Family Comes First

My Dad is going to have open heart surgery tomorrow, so this week will be just a bit hectic for me.  Trying to keep up with my job while at the hospital is all I’m going to attempt and that will be hard enough.

Dad is 82 years old and has never had heart problems, that we knew of.  But shortness of breath recently made him talk to his Doctor. What we thought was going to be a consult with a cardiologist last Friday ended up being a series of test done immediately. The cardiac cath showed calcification in his heart and 3 blockages. One was 99.9% blocked, another 85% and another 40%.   They were unable to do stints because of the calcification.

You always hear of heart disease being the silent killer. We are very lucky that Dad didn’t have a full blown heart attack. We aren’t looking forward to the open heart and (at least) double bypass, and the recovery – but we are so very thankful that we got this chance.  So many people never have the chance because they ignore  the very sudle symptoms. One of them we didn’t realize was increased belching. Dad thought he was just having stomach problems because for the last several week he had much more belching than usual. This is a sign of a blockage.

Here are a couple good places to start if you have any concern for yourself or a loved one.

Heart Issues for Woman can be different 

Heart Disease Guide from Web MD

Roar and Explore Three Day Family Package!

I first posted this on my Explore Ohio with Sandy blog last July.  But I did look and it appears that you can purchase the Roar and Explore package again this year.

My family had an awesome vacation in Ohio and just outside of Ohio this year.  We started off with the canopy tour, headed down to KY to tour Mammoth Caves and then came back for a three day Columbus Adventure Package called Roar and Explore.

Here is a Video Recap of Our Three Day Adventure

Day One The Zoo

We planned our three days according to the weather forecast.  The first day was the nicest one. Clear skies and cool.  It was in the low 70′s, so perfect for the zoo, but a little cold for the water park. The animals were out…. perfect. We walked in and realized it had been awhile since we had visited the zoo. The entire entrance had been redone. It was really nice!

We went to an animal show that was just about to begin and it was really cute. Started off without any people, just different strange animals running across the stage and performing different tricks (like knowing which doors to go in that would open and let another animal out.
It was really fun day for all of us.. we were all exhausted by the end of it and ready to head back to the nice comfy hotel to rest (or go to the pool as the triplets did)

Day two – COSI

It was a bit stormy and rainy so we went to COSI (Center of Science and Industry). They had a special dinosaur exhibit that we were able to go into. This was an extra cost to get into this exhibit. It was nice and the kids had fun. To be honest I don’t know if I would have been excited if I would have paid much more to be able to see it. It wasn’t the kids favorite part of COSI.

They loved the 3-D movie (extra cost) but I think their favorite part and I know my favorite part was the outside exhibit of the construction equipment. They actually got to work some of them (with assistance of course). That was cool.

Day three – Zoombezi Bay

Ended up being a wash for Zoombezi Bay. It was storming and we weren’t able to go. The good thing is that the tickets are good until Sept when it closes for the year.

Drury Inn & Suites

We had a blast at the Drury Inn & Suites hotel. We had two nights there and I can’t count how many times the kids went to the pool. The room was really nice, there was a work out facility that had glass walls right next to the indoor/outdoor pool. Dave used it and was very pleased. We had a very nice warm continental breakfast (no charge for any guest) and the staff was lovely. I’d have no problems recommending it to anyone. The only thought I had was that I wish it were closer to the Zoo and Zoombezi Bay. The one we stayed at was in Grove City.

Our package was provided by ExperienceColumbus.com for our family of five.  All the pictures and videos (except the Zoombezi Bay picture) were mine and my opinion was not swayed by the complimentary package.  Thank you Experience Columbus, we had a wonderful time. No pictures or videos are to be used without my permission.

This post was first posted July 23, 2011 on Explore Ohio with Sandy.com 

How Many Times Do You Hear That?

I tell myself that all the time.  Do you wonder why we don’t always do the things we should?  It’s almost like we make ourselves our own enemy.

My struggle right now is with weight.  I like to eat, I love sugar.  Do I know it is bad for me? Yup!  Do I feel like crap at my heaviest weight? Yup! Do I WANT to be thinner?  Yup!

So it should be simple, right? Just stop eating the crap, exercise and JUST DO IT!

I actually am beginning tomorrow with a trainer once a week. I need someone to make me accountable, someone to push me, someone who I have to answer to.  I know I shouldn’t. I know everything I need to do, I know what I need to eat and not eat – but it is something about someone else believing in you and working with you and counting on you… to motivate you.

I think the same thing happens in almost any area of our lives that we struggle in, but want to improve.  That might be keeping the house clean, cooking or organizing for you.  Of course there are way too many to list.. but you understand.

