, yoga or, nothing at all. The majority of these are included in your stay. The other major perk included in your stay is a minute spa treatment per day, per guest. This is the ultimate in wellness.

My Custom Designed BodyHoliday Experience

There are many experiences to be had at BodyHoliday: anti-aging, mindfulness and fitness to name a few. I’m going to tell you about my experience that was custom designed by the team at BodyHoliday. Initially, this was supposed to be a recovery program intended to repair my body after competing in what was supposed to be my fifth Ironman. However, I couldn’t compete in that Ironman due to a knee injury. The one silver lining in that let down is that my body was fresh and I was able to enjoy a few more activities and do a few things I had never done before. The plan they created for me was based on a pre-arrival form I completed a week before our stay. Once my husband and I arrived on property, we were handed an agenda that outlined all our activities and treatments for the week.

The Quad

On our first morning, I participated in a “quadrathlon” with three other guests. This was an epic adventure of mountain biking, running, rappelling and kayaking. Our group met first thing in the morning where Tevin, our fearless leader (and professional volleyball player), fit us on our mountain bikes and led us to the trails.

I spend a lot of time on my triathlon bike. I haven’t been on a mountain bike since when my husband “surprised” me by signing us up for a mile mountain bike race. On this lovely Caribbean morning, you would have thought this was my first time on a bike. I grazed a cactus, ran into a bush, rode my brakes on every downhill and dropped my chain. It was embarrassing. Everyone else was phenomenal and the course was gorgeous, leaving the Caribbean side for the Atlantic, climbing and descending, cruising across empty beaches and then ending at Pigeon Island, where we started our run.

Our run was a quick 4k that started with an out-and-back and ended with a steep uphill to our rappelling/abseiling spot.

At the top of the hill, a car was waiting for us where we could leave our bags and grab a cold bottle of water. We were outfitted in our rappelling gear, instructed how to move our feet and handle the rope, and one by one we rapelled down the foot cliff as guides at the top and bottom assisted and guided us. This was a first for all of us! We climbed back up the hill and walked down to the beach on the other side where our kayaks were waiting.

I was expecting your typical beach resort plastic leisure kayak. That was not the case. These were light, aerodynamic kayaks meant to zip through the ocean water. We received instructions on how to operate them, waited for our fearless leader (Tevin) and off we went. It was a windy afternoon which made for some chop, (super fun) swells and more adventure to add to our tales. The program said the kayak portion is around 3k. My inability to hold a direct line made for some bonus distance before I eventually arrived at our finish on BodyHoliday’s beach.

The quadrathlon was the perfect mix of fun and adventure. I was pleasantly surprised by how challenging and rewarding it was. The four of us who did it ranged in athletic ability and we all finished with a smile on our faces, a sense of accomplishment and a fresh chilled coconut.

I had just enough time to have lunch at the deli with Eddie and a shower before heading over to the spa for the first treatment of our stay. Tendel, BodyHoliday’s “healing guru” gave me a true deep tissue massage that was much needed after the quadrathlon and the long travel day the day before.

The next day was busy and started with a personal training session in the morning. Julian, Commonwealth Gold Medalist and Caribbean middle weight Body Building Champion, immediately noticed my jagged gait from my knee injury, so we focused on exercises to help me heal, correct my knee issues and get stronger. I loved the movements and exercises we did! And we did something else that was interesting and that has stuck with me: we worked on my posture.

After my training session, I had a hydrating facial that was also very needed after traveling. I was scheduled for a brightening scrub, but was a little sun-burnt, so we changed it on the spot. After my facial, I made my way down to the beach area to read a bit, swim in the warm Caribbean Sea and have lunch before heading to my next massage. I told you, it was busy.

This day’s massage was (another) new experience for me. The minute treatment was a four hand, Synchronized Abhyanga that started with a foot cleansing in the Ayurvedic Temple. From there, I moved into a beautiful treatment room where my synchronized massage began. This massage technique has been around for years and includes a combination of specialized herbal oils and has an abundance of health benefits. You are placed in four different positions, coated in warm oil, and massaged with synchronized, purposeful movements.

