The Glycemic Load Diet

I just have to tell everyone about this book I read.

Click here to see this book on Amazon.

I loved it!  This book just plain makes sense. It is written by Dr. Rob Thompson. Lately I feel like I've been gaining weight even though I've cut calories, been exercising, etc., so naturally I was feeling a little frustrated. My dad ordered this book a week ago and him and my mom have been following it ever since. They suggested that I read it as well. Basically, this "diet" (if you can even call it that) eliminates all starches, processed flours, sugars, etc. It focuses on eating carbohydrates in good forms (fruits and vegetables). He explains that our ancestors rarely had any starches. They had meat from hunting and fruits and vegetables from gathering. Starches were not a part of their diets. Over time, starches became very inexpensive fillers, so more and more food companies started putting them into their foods to save money. However, our bodies were not accustomed to handling this much starch, causing a "glycemic shock". This causes our bodies to secrete enormous amounts of insulin, causing us to gain weight.

In this book, Dr. Thompson also explains that approximately 40% of people are insulin resistant. Not necessarily diabetic, just more sensitive to starches causing these huge amounts of insulin to be secreted. He says if you are overweight, you are likely to be insulin resistant, and most people don't even know it. By eliminating starch, you no longer have cravings. Basically, to follow this book, you try to eat meals that have a glycemic load of under 100 (a potato has over 200, just to give you an idea of how much starches affect your body), and you try to keep your daily glycemic load under 500. This keeps your blood glucose level out of the "shock" range and your insulin is secreted at a normal rate.

A 1-1/2 oz slice of whole wheat bread has a glycemic load of 170, while 2 slices of 1" squares of semi-sweet chocolate has a glycemic load of 25. Pretty crazy, eh? So this diet allows you to eat chocolate! (Lowglycemicload.com)

I've been following this book for 4 days now. I feel so much better. (You've probably noticed my 87 billion cauliflower Pins on Pinterest. Who knew you could disguise cauliflower in so many ways?! My dad makes awesome fried cauliflower "rice".) Anyway, that is my vague summary. I suggest you read it whether you're fit, overweight, or somewhere in the middle like me. :) Even if you just have an interest in health and nutrition. It was a really good read. It only takes about 2 hours total to read. It includes a huge list of the "glycemic loads" of several foods, and several recipes. I have just felt so enlightened. Hahaha.

Read this book.

I'll keep you updated on how I've been feeling in the next couple weeks.

Saturdays.

Saturdays are indeed special days. I often go home because it's only like 40 minutes away. Sometimes...I spend the nights on Fridays here...And I look like this:

In response to Reagan's comment, "You know people can SEE that
picture right?" Yes Reagan, that's the point. 

And then I wake up looking like this:

Hahaha I hope you're enjoying all of these heinous photographs. Anyway...Saturdays then proceed to providing me with lots of Diet Coke...and today in particular I was blessed with a pan of peanut butter bars provided by Reagan. I accidentally ate most of the pan. I feel it wasn't my fault that these particular bars were a nutty, chocolately combination of delicious. And it was my birthday 3 days ago... All right. It was my complete lack of will power. I would stand up from my workplace, cut off a smallish piece and go back to my workplace. Then I would eat the said piece....then it would be gone. And I would be sad...and so I would return back to the pan. This process repeated itself until I hated myself...Then I continued anyway. Here's a link to these delicious morsels:

Peanut Butter Bars

Ok, I am cutting to the best part of today. So my sister Reagan and I like to take pictures. :) We're not professionals or anything but we think it's pretty fun to take pictures of each other and I also have an extreme love of editing. So here are some of the results that came out of today. (Notice my attractiveness range goes from heinously ugly [see above photos] to...not. And Reagan is just always beautiful.)

This is one of my favorites. :) She is
just too dang cute.

And sometimes she is just plain stunning.

One thing you should know is that, while I like just regular ol' editing that make pictures look good, I also like funky editing that make pictures look cool. I love Adobe Lightroom. It has some presets that are really fun. And it's also just a good editing tool. Here's an example of some of the fun editing I like to do. :)

I couldn't decide which I liked better. They were both quite different so I chose to put both up. Here's an example of some "normal" editing. Chris got me the red glasses for my birthday. I'm rather fond of them. :)

Sepia tones

Color. I feel like I was very "in my element" here. 

 It amazes me how different you can make photos look from the originals. Here is an example of a before and after.