Steps To Just Doing It

1) Goals & Visions

Write them out.  What do you want to accomplish?  Give yourself specific goals to reach. Make them attainable goals. Be sure to put a date on the paper when you write it, so you can monitor time.

2) Make a Plan

When are you going to start? What time or cost is involved? What steps do you need to take to accomplish your goal?

3) Write it on your calendar

Writing it down is very helpful in making us accountable. If that time is set aside to accomplish your goal, then that is usually one big obstacle out of the way.

4) Find the resources you may need to help you.

It might be a personal trainer, a Professional Organizer, a chef  or, it might be finding a tutorial on Youtube, an article, book or magazine to help. It may just be your friend or neighbor that can help you.

But why does it seem that anything we need help with cost money? Have you noticed that it cost more to eat healthier? Why is that? I don’t know, but when I’m watching what I eat, I always spend more on the healthy vs the unhealthy items in the store.  Hiring a personal trainer cost money too. If you have organizing problems, hiring a Professional Organizer isn’t free either. I think we have to think of it as an investment in ourselves, our well being, our families well being.

5) Just Do It!

I know… I had to say it didn’t I?  But it does come down to that. We can’t just plan and want to do something – we have to actually do the grunt work to receive the benefit.  I know I’ll feel better once I start working out and eating right, so I’m going to just do it.

Watch & VOTE for @IamChrisMann tonight! #MannFans

It is SO cool that Chris made it to the final four of The Voice! I know he is good enough to win, but the other three people who are singing are also really good.  He will need all our votes tonight!

Hey look what Chris sent me!

Chris Mann thanks Sandy & Organize w Sandy community for Voting on THE VOICE from Chris Mann Music on Vimeo.

Yes and I know I just totally hashtagged out my title – but I want as much twitter exposure as I can get for him!

I love this video – Chris had it on his newsletter this morning and I grabbed it for my post. (Hope you don’t mind Chris! lol)

Watch The  Finale of The Voice TONIGHT,  Monday May 7 at 8pm est (7pm cst)

You can vote several ways after the show tonight starting at 9:55pm est.  Don’t Vote Early or else it won’t count!

Here are instructions from Chris’s newsletter today on voting

Watch the twitter stream.  You will see #MannFans #Vote4ChrisMann #ChrisMann #TheOperaGuy #TheVoice #TeamXtina and @IamChrisMann is Chris’s Twitter handle. Follow Chris on Facebook at Chris Mann Music

Springtime Can be Busy Time!

How is the spring finding you? Busy? Anyone graduating soon? Weddings to plan? Vacations to go on? It seems like so much starts happening this time of year.

We have one graduating this year and have vacation coming up in just a few weeks. It is amazing how time is flying by!

Thanks for linking up to my blog last week! I have three bloggers that I am featuring because I loved what they linked up.

Julie from Redhead Can Decorate did an entire kitchen make over. It looks awesome. I’m going to go back and look around her blog some more, her premis is that she can decorate for affordably.

I like some of the ideas that Dagmar from Dagmar’s Momsense found for organizing. She found pictures from around the web of things she would like in her perfect house.  This shelf has magazine holders as the base for storage. Cool idea!

Closets! Who doesn’t like organized closets? Margo from Joyful Homemaking redid her closet for $150.

Link up to my Linky Party! I’d love to see the ideas you create yourself or find from other inspiration online!

1) Link to your specific post – not your blog
2) Please Link back to my blog with my button or link (url code under button tab )
3) Blog post related to Organizing or Cleaning or DIY or crafts or decorating are WONDERFUL!
4) No sales pitches or web sites.
5) Feel free to link up more than 1 post.
6) By linking up to my post, I might use your pic (with link and credit to you) next week in my post!

Looking for other link parties? I have a whole list of them. Thumbnail via day above and keep scrolling down to find a more extensive text lists by day on my link party list. If you aren’t sure how to link up… see my link party tutorial here. It is simple. If You Are On A Reader and Want to View All the Great Link Up’s on this post please Click here 
This party will be open until May 13, 2012 at 11:59pm est.

#Recipe for an Ice Cream Sandwich Cake!

I will tell you that the cake itself is not a pretty sight. It isn’t a fancy looking elegant cake. It is more like… oh wow.. what a mess THAT is!

Carrie posted this on my link party a few weeks ago and I’ve been wanting to try it since then. Here is her post.

My best tips…  Be prepared BEFORE you start the process.  I was not.  I decided to make this on a whim. My son ran to the store for me, and came back with 2 boxes of semi frozen ice cream sandwiches to start. The whipped cream was semi frozen also.

