Missing Person:Timothy Bosma

Last Monday, Timothy Bosma, a 32 year old Hamilton, Ontario man, disappeared. After placing an ad on Kijiji to sell his truck, he took two prospective customers out for a test drive and never returned home. Bosma is married and has a 2 year old daughter at home, worried sick and hoping for his safe return.

The first clue in his disappearance was his recovered cellphone on Friday in Brantford, Ontario. Unfortunately in tracing his cellphone usage, the police discovered that the suspects had purchased a cellphone under a false name and had since discarded the phone. They were able to contact a man in Etobicoke who went on a test drive with the two suspects the previous week. He was able to aid in the description of the suspects, specifically a tattoo on one's wrist that said 'Ambition'.

Second came the arrest of 27 year old Dellen Millard, one of two suspects in Bosma's disappearance. Millard's wrist bares the tattoo described. He was found, while driving, in Mississauga, Ontario. He is being charged with forcible confinement and theft over $5,000. He is currently not "talking". The second suspect, and Bosma, are still missing.

Third came the discovery, on Sunday, of a truck matching the description of Bosma's 2007 Dodge Ram. The truck was found inside a large black trailer, parked outside Dellen Millard's mother's house. The trailer had been parked there since Thursday.

As of today, the Millard's family Hangar 53 at Waterloo International Airport is being guarded and searched for any clues in Bosma's disappearance. Meanwhile, many news publications are issuing reports of hopelessness and a mother and her baby girl are home waiting for news on their missing loved one.

This case breaks my heart. An innocent man has been taken from his family. He is a father, a husband, a son and friend! I don't know him or anyone who does know him, but my heart goes out to them all. I cannot get this family off my mind! This could have happened so easily to anyone! How many people do we all know who use Kijiji regularly as a means to purchase or sell new/used item?! I know that from now on, not a single Kijiji transaction will take place at my home and if I should sell something, I will be meeting the purchaser at a public location, with my husband, during the day. We can never be too careful!

I am sending my positive thoughts and prayers to Timothy Bosma and his family and hoping that somehow he is returned home safely.

Note: Timothy Bosma's remains were discovered Monday, May 13, 2013.

Day 2-No dairy

Day 2 of a "2 week no dairy" challenge and I am completely fascinated by how many things contain dairy and how this is forcing me to be more mindful of what I put into my body. I am very guilty of boredom eating and reward eating, but this challenge is a good step away from all of that.

Every item I consider buying at the grocery store has to be thoroughly inspected for dairy of any sort and the best part is that after inspection, I put half the things down because by that point I'm disgusted with the ingredient list. The concept of "if you can't pronounce it, don't eat it" is making more and more sense to me.

Dairy is hidden everywhere. I've noticed that most things contain "milk ingredients"-whatever that means-and/or straight up milk, butter, cheese or casein (specifically in processed meats). So, to do a true dairy elimination, you need to be hard core about it.

This whole thing is making me increasingly aware of how well I thought I was feeding my kids, especially in regards to my son's school lunch, when really I was giving him way too much dairy and way too much sugar. By cutting out the dairy products in his lunch alone, he is consuming 5 less teaspoons of sugar a day. That's a huge deal!

It's also forcing me to rethink how I eat "healthy" things, but then corrupt them in one way or another. The perfect example is my salad of romaine, walnuts, sunflower seeds, apple, homemade dressing (extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, garlic and mustard) and top it off with a bunch of cheddar cheese cubes. I'm delusional!

I generally think of myself as a fairly healthy eater, but this challenge is showing me how much I can improve. I don't think my favourite blue chip nachos and cheese snack was doing my post-baby figure any good, but neither are my dairy-free Hello Dollie squares.

Time for a change!

What if money was no object?

 Click here to watch a very worthwhile clip: What if money was no object?

Mad Abs May Challenge

The Indecisive Generation

Why is it that so many people of my generation have no clue what they want to do with their lives? I can't stress enough how many people I know, between the ages of 30 and 35, who have absolutely no clue what kind of career they would actually like to be doing.