I struggle with insomnia. However, between full, active days, soothing body treatments, clean food and the healing properties of the sea, I slept like never before while at BodyHoliday.

Spaces & Places

The property is huge. There are rooms and several villas tucked into the hillside. There are three pools, five restaurants and a “deli” where you can order healthy snacks, fresh juice and smoothies.

The beach is what Caribbean dreams are made of. There are water hammocks, beach hammocks, and enough sun loungers for every guest. The loungers come with a little red flag to call for help (cocktails & snacks) in an “emergency”.

Wellness Center

The wellness center is the hub of the property and has a certain buzz about it as people are coming and going to their treatments and classes. Tucked into the hillside, it features 33 treatment rooms, a pool, a group fitness room, the Ayurvedic Temple and a state-of-the-art gym with equipment that rivals the best gyms in San Diego. No other resort gym comes close.

Room

Some rooms were part of the most recent renovation and others were renovated in We stayed in a luxury ocean front suite. It had a king size bed, a balcony overlooking the water and a large, modern bathroom that featured a huge soaking tub.

It was the perfect retreat at the end of the day and the prime location for our champagne sunsets.

“Food is your body’s fuel, but it’s also your body’s pleasure” &#; BodyHoliday

There are five restaurants and three bars on property equipped with a culinary team of chefs, mixologists and sommeliers. And, all are experienced in handling dietary needs and requests.

• Cariblue, the main restaurant has a little bit of everything for lunch and dinner.
• Cariblue Windows is where you can find the expansive breakfast buffet and, on certain evenings, features themed dinners. We enjoyed the French themed dinner and it was my favorite meal of our stay.
• We also enjoyed the deli for a light lunch and several smoothie offerings.

• The Clubhouse offers a great lunch buffet, casual dinner and seemed to be the gathering spot for sunset and pre-dinner cocktails.
• On our last evening, we dined at Tao, which has been voted by Condé Nast Traveler magazine as one of the world’s 60 Hottest Tables and is an annual AAA Diamond Award winner since March Both deserving recognitions.
• We were unable to dine at I-Tal, but it looks like a beautiful dining experience. Guests select ingredients from the organic garden and prepare clean, Rastafarian meals with the resort’s chefs.

I could write an entire separate post on BodyHoliday’s restaurants and have no doubt that the selection and quality of food and wine play their part in guests wanting to stay as long as they do and return as often as they do.

There is also a nice selection of evening entertainment, with the Piano Bar being the most popular of them all. I’d go as far as to say the Piano Bar is legendary. We could never stay up quite late enough (past ) to enjoy it but always heard about the sing-alongs (and solos) the next day.

As people who steer clear of all things all-inclusive, we left BodyHoliday completely perplexed by how much we enjoyed it and our desire to return. I now understand why a woman we met was there for her tenth year in a row. Or, why there is gentleman who spends thirty days at a time there. Whether you’re looking for a romantic getaway to reconnect with your partner, a celebratory girl’s trip or a solo wellness retreat, BodyHoliday is the perfect spot for you.

Have questions about our stay? Comment below or send me a message.

You can discover more about BodyHoliday here.

• You need (deserve) a minimum of five days here. 
• Work with their team to prepare a custom plan before your stay.
• Certain activities/experiences require advance booking, so be sure to reserve your spot!
• Upon arrival, your agenda will tell you where to go, what treatment room you are in and who you are with. You can go directly to that treatment room.
• Chat with BodyHoliday &#;regulars&#; they&#;ll show you the ropes.
• Try all of the restaurants.

Yes, I am aware that the saying is usually, &#;the good, the bad, and the ugly&#;. I know. But I&#;m not planning to talk about any ugly books, so today it&#;s just the good and the bad.

I know it&#;s been a minute, but life happened and this space &#; obviously &#; failed to thrive. Time to rectify that.

I read a few series the last few months. Or, really, I should say: I tried reading a few series the last few months. I&#;m not sure I finished any of the series. I kept hoping that the series would be amazing, or that storylines wouldn&#;t repeat or get boring and drag on until people find a way to build houses on Saturn.

As a result, some series that I have been reading faithfully over the years (hello, Gray Man!) have been pushed towards the bottom of my TBR pile because I just can&#;t do any more &#;continuing stories&#; or because I was invested in other series and hoping for the best.