Ingredients

• 24 ice cream sandwiches (I wanted vanilla, but I know others like peanut butter or chocolate ice cream in them)
• Whipped Cream – a large tub
• 12 – 19 oz bag Candy – I used Reece Cups and crumbled them up. You could use Oreos, Butterfinger, Toffee… etc.
• Caramel syrup. – you could also use chocolate.

Prepare First

• Make sure your whipped cream is thawed (if it was frozen)
• Unwrap and break up your candy
• Make sure your ice cream sandwiches are unwrapped and well frozen before beginning.
• Trying to unwrap soft ice cream sandwiches, a bunch of Reece cups while you are trying to build this and things are melting…. isn’t a good recipe for success.  Just sayin’.

Recipe

• Layer 6 ice cream sandwiches across your cookie sheet. (You can also use a large flat platter. It gets kind of heavy, so make sure whatever you use can go in a freezer and is supportive.)
• Top it with a layer of whipped cream, sprinkle a layer of candy pieces on it and top it with some caramel.  then repeat those layers. (I can’t give you exact amounts, just wing it – what looks right to you)
• I went up four layers. The top layer I did not include the caramel sauce, although I could have. I already had such a melting mess that I had to get into the freezer quick… lol

If my whipped cream had been completely thawed it would have been easier to spread.

See, I told you it isn’t pretty…  Looks like a real mess!  But I didn’t care, I was too excited to try it.

Now take this concoction and put it into a freezer for a couple hours.

Ours stayed in the freezer over night.

I took it out this morning, expecting it to look a little different I guess…. but it looked just the same… .but frozen solid.

Since we started it too late for the kids to have any last night … since it had to still freeze,  I did what any  step mother would do – I said they could have a little piece this morning! Yes, they ate their breakfast first.

I cut this piece into thirds for them.

It passed the kid test with flying colors! They loved it. What i think will be fun is that it was SO novel that I let them have a dessert in the morning (I won’t even let them have pop tarts for breakfast on a school morning) they will have really fun memories of this cake.

Elise

Zach

Alex

By the way I tried it also… and loved it. I’m not a huge fan of the DQ ice cream cakes, but I LOVED this! The sandwich part of the ice cream sandwich is such a perfect layer.

This one is going to be in our “keep” file … for sure!

I did see another version where they did it in a cake pan – lined with foil. It would have been just a double decker I’m thinking… rather than my 4 layers. I didn’t do it this way because I thought it would be hard to get out of the pan. It wasn’t until I went back (after I made mine) and looked at the recipe again to see that they had  lined the pan with foil first. Duh!  But the kids loved the tall 4 layer ice cream cake.

How To Decide What To get Rid Of?

Trying to decide what to get rid of is a very hard thing to do. That is why it is very helpful to use an outside person, a friend  or a Professional Organizer to help you. We don’t have the attachments to the objects that you do. It is easier for us to help you make the decision based on need and not on emotions.   Often someone other than family/friend is able to say things that you might need to hear, but won’t accept from someone close.

Questions to Ask Yourself:

General

*Does it take more time and effort to manage than it is worth?
*Does it make others unhappy to see it? Am I putting things before people and relationships?
*Do you need it? Is it redundant (i.e., do I really need 3 measuring spoon sets)?
*Do I love it? Does it make me happy or unhappy to see it?
*If you were moving, would you pay to have it packed and moved?
*Would you buy it again?
*Is it broken, and if so, are you ever going to fix it?
*Are you ever really going to finish this project (book, quilt, etc.)?
*Can you borrow or purchase another one, if needed, without spending a fortune or having trouble finding it?
*When’s the last time you used it (assuming you knew it was there)?
*If you knew that someone else would really benefit from having this (i.e. if you found a great place to donate it), would that make it easier for you to let it go?
*Is this adding value to your home or business?
*Is this item getting in the way of your ability to find what you need, when you need it?
*Will this help me make or save money?
*How much space does it require (the more it takes, the more critical you should be in your decision to keep it)
*If you keep it, will you remember you have it? If you remember you have it, will you be able to find it?
*Convince yourself that you need to keep it.

Paper

*Am I legally required to keep it (i.e. vital & tax records), and if so, for how long? (a topic for another whole newsletter)
*Will I actually use it/refer to it/need it?
*Is the information still current?
*Can it easily be duplicated or created if needed again (i.e. found on the web)?
*What’s the worst that can happen if you toss it?
*Is it a duplicate?