I used a similar filter as above, but I edited some of the colors. I increased the brightness, saturation, and exposure of my eyes using the brush tool as well.

Here's another example of a before and after:

This photo was so much fun to take. I had Reagan flip her hair on the count of three and this is what we got!
It's different, but I love that. And she was able to maintain her sassiness throughout the flip. ;)

Here's another before and after of Reagan. A little more normal editing for this one. I love Reagan's sassiness. :) 

Here's one last photo:

Sepia tones again

Let me know what you think!

Like I said, Saturdays are always fun. I love being able to see my family. We've always been close because we are quite a small family. :) And because we kind of like each other. I guess that's important too. ;) But I also love Rocko. I get to see him every weekend. Here is a picture of him.

He's majestic. 

He's getting old. Haha. But today I took him out of his cage to play with him and his little fingernails were WAAAY too long. So my mom had this master plan that we would put him back in his cage and I would bribe him to climb up on the bars of his cage to eat a carrot while my mom clipped his nails that were on the bars. So I went to get him a carrot. And I have never had to hold onto a carrot so tightly. Guinea pigs really enjoy food. And they suddenly have teeth of steel when they want to steal away food. Unfortunately, Rocko won the fight, got his carrot, and only had one nail clipped. I should have known. We had this guinea pig named Browney (yes, spelled with an "EY") years ago...he was really fat and we used to feed him Ritz Crackers and Nilla Wafers. I would try not to feed him the entire cracker...but he was somehow able to grab onto the cracker and pull without breaking it, and he managed to get the entire cracker into his cage and devoured it before I even realized what had happened. He was talented. Anyway...Have a wonderful Sabbath and a wonderful first week of March! :D

The Big Two-O!

That's right world. I turned twenty. A whole two decades. Four half decades. Five more years and I'll be a quarter century old. Ok...that was going to far. I'm not that old. But let's face it. I'm the worst blogger on the face of the planet. I haven't blogged since I got that super awesome purple dress with the pockets that I still love to wear all the time. But anyway, that's beside the point. I'm sure you've all established that I'm the worst at blogging by the lack of blog posts. So I didn't need to tell you that. Let's get to the good stuff. So today, February 27, 2013, is my birthday. Let me just tell you how amazing the people in my life are. First, my grandfather emailed me last night with two iTunes gift cards. He also sent a package from Amazon, which was an awesome Bose stereo that I can plug my iPhone right into. He's the best. And that's that. My wonderful parents let me go shopping for clothes, which is one of my favorite things to do. And I even got that gift early because I went shopping in Boise last weekend while we were in town for the Carrie Underwood concert. That was a good weekend. Here is a picture of Reagan and I waiting for the show to begin.

Reagan is beautiful. I look childish. But I was still 19
so give me a break. ;)

We also went out to dinner tonight. Continuing, my beautiful friend Rachel gave me this awesome pair of yoga pants that have super cute blue details. She always knows what I like. :) And Elise was Superwoman for the past few days. This girl has been working her tail off making cupcakes and decorating for my birthday, all while preparing to leave for Europe for a whole month! She is awesome. Here is a picture of me with one of her super awesome cupcakes.

It already has a bite taken out of it.

They were delicious. She made yellow and chocolate cakes with vanilla and chocolate icing. Those are also her super cute pink pompoms in the back behind my head. :) Let's face it, my roommate was just a rockstar this week. It was my turn to teach today for the after-school program. The kids today were the sweetest. Everyone wanted me to sit by them, they all told me happy birthday, and I got a handful of pictures that they had colored. Kids sure know how to make you feel good. Then, there was my sweet boyfriend/kinda fiance 'cause we're planning a wedding except he's still gone, Chris. That boy got me glasses with the cutest frames! They are a pinkish red.

I had just woken up when I put them on.
No, I'm not embarrassed of my face. Or
hair. Or anything else that looks publicly
unacceptable about this photo. 

He also got me a beautiful coral scarf. He's a good scarf picker-outer. I've gotten a lot of Italian scarves over the past year and a half and I've enjoyed every single one of them. He also plotted this little extravaganza.............

Those are six HUGE bouquets of flowers. 

 Unreal, right? So he gave his mother "strict instructions" that I had to have a bouquet that had stargazer lilies from him. This is his bouquet:

So pretty! Some of the lilies haven't bloomed yet.
It will be a wonderful day when they do. :)

And then, the other five bouquets were from each of the girls in his family.....