I think most series exist because enough people liked the first book, or maybe even the first two books, and wanted to see more. Or maybe the author said from the beginning, &#;hey, this is a 7-book series&#;, and purposely left the first six books unresolved until the final book. I&#;m okay with either of those scenarios: in the first, I get more of what I enjoyed; in the latter, I know going in that I&#;ll have to read a lot of books to get the full story and I also know there will be a final resolution.

And, really, isn&#;t that what we should all be hoping for? At some point, a series should resolve itself. Think about TV series &#; so many series start off full of hype, and then after a few seasons they get cancelled. All that time viewers wasted . . . so sad.

The Good

Let&#;s start with the good: sometimes, a series just gets it right.

• Darynda Jones&#; Charley Davidson series is amazeballs. Seriously: 13 books, each that build on the events of the previous one(s), all building along the same character arc and storyline, and then poof &#; it gets all wrapped up (maybe a little too quickly, but whatever) and things are resolved. Yes, book 13 ends with a question. But she has said that she will write the next &#;chapter&#; in the overal saga of things later (gotta give Beep a series), so she gave herself a nugget to build from when she does. (Her next book, by the way, has nothing to do with this series &#; which I think is smart.)
• The Gray Man books by Mark Greaney are superb: yes, each book *could* stand on its own if it had to, but reading them in order gives you a little more perspective on the characters and their development. That said, the fact that each could stand on its own allows for minor sub-arcs to be developed, each of which contributes to the greater arc. As such, it hasn&#;t yet fallen flat. (A similar series is Mitch Rapp, first done by Vince Flynn and now continued by Kyle Mills.)

The Bad

Unfortunately, money talks &#; in both TV and books. Some series start off with a bang, and then they just keep going and going because people keep buying them. They just don&#;t know when to stop. Let&#;s talk about a few examples:

• Karen Marie Moning is coming out with at least one additional Fever Series book [presumably] starring Mac and Barrons. Can we all be honest and admit that this series *should* have stopped after the first five? I mean, end it with Mac and Barrons grilling burgers and let the readers imagine the rest.
• The Nate Temple series by Shayne Silvers starts off great. I liked the characters &#; the integration of Greek mythology is wonderful &#; and the supporting characters really do carry the books. Unfortunately, I had a harder time liking Nate himself, which was unfortunate. His character arc hits so many potholes that it can be really hard to empathize with him. I stopped reading at the 30% mark in book nine . . . I just couldn&#;t anymore.
• Game of Thrones. There, I said it. Yes, the books are good. BUT &#; will the books ever be finished? It&#;s a legitimate concern &#; I mean, it&#;s been eight years since the last Ice and Fire book came out, and now we&#;ve got GRRM doing five spin-off shows for HBO, writing backstory books we didn&#;t need or ask for . . . Dude, focus. (And please resolve the ending we saw in the HBO series.)

So, what have we learned?

It isn&#;t fair to readers who have spent time (and money, and maybe their own blood, sweat, and tears) investing in a series to let it deteriorate or drag on and on. If you know you&#;re going to have a series, have a definite storyline and stick to it. I think plots and narratives develop much more naturally when that is the case.

Yes, loyal readers will continue to read the books because that&#;s what we do. I know when Karen Marie Moning comes out with the next book, I&#;m going to buy it on instinct. When Mark Greaney comes out with the next Gray Man book I&#;m going to order it and let it sit in my TBR pile whether I&#;m ready for it or not. I know those things like I know my kids like candy. It is fact.

But, at some point, the audience will shrink and the authors may lose interest and storylines could get dull or repetitive. Creative writing should be exactly that: creative. Let&#;s not dull down the art with the unnecessary.