When I was growing up, I always thought I would be a lawyer. I'm a debater and most people in my life encouraged me in that direction...but when it came down to writing the LSATS and actually processing the whole idea of what it would truly mean to be a successful lawyer, it no longer seemed to be the right fit for me. Next was public relations. Although to this day it is probably one of the better fits for me, I simply could not get on the PR band wagon. The other students were way too excited about having a career, which at times is about deceiving the public, and I just couldn't get on board. From there, I briefly considered teaching, but I've had too many bad teachers to know how important loving teaching is...and I would have been doing it for the wrong reasons. After that, I considered interior design. I definitely have an interest there, and maybe even a little talent, but it's not for me as a career. My most recent efforts were in Holistic Nutrition. I still find this incredibly interesting and very valuable, but I can't decide in what capacity I want to work with it.

See how indecisive I am?! I assure you that I am not alone. Were we given too many options growing up? Did being told "you can do anything you set your mind to" give us unrealistic expectations of ourselves and simply confuse us further?

I like to write, to plan and be my own boss. Where does that leave me exactly? Unemployed, writing a blog and occasionally getting published in the "letters to the editor" section of the local paper. There must be more out there for me... Now to figure out what exactly it is!

In a random sample of 5 of my friends; 1-hairdresser turned Air Force, 2-teacher turned Stay-at-home-Mom, 3-nutritionist turned esthetician, 4-Stay-at-hom-Mom turned aerobic instructor, 5-teacher turned call centre staff. We're all over the place and most of us are still searching for the "right" career or the next big lottery win.

Simpler were the times when people were told what career they would have and then they would work that job for the rest of their able days. No one should have to settle, but I'm thinking my advice to myself at this point is "if it pays more than the last job and you're not sacrificing your morals, yourself or your family, take the job!"

Homemade Dairy-Free and Nut-Free Granola Bars

Homemade Dairy-Free and Nut-Free Granola Bars

Ingredients:

2 1/2 c quick oats
1/2 c Rice Krispies cereal
1/2 c dark chocolate chips
1/2 c dried fruit
1/2 c olive oil
1/4 c honey or agave
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp ground flax seed

1 tbsp sesame seeds
3 tbsp sunflower seeds (or pumpkin seeds)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients (except for the chocolate chips - keep aside for now) . Start with a wooden spoon and then shape with your hands. If your mixture seems dry you may need to add a little more oil and/or honey, a teaspoon at a time, until it starts to stick together. Then add in chocolate chips.
Place on parchment paper on baking pan and shape.
 

Bake 350 for 17-22 min, but keep a close watch. Granola goes from good to burnt very quickly.

Note: I make these for my son's snack at school. It is a great and healthy alternative to store bought bars AND he loves them!

 

Dairy Elimination Trial

After a recent chat with our family doctor, we have decided to try a dairy elimination trial with our 6 year old son. He has extremely dry skin, excessive gas and most recently has changed how he breaths. I know...vague description. The best way I can describe it is that occasionally he takes a deeper breath, as if regular breathing just isn't doing the trick. So, while we wait for a pulmonary function test and allergy testing, we're cutting out dairy to see if he shows any signs of improvement. To be a supportive family, we're all cutting out dairy during this trial.

Well...easier said than done. My background is in Holistic Nutrition and if I were to assign this task to a client, I would cover every basis, but somehow with my own son, a few things slipped through the cracks. The first thing was popcorn day at school. I didn't send him with money to buy popcorn, but his teacher purchased some for him. It is covered with a buttery topping. Needless to say, I quickly wrote her a note...but really, I should have mentioned the trial to her sooner. Next I noticed that the Nutri-grain bars he has at recess contain milk ingredients, as do a surprisingly large number of granola bars. So, starting tomorrow, we will be making homemade bars and reading labels a lot more carefully.

Here is a list of what we'll need to avoid:

milk
cheese
yogurt
ice cream
butter
pudding
cream sauce/dressing
milk chocolate
baked goods
cold cuts (containing casein)
Basically all processed foods

When you are doing a dairy elimination trial you must eliminate 100% of all dairy from your diet to get a true response. After about 2 weeks, we'll know if dairy is behind his symptoms. If we don't see a very drastic and positive result, we will then try a gluten elimination for 2 weeks, unless he has already had his allergy testing at that point. Note: Dairy and gluten are the top 2 culprits with food sensitivities.

I'm off to the grocery store to very carefully select all non-dairy foods to officially start this trial tomorrow. Good thing my son already loves almond milk and doesn't like cheese. There are 2 less battles to fight this week. Wish us luck!