Holly, his sister

Jami, his sister-in-law

Shellie, his mom

Salem, his sister-in-law

Amber, his sister

Isn't that just the sweetest thing? I cried a little. I'll admit it. :) And then, to top off the entire day, so many of my wonderful friends came over and sang happy birthday and Mike even caught this picture....

To be honest, I'm not sure what to think of this. What
on Earth was I doing?? (Banner in the back: Elise)

But it's ok because I got this........

That boy stuff three whole cupcakes in his mouth at the same time. Mike sure is a treat. During the party, people also signed a poster board card. :) I got some really nice notes. And Nate came over and brought me a delicious Cocoa Bean cupcake that had a pink candle in it. :)

After people started to trickle out, it was just Elise, me, and these four handsome men.

I look like a shrimp. Josh, Brian, Mike, and Joe. (Left to right)

We went to McDonald's and got Shamrock shakes. I had never had one.

Brian talks too much...we still love him, but that is why his is
still mostly full. Josh also let me have his cherry. That is true friendship.
And he bought mine, because he's awesome like that. 

Then Brian raced Elise home while driving my car. Needless to say, between his driving expertise and my car, we won. Then we spent the rest of the night watching Duck Dynasty. I'm not sure why. I don't really care for the show, but apparently everyone else did. I was just perfectly content being in the presence of such awesome people.

Marisa, my beautiful roommate even posted this lovely collage of us on Instagram. She has a package for me that I will get soon. :) She's in Australia at the moment just soaking up the sun.

Gator jacks indoor picnic, thong cookie night, FHE in
the summer time, and the Color Vibe 5k. What would
I do without this girl?!

I, of course, cannot forget about all of the awesome friends that sent me texts, called, or posted on my Facebook wall. You all are incredible. Thanks for making me so happy today. :) I appreciate each and every one of you.

February 27, 2013 was an awesome day to say the least. I have never felt more like a princess. I love birthdays but this one just felt especially special. Thank you to everyone that made this day so perfect.

Good things come to those that wait...

Please watch this:

Two Years

It is one of the sweetest most touching things I've seen in a while. So I'm just sitting here alone in my apartment soaking in my own pitiful tears. Gosh how I miss Chris. Some days, most days actually, it is so easy. He's so happy and I'm happy and time just flies. Then there are days like today, where I remember how many days there are left, rather than how many have passed. It seems like an eternity more and then he will finally be home. I cannot express my love for him enough. We've been through so much together. I've known him since I was eleven. Hardly more than a child. And I fell in love. You may think I'm foolish, irrational even, but I know. I know that he is for me. He has blessed my life in more ways than I thought I ever deserved. I am so grateful that he is out serving the Lord. He is blessing the lives of many more. The Lord has blessed me during this time as well. It has been so easy most of the time. In fact, my mother had a harder time with his absence than I did. I would start to talk about him and she would leave the room or just burst into tears. It was actually quite funny. I thought I was the unstable one. ;) His family was a great blessing during the first week he was gone. I spent more time over there without him there than I did with him. Haha it was actually a little funny. But their home has begun to feel like my own. I love his family so much. They are selfless, giving people that have invited me into their lives and made me feel like a part of them. They continue to love me and invite me over, contact me, send me his emails, and do more for me than I could have ever imagined. School has also kept me busy. I get caught up in all of the things going on in Rexburg, Idaho, which, I must admit, isn't much. But, even still, I keep myself busy. I'm so happy that he has this wonderful opportunity. I know he is growing, just as I am. I know he'll be back soon. Until then, I'll continue to press forward, trusting in the Lord. For all of you waiting for missionaries, Heavenly Father will make it easier on you. He will help you know what to do during this time. If you haven't figured it out already, I love Christopher Aaron Roisum. He is a wonderful young man. I hope that each of you find your "Chris" one day.
Love,
Haley

Just another summer day--2008

Summer 2011

Winter 2009

Fall 2009

Homecoming Royalty 2008

Road Construction Has Begun!

Hello all.
It's almost summer time.
The weather is warmer.
The sun is shining.
The tank is clean!
And road construction has begun.
I would first like to proclaim my love for my wonderful job. I love it so much. Why? Because it's the greatest. You get to stand and stare at angry drivers all day long while you get flipped off, cussed out, hit on, and whistled at. Also, you get awesome tan lines like this:

I cheated a little. This picture is from last summer, but
you get the point.