Since I love veggies, this is also one of my favorite Chinese(Zsechuan style) vegetable recipes. It&#;s mouth-watering, healthy and inexpensive too. I like it spicy and so easy to make you won&#;t believe it! Just use the right ingredients and some cooking techniques, Voilah! You have it ready in no time! I can eat and nibble by themselves. If you don&#;t have all the ingredients, no worries! As long as you have the main 5-ingredients with it &#; oil, garlic, beans, soy sauce, ground pepper &#; You&#;re good to go! But then of course, if you want to eat exactly the same taste like from the Chinese restaurants you order from, you have to mimic the correct recipe ;-D

Before you start doing anything else, I recommend reading my tips first, that way, you might want to follow some ideas and options that will affect your grocery-shopping or the way you will cook and prepare some ingredients. Though there are certain recipes that you strictly have to adhere to when it comes to the cooking instructions and techniques, there are still a lot of them that are adjustable and manageable as well. Just like any other subject, It’s always good to have rules and guidelines but sometimes rules are meant to be broken, right? As long as it will have a great turn out, I’m okay with it! And that’s where always the fun of it! LOL! On the other hand, It is always good to have it so you can be well-prepared. However, you can cook any dish the way you like it. I bet it will taste delicious and you will just feel proud about it. Just own it!&#;In any case, if everything did not turn out the way you expect and not happy about it, don’t be upset, try again next time. That’s how we all learn, remember the mistakes and keep the lesson. Hope it helps 😉

Prep Time: minutes

• Cooking Time: minutes

 • Servings:

• Ingredients:

• 1 lb of green beans(edges trimmed)
• 1/4 lb any ground meat you prefer(pork,beef or chicken)
• 1/4 cup of dried small shrimp
• 1/4 tsp pink salt
• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 2 tbsps sesame oil
• 3 tbsps soy sauce
• 3 tbsps Shaoxing wine(chinese rice wine) or dry sherry
• 3 garlic cloves minced 
• 1/2 thumb size of minced ginger(optional)
• 1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes or
• red dried chilli peppers(sliced)
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 tbsps water

• Directions:

• Put olive oil in pan and heat up to medium-high
• Sautee garlic and ginger for 1 minute
• Add ground meat and cook for 5 minutes 
• Add shrimp
• Add the beans, soy sauce, chilli flakes, ground pepper, sugar and, Shaoxing wine
• Make sure Fire is on high and let it simmer until dry, letting other beans get burned. Toss once then toss again after minutes
• If it becomes too dry and you want your beans more cooked, add little water to make it sizzle. The steam lets it cook faster
• Turn off fire
• Serve with steam rice or fried rice
• &#;Qing Man Yong!&#; (Enjoy your meal!)

• Tips:
• The original recipe(Szechuan) calls for deep-frying. This is how they really do it in restaurants as this cuts down the time cooking minutes versus
• You can use any type of meat you prefer or nothing is okay if you are trying to avoid meat. The dried shrimp adds a lot of umami flavor already
• Avoid on stirring them every so often. tosses should be good enough. I let others get burned too as it adds that extra flavor and no need to really overcook them. That&#;s why turn your fire to HIGH.    I like mine a little crunchy so if you start seeing them getting wilted, stop and turn off the fire. Otherwise, keep cooking if you like them softer
• When trimming the beans, don&#;t be afraid to cut a bunch at one time. In the Philippines, we used to snap the edges one piece at a time. We know we don&#;t have time for this lol! You want everything to be short and quick as much as possible, right?!? 😉
• If you don&#;t have all the ingredients, no worries! As long as you have the main 6-ingredients with it &#; oil, garlic, beans, soy sauce, sugar and ground pepper &#; You&#;re good to go!

• &#;Cookery is not Chemistry. It is an Art. It requires instinct and taste rather than exact measurements&#;. &#; Xavier Marcel Boulestin (French Chef)

DISCLAIMER: As someone who&#;s only passionate about cooking and determines healthy food to eat, I am not a doctor, nor do I intend for the following to cure, prescribe, or heal any disease or ailment. Please see a medical professional before consuming anything medicinally, changing your diet, or seeking holistic healing practices. Eat/Drink at your own risk&#;;p The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author.

In true holiday spirit, today I have for you a review of Darynda Jones&#; Summoned to Thirteenth Grave, the final book in her Charley Davidson series. I&#;m not sure that really qualifies as &#;holiday&#;, but I did do a celebratory dance as I was boarding an airplane when I got an email notifying me I had an ARC of this waiting for me to read. Definitely an early Chrsitmas present for me!