Clothes
*Is the item in good condition?…does it have stains or tears or is it too worn)?
*Is the item still in style (And no…..1980′s shoulder pads are not going to come back into style in the same exact way)?
*Do you love the item, or even like it? Does it make you feel great to wear it?
*When was the last time I used this item….Would I use it again now that I remember that I have it?
*How many do I currently own of this type of item (maybe 20 pairs of black pants are too many)?
*Does it fit? If not, is it within a reasonable number of size ranges of my current size range to keep it?

Memorabilia
*Do you have anything else that reminds you of this (event, person, time)?
*If we took a picture of it, would that make it easier for you to let it go?
*Am I keeping it because someone gave it to me and I’ll feel guilty if I get rid of it?
*Does the sentimental value exceed the practical value (if so, by all means, keep it!)

Using these guidelines can make it much easier to help you decide if you are going to part with something.

This post was originally posted in 2008. The list was one that was compiled by Professional Organizers.

Vote for Chris Mann TONIGHT! The Voice #MannFans

Watch The Voice Tonight Monday April 30th at 8pm est (7pm cst)

You can vote several ways after the show on Monday April 30th starting at 9:55pm est.  Don’t Vote Early or else it won’t count!

Here are instructions from Chris’s newsletter today on voting

Watch the twitter stream.  You will see #MannFans #Vote4ChrisMann #ChrisMann #TheOperaGuy #TheVoice #TeamXtina and @IamChrisMann is Chris’s Twitter handle. Follow Chris on Facebook at Chris Mann Music

Chris is an awesome singer and a nicer guy! I’ve had the privilege to get to know Chris through blogging events.   He has endeared himself to many bloggers and we are very proud to be #MannFans

Blissdom 2009

I first met Chris when he sang at the Blissdom conference in 2009.  Of course all of us loved his beautiful voice, but Chris was very personable with all of us “mom bloggers”. He was just as nice to older ones like me, as he was to the younger ladies.  He is so quick witted and if you have even a two minute conversation with him, you will be laughing.

Chris was out in the lobby talking to several of us before leaving the conference and he had his video camera going (of course we all had ours going too).

This was the first time I talked personally to him and I sounded like a fool. LOL

Blogher 2009 – Chicago

Chris sang at BowlHer (an event that Collective Bias put on) at the Blogher conference.   What impressed me the most about Chris was that he remembered me! We had talked via twitter & Facebook, but when I went up to the table he had in an expo room he knew me. He had Mann Fan T-shirts (They said Mann Crush) and said he’d save one for me and bring it to the party that night. He said he was out, but had one left and would bring it for me. (Of course I never though he would…   (of course… more bug eyes)

But guess what….. He saw me and said, “Oh wait, I have something for you”. He went back in a back room and brought it out for me.  I mean really… nice guy huh?

At least I’m not bug eyed in this picture! lol

Blogher 2010 – New York City

Collective Bias had another event planned and we were bringing in Chris to sing for us.  Kim @CraftyMamaof4 was planning it all with @IamChrisMann as they had gotten to be good friends through these events we had been to.  The event was cancelled but Chris already had planned to travel to NYC and still decided to come to Blogher 2010

There were a group of about 15 of us that had a small party in @ZipporahS hotel room and Chris said he’d come up and visit with all of us.  It was Courtney @CourtneyRix birthday that day and he sang to her!  Katja Presnal video taped it.

At one point in the video Courtney says,  ”I might pass out”. It’s hard to hear, so thought I’d fill you in on what she says that cracks us all up.

Blissdom 2012

I wasn’t lucky enough to be able to go this time, but Chris performed again. This was after The Voice had begun for him, so I thought it was awesome that he took the time to come back to this conference.
This is the video that Kim Janocko took of him. Notice the awesome seat she had!

There were a lot of videos I would have loved to have used. Be sure to go to Chris Mann on YouTube and you can see all kinds of videos showcasing his talent.  Here is a great video interview with Chris and Lindsay the last two are Christina’s team.

Now please vote vote vote for Chris tonight to help him get to the top 4 in the competition!   Voting starts at 9:55 pm est Monday April 30th until Tuesday am at 10am est.

Easy Craft and Organizing Ideas

Love that Vanessa from The Rookie Seamstress used duct tape to decorate some old boxes to make them useful storage. With all the fun and decorative duct tape that is out there now, the ideas are endless.

Great idea by Ginny from Organizing Homelife on how to label your left overs. Time flies with when you have left overs in the re-fridge. It is amazing how fast things can turn green! lol

Utilizing clear shoe door organizers can be used for a multitude of purposes. Margo from Joyful Homemaking shows a variety of ideas.

Jo-Ann from Growing in Grace made a plant hanger and address plate to decorate her her home.

Link up to my Linky Party! I’d love to see the ideas you create yourself or find from other inspiration online!