And, if you, like me, are slightly allergic to the sun, you get hives. Like this:

Just kidding. That picture is disgusting. :)

You also get really quite dirty.

And you lose your mind a little bit and decide that a pile of ants is the coolest thing you have ever seen. So, you take a picture of them:

As you can see, there are many ants.

You also get to wear this sexy outfit called a hard had, safety glasses, and a reflective vest. 

I felt the blow fish face was totally appropriate.

You also are allowed to park under important signs because... Well because you're important!

Well drivers. Be careful out there. And please, please be nice to the flaggers. They really aren't trying to make you miserable I promise. In fact, we are only trying to keep both you and the construction crew safe. Please don't speed through the construction zones. When a flagger is holding a slow sign, please slow down at least a little bit. And don't be rude. There is something about being in cars that makes people feel like they are invincible. We are people too. Just remember that. :) Love you all. Have a wonderful day and travel safely this summer!

Memorial Day Weekend

It has been oh so long. I am a terrible blogger. I praise all of you out there that keep either a journal or blog of some sort frequently. Good work. So I will just update all of you on the status of everything. So, as you know, or perhaps you do not, this weekend is Memorial Day weekend. My heart goes out to all of those that may be grieving during this time. I am also forever grateful for those that have fought and are still fighting for the safety and security of this wonderful country. I've always been very patriotic at heart, yet I feel I don't voice it enough, if ever at all. I'm somewhat quiet when it comes to opinions that contradict others, though my mind and thoughts are so incredibly loud. If only I could express that well. I feel so blessed to be in such a wonderful place. Heavenly Father has been very very good to me, allowing me to live my life here. I would feel very prideful if I did not express those feelings at this time.

I feel odd now transitioning into something so different. It seems a little selfish. But here is what has been happening. School is going well. This is such an easy semester and I am grateful that I have had so much time to do what I love. I have been able to spend much time being with my roommates and my friends. It seems like we are always busy doing something new. We have been big on Sunday dinners this semester. We thought perhaps we would scare away our guests, but they just keep coming back every Sunday. One of my roommates, Shaina, has a tradition in her family where the first time a guest comes over to her house for dinner, the guest must entertain them somehow after the meal is finished. So we have implemented that same tradition in our apartment. Every time a new guest has dinner here, they must do something to entertain us. We've had things from a person lighting his hand on fire to a full on skit with different people playing another's arms. It has been so much fun. The meals have also been fantastic. And occasionally we will add an activity that goes with the meal. For instance, for one dinner, Shaina and I wrapped a bunch of random utensils, like a blender bottle whisk, a potato masher, a Tupperware lid, a goblet, etc. Then, we did a Christmas gift exchange type thing with all of the utensils in the center. Of course, none of the guests knew that they were soon going to be eating with these "gifts". So after everyone sat down and was situated with their gifts, we all opened them and then announced that these were the utensils they were to eat with. To add to the fun, we all sat on the floor in a circle and then tied our wrists to the person sitting next to us. Anyway, Sunday dinners have definitely been a highlight of my semester.

Some other activities that have been happening include:

Hiking "R" Mountain

Running Stadium Laps

Cutting Zach's Hair

And Eating at Buffalo Wild Wings

It has been a great semester to say the least. Marisa (pronounced Mer-EE-Sah NOT Mar-iss-ah) also had family pictures this weekend in Utah. Ol' Gilroy just wasn't going to make the drive though. Gilroy is Marisa's car. He has been struggling. So I offered to drive her and CJ and April down. And oh what fun! Here is some of our adventures from this weekend:

Eating at In and Out Burger with Strangers. :) This was a lot of fun. Of course,
when we got there it was jam packed and no tables were available. So we waited
around for one to open up, and a kind man saw us waiting and told us he was
about to leave and that we could have his table. So he left and we took over. Then we
saw these nice boys waiting for a table and asked them if they would like to join
us. It was quite enjoyable. :)

We went shopping at Nordstrom at the City Creek Center. Nordstrom is my
very favorite store for all of those that were unaware. 

We also woke up looking really pretty. 

I also bought this coral dress. I love this color. It was a must.

And, one of the best parts of the weekend:

This dress.