Because I totally skipped Thanksgiving (and most of fall &#; oops) and am feeling rather celebratory, I would first like to take a moment to thank a few people:

• the wonderful Darynda Jones, without whose creativity I would not have been able to enjoy this series;
• the almighty Net Galley people, who decided (or conspired with others to decide, I&#;m not sure) that I was worth the gift of an ARC of this book; and
• Karma, for without her intervention I would have been left waiting another month (or more) for my pre-purchased, autographed copy of this book, thus saving the mailman from the inevitable stalking that would have occurred around the release date, and saving me from probable embarrassment. Now I can rest easy knowing I will be getting my autographed copy without feeling &#; or acting &#; like a stalker.

For those of you who have not read The Trouble with Twelfth Grave, please do so. Maybe even read the other 11 books in this series that come before that one. The story really does continue from one book to the next and you&#;ll need all of that context and background for this to make an iota of sense.

There may be spoilers of earlier books so I can set the scene for book 13, but I am going to try REALLY HARD not to have any spoilers for Summoned to Thirteenth Grave. Promise.

As we all know (and by &#;we&#;, of course, I mean &#;those of us who have been waiting for over a year to know how this story resolves&#;), Charley was sentenced to an eternity in some kind of black, empty hell after she brought her best friend&#;s daughter back from the dead. While that sounds like a super awesome gesture, God was not super happy about it and, because she&#;d been warned about it before, He wasted no time enforcing punishment. She was banished to her own hell quicker than she could say the word &#;coffee&#;: a place full of darkness, with nothing to stimulate any of her senses, no coffee, nobody to talk to, and nothing to do.

But, as this book starts, Charley is back on Earth. She&#;s not quite sure how, or why, but after years in hell she isn&#;t really pushing for an explanation of how she made it back to a land with sunshine. Especially when she feels heat behind her that isn&#;t coming from the sun &#; hello, Reyes!

After their little glass-making experiment, Reyes explains that while it was years in hell it had only been 10 days on Earth, and she quickly reunites with her posse: Osh (I love that demon), Garrett, Cookie, Uncle Bob, Gemma, Angel, Amber, Quentin, the biker dudes, even Rocket. Everyone is there, which is cool. Unfortunately, the reunion isn&#;t so much &#;happy&#; as it is, &#;crap, the world is literally about to be overrun by demons&#;, and they have only a few days to save the world. And thus, our story starts &#; literally, it&#;s a race to the finish.

And damn my own vow to not give spoilers! Without giving anything away &#; because, trust me, turns out there are several little revelations in this book &#; I really don&#;t know if I can say anything else about it.

If you&#;ve loved this series, you will love this book. The humor, the adventure, the balancing-multiple-problems-at-one-time approach Charley has (such a gentle heart, that girl), the interactions with her posse and with Reyes, the emotional roller coaster that she just can&#;t seem to avoid &#; it&#;s all there, plus the kitchen sink. That&#;s there, too. Reyes even busts out his undulating cloak and sword. I feel like we got it all in this book, which was awesome.

It is always interesting to me how Darynda somehow manages to gather the bazillion threads in her stories and is able to tie them up in a bow at the end. And the resolution comes fast, y&#;all, so buckle up towards the end. I had to read it three times and I am still wishing there had been more detail or more extrapolation or something. I&#;m sure that the simple fact I did not want this series to end had an impact on how quickly I perceived the ending to happen.

Either way, I think in the span of the last two pages my emotions were

1. What the &#; NO!
2. Surely there was another way to do this!
3. Wait, huh? That sounds cool.
4. Wait, what just happened?
5. SERIOUSLY?!

Overall, definitely an excellent book. It lived up to all expectations and fits in with the rest of the series quite nicely. I only have one question: now that&#;s it&#;s over, at what point will we find out if/when Darynda is going to do a spin-off? I am totally going to need more of these characters.

Overall: 9/

First off I’d just like to clarify that everyone involved in my activities over the past few weeks are safe, for the most part. For those of you who haven’t read -PART 1- now would be a good time to catch up. My initial investigation into this case had its thrills to say the least. However, the events of the previous couple of days have changed everything.