Ok. This picture is not the greatest, but the dress is! Here is the story behind this beauty. We were shopping at Nordstrom Rack. And I pulled this dress off the rack because I was super attracted to its color. It looks black in the photo but it is actually a really pretty eggplant color. So I pulled it out and it looked kind of ugly. But I saw great potential and decided to try it on. I will admit, it looks a bit like a sack, but I fell in love with it! I just can't express my love for this dress. It is a situation very similar to the leather jacket. So I decided to buy it and I wore it to church today. As I was sitting, waiting for an interview with my bishop, Malia, my other beautiful roommate, said, "Oh! Your dress has pockets too! That's cool." And I about died from elation. I was so excited! I immediately stuck my hands in those bad boys and just smiled. Pockets in dresses are one of my favorite things. It just made me so happy. So I've just been having a great day. :) Oh and also, my FHE brother, Nate dropped by. Without invitation. Contrary to what most people live by, I LOVE when people drop by unexpectedly just to hang out. It makes me very happy. So I was very happy to see Nate. So I gave him one of these:

Haley Brackett's Famous Cookies

Nate was having a hard time focusing on the conversation while eating....but we understood. If you haven't had one of these cookies, call me. I will make you one. If you call me tonight, I've still got a few left. :) Nate also was telling me a story about how he was asking this girl in our ward if she knew who I was and she asked, "Is she the really pretty one? Like REALLY pretty?" And I just...my heart melted. That was the sweetest thing ever. Telling me I'm pretty is like one of the best compliments in my opinion. You will immediately be my best friend because I will think you are the sweetest person in the whole world. Thank you to everyone who has already said that. I love you. :) Ok world, for now, that is my life. I appreciate all those that read and/or follow me. :) Have an absolutely wonderful Memorial Day tomorrow and don't forget to thank the Lord for the people that are fighting for us and the blessings you have just from living here in America. Love you all.
Love,
Hay <3

It's been a while...

Hello friends. It's been a while since I've blogged. I must say I'm not the best at keeping up with this thing...but I try. I would just like to proclaim my love for eBay.com. First, I must say that I am the queen of eBay. Let me just explain my past experiences...
I have been selling things on eBay forever. Since I was about 13. Pink sweats resell very well.
So I bought this pair of yoga crop pants a few years ago at Victoria's Secret when they first came out. When they first came out, they were only $24.00. Amazing right? Now you can't even get their yoga shorts for that much, and those are about a quarter of the fabric. Anyway...I had two $10 off coupon, but I couldn't use them at the same time. So I ended up getting one pair for about $14. And then got another pair a few days later for the same price. Fast forward to the present...well...a few months ago. Those pants were getting a little old. I hardly wore them anymore. So...eBay it is. :) I auctioned both of them off. One for $29 and the other for $27. I don't know who wanted to pay that much for used pants...but more power to them. So, I made $28 and got very good use out of those pants.
Next example...
About a year ago, Dillards was having a massive clearance sale, with an additional 25% off of all clearance items. I found a beautiful Coach purse that was marked down to $100. Normally $198. Plus the 25% off equals $75. So I purchased it, used it up until 2 days ago. Then decided to list it on eBay. I was in a search of a new bag for class, and realized that Coach items have a great reselling price. So I listed my own that I purchased a while back (planning to use the money to buy a new bag), starting the auction at $25. Wow, that is really low, you may be saying. Yes, yes it is. I start all of my auctions out low because then people say "Whoa! That is a super low price." And bid. And then more people bid. And then more. And then it isn't about buying the product anymore. It's about competing with all of the other bidders to win! It's about winning. That is the secret to eBay. I will share that with you. :) So, minutes after I listed this purse (literally minutes, less than 5 minutes) I received a message, asking if I would do a Buy It Now option, and if so, how much? So I decided I would take $100 for this purse if they wanted to buy it right away. I don't really like doing buy it now options because it limits the amount that an auction can go for (another secret). When people form their own idea about how much an item is worth, it will surprise you how much an item will go for. So do not put Buy It Now options on your listings. Well...you can. But I don't recommend it. This was a different case because it was a private message. And they were obviously interested in this item. So I offered $100. And immediately I received a message saying they would take it. So I revised my listing, put it the buy it now option, and they paid for it immediately. I got paid $25 to use that purse. :) So, that my friends, is why I love eBay.

I stole this logo from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EBay_Logo.svg