Two nights ago, I woke up in the early hours of the morning. As I laid in my bed I saw lights flicker over my window from outside and I heard the sound of a person or maybe a few people walking around. Ordinarily I might have dismissed it and went back to sleep but the footage from the asylum still had me on edge.

I continued to hear footsteps menacingly prowling the house outside. I slipped on my boots and followed the sound to the backyard. I opened the blinds and peered outside. Beyond my backyard was a bright light and standing in front of it was the silhouette of a tall man, not unlike the man Paul had seen at the asylum. Adrenaline kicked in and I rushed outside.

“HEY!” I called out to the figure in the most menacing voice I could conjure.

He quickly turned to face me; his arms long and outstretched in a threatening display. My bravery quickly turned to fear and I retreated inside to call the police. In the split second it took me to dial I returned my gaze to the window and both the light and the man had vanished.

That night was my breaking point. I’d grown tired of questions I couldn’t answer. I didn’t like feeling threatened at my own home so I figured I’d get some target practice with my Dad’s firearm as per the suggestions some of you gave me the other day. I also decided I’d open the locked metal box I’d found buried near Empire Mine by any means necessary.

It might have seemed like an irrational decision but to be honest I was in an irrational state at the time. A stranger, one who’s face I am still yet to see, came by my home in the early hours of the morning with unknown intentions, a place my family and I consider to be safe. So, in a mix of anger and fear I took my Dad’s handgun, went somewhere secluded and shot the lock off the metal box.

At a glance of the box’s contents it may have seemed like useless garbage but as I looked closer their value quickly became evident. The first items I noticed were a journal, which I soon realized belonged to Jessse Hill, and audio tapes labelled: Taped Patient Evaluation #1, #15 and # I listened to them in the garage of my home away from my family and as I did I found myself with some answers but also some more questions.

Each tape was the recording of a different evaluation session Jesse had with a psychiatrist named King. In the first recording Dr King assesses Jesse’s lack of sleep and reluctance to take medication.

“The sooner you respond to treatment the sooner you can see them.” Dr King informs Jesse regarding her adoptive family, the Hills.

There’s a slight pause before Jesse replies in distress, “No! No I can’t. He’ll hurt them to make me weaker.”

“Tell me about this man Jesse? The man who wants to hurt your family and keep you awake at night?”

“He’s not a man.”

Those words formed a ripple of goose bumps across my skin but I kept listening to the tapes. In the next session, #15, Dr King reveals Jesse was discovered as an infant in Empire Mine. Suddenly the location of the metal box seems more relevant to the Jesse Hill case than just a hiding place.

Dr King adds, “In recent sessions Jesse has divulged details associated to a string of serial murders in the nineteen seventies. Details that have never been made public.” Jesse then enters the room and after a short session it ends with Jesse breaking down repeating the words, “Follow his lambs!”

In the final session, #29, Jesse Hill is five months pregnant, the father is unidentified. During this session Dr King reveals to Jesse that the Hills had perished two days earlier in a fire. Jesse sounds heartbroken and she blames the same man, or thing she’d previously mentioned. This last recording must have been made a few months before she died. I only wished I had more to listen to but the remaining item in the box offered quite a bit of insight.

Jesse Hill&#;s journal covered almost the entirety of her stay at the asylum, and her varying levels of sanity. The entries were like something in a horror movie; she refers several times to a dark man that visits her when she’s alone and the sound of babies crying through the night, keeping her awake. The last entry in the journal was written the night before her murder.

&#;They won’t let me write alone anymore. I need a guard present since I tried to stab myself in the neck with a pen. The only reason they still allow me to write at all is because Doctor King insists it is beneficial for my mental health. But despite any doubts I may have had in the past I now know I am not insane. I have seen them, people in masks. A few of the orderlies are helping them. My baby is due tomorrow and I know they will come for it. I have tried to end its life and I have failed. But I will not stop fighting until I am dead. They have taken everything from me and left me to rot in this place. I no longer fear the dark man. I will not let him take my child without a fight.&#;

At this point I wished I could take back that bullet that broke the lock on the box and revealed to me how tragic Jesse Hill’s life was. I was both saddened and afraid of where this story would end. My gold mine very quickly seemed to be turning into a dark abyss but I still needed to dig a little further, I wasn’t ready to give up yet. There was one last location on the map that needed to be explored. The location of Jesse Hill’s murder.

The place where Jesse Hill was killed just so happened to correspond with a location marked on the map and that was my next destination. Though reluctant I convinced Paul to join me. When we arrived, we had an argument; he’d been watching my vlogs and knew that someone had come by my house the previous night. He wanted me to drop this but he didn’t understand, I couldn’t until I’d seen it through. We arrived to the location last night after dark, the field was private property so we didn’t want to get caught but it made it harder to find anything.

We both wandered through the dark, sharing the camera, filming whatever we came by. We crossed an irrigation bridge and then came to an open grass field. Paul wandered off with the camera as I began to recognise some of the terrain from the photo in the article detailing Jesse’s murder. As everything began to seem hauntingly silent, Paul’s trembling voice pierced through the quite of the night.

I approached him as he began to panic. He claimed to have seen a man who suddenly vanished. After the asylum, I wasn’t so quick to dismiss him but I didn’t have much time to think. Out of the darkness a figure approached us fast dressed in black and wearing a mask with hollow eyes. Shortly after another joined.

Paul and I fled. We didn’t stop, not even to look back over our shoulders. We approached the irrigation bridge and bolted across. Despite the fact we were running, the bridge seemed three times as long as when we strolled across it. Once we finally reached the other side we tumbled over each other in the dark. Paul dropped the camera in the fall and I quickly scrambled for it blindly in the dark.

Paul screamed at me, “LEAVE THE CAMERA OWEN!”

I couldn’t leave it, I couldn’t lose this night’s footage. My heart pounded heavily, it felt like it was going to tear through my chest. I scratched at the grass and the soil desperate to find it. I could hear footsteps pounding against the metal of the irrigation bridge, approaching us. Then I felt it; the camera resting in the grass. Without hesitation, I grabbed it and ran as fast as my legs would take me following Paul back to his car.

By the time my hand reached the passenger side Paul had the engine started. His headlights tore light through the darkness and standing right in front of the car was one of the masked men. Before I could fasten my seatbelt, Paul was speeding off down the road, both of us panting for breath, our hearts racing.

Paul hasn’t spoken to me since. I don’t blame him. My little adventure might have put his life at risk. All I know is that I’m done with this story. I’m going to hand all my Grandpa’s information on Jesse Hill over to the police. After the encounter with the masked men last night I can only assume they’ve been watching my vlogs and were waiting for Paul and I to arrive at the place where Jesse Hill was murdered.

I decided to review all the evidence I had compiled one last time and try to soak in as much of it as I could in case I needed to remember anything after I’d handed it off. Something that stuck out to me from reading Jesse’s journal and listening to session #29 from the audio tapes was Jesse’s belief there was no father to her child. She suggests the child is, “…unnatural…” and that the men that were likely responsible for her death sought the child.

If she was right, then there’s a good chance her killers took her child after killing her. Something that disturbs me, above all else, is the fact that her child would not yet have been born at the time of her death. What would her killers have wanted with an unborn child, one that Jesse believes was inhuman?

I can’t help but believe Jesse’s killers were involved with the same men we encountered last night. Perhaps they were even the same men who killed her. What unnerves me the most however is that they know where I live.

UPDATE 1 FRI

Thank you for your concern everyone. After the events of last night I&#;m still pretty shaken up, but I&#;m unhurt. I don&#;t think I&#;ve ever been this scared though. I&#;ve got my phone on standby to dial if anyone comes by the house again tonight and I will be going by the police station first thing in the morning. I&#;m not really sure what to tell them, but I guess I&#;ll start by handing over all the files and evidence my grandpa had stored away.

I haven&#;t heard from Paul, and he won&#;t respond to my messages. I still haven&#;t told my family what happened. I just don&#;t know where to start.

I&#;ll keep you guys updated on any further developments.

By: Owen_Hayes

NoSleep link:eunic-brussels.eu

Oen’s Vlog on YouTube: eunic-brussels.eu