1) Link to your specific post – not your blog
2) Please Link back to my blog with my button or link (url code under button tab )
3) Blog post related to Organizing or Cleaning or DIY or crafts or decorating are WONDERFUL!
4) No sales pitches or web sites.
5) Feel free to link up more than 1 post.
6) By linking up to my post, I might use your pic (with link and credit to you) next week in my post!

Looking for other link parties? I have a whole list of them. Thumbnail via day above and keep scrolling down to find a more extensive text lists by day on my link party list. If you aren’t sure how to link up… see my link party tutorial here. It is simple. If You Are On A Reader and Want to View All the Great Link Up’s on this post please Click here 
This party will be open until May 6, 2012 at 11:59pm est.

Located in Columbus Ohio – this Indoor Waterpark is fun anytime of year

The kids and I went to Fort Rapids in door water park at the end of 2010. I wanted to share this post from my Explore Ohio with Sandy blog with you, so I’m reposting it.

We were invited to go to Fort Rapids Indoor Waterpark Resort and decided to plan it around the triplets 10th birthday.  They turn 10 on December 30th, 2010 and we knew with the winter setting in, this would be a great time to go.

We arrived on December 29th and were able to get our park passes when we arrived about 2pm. (you can pick them up by 1pm day of check in)  We couldn’t check in our rooms until 4pm, so we decided to go have lunch since we were starving by then anyway.

We came back at 4pm and stood in the line to check in.  The lobby was beautiful, and right off the bat I noticed the western theme in everything.  Now… where else do you get cookies when you check in?  (I know of one other place I’ve been, but they gave you a single cookie, not a tray to choose from)

Once we checked in we had to check the place out.  Saw this coffee bar, although I never did get a chance to go inside.

We had to figure out what this machine was.  It was outside the restaurant. You had to put in $2 to play. Then you tried to use the claw to pick up a lobster. If you got it up and out of the water you got to have it cooked up and served for free.  We saw some people trying later while we were eating dinner. It got noisy… they were all excited and both times thought they had the lobster, but both times it kicked off and got free.  It kind of had those loose kind of claws like the stuff animal machines do, so it didn’t have a very good grip on them, there was nothing to hurt them.

Check out the reaction when we walked into our suite called the Bright Angel Point Grand Canyon. It sleeps 12!

It was so much fun for the kids. There was so much to do and with them being 10 years old it was nice that they could be off by themselves while we just sat and relaxed. Dave read and I took pictures! lol (no.. Dave and I didn’t get in the water. Be sure to wear cool clothes because it is humid and warm in there. Great for the kids running around in swimsuits, not so great if you aren’t getting in or you have a new hairdo! lol )
There were life guards everywhere! They were regulating the slides and I don’t think you could look from your left to your right without seeing one.
This guy was funny. He saw me standing there waiting for the kids to come down the slide to try and get their pictures (which didn’t turn out.. by the way) and he said.. hey.. get me in action. He started a slow motion run.  lol Cracked me up.  (there was no one in the water by the way, he was the guard at the bottom of the slide)

Like I said.. the western theme was throughout not only the hotel, but also the waterpark. This was up in the air as decoration for part of the waterpark.

There was an adult area huge whirlpool tub. No kids allowed.  So the adults can get away from it all too.

A really large and nicely done kiddie area. This was one of the cute dumping water features in that area.

Now here is one of the water dumping features for the big kids!! lol

The kids loved it.. Even the littler slides were fun.

A and Kim’s from @craftymamaof4  – son were having fun together.

There was basketball for you to play in the water too.

This is another one of Kim’s sons.

The kids loved the lazy river. It was a popular place and would get pretty crowded, but the kids didn’t mind.

There were all kinds of people here. From babies to elderly. You also realize how big tattoos are now too! LOL Until you see people in their swimsuits, you don’t realize how popular they are. omg!
I’m adding this picture… just because I think it is cool.
We left the indoor waterpark after several hours and went back to our cool suite to shower and change. Then off to dinner.

We would have liked to stop off in the cool game room, but we never did find the time.

As I stated in the video, we weren’t overly impressed with the food.  There was a good selection on the buffet and the prices were good. Dave and 2 of the 3 kids got the buffet. They graded their meals  a C-, C and B+.  The main problem was that some of the food was kind of dry.. I think from sitting out. They do keep them covered nicely.

I ordered from the menu and got a burger and was excited to see the broccoli salad with it. I had a few bites and then stopped.. there was too much dressing on it. Too much mayo taste.  The burger was kind of dry also.  I left part of the crust and the edges of the burger.  A also ordered from the menu. He got a hot dog and loved it! He gave it an A+…. said it was the biggest and best hot dog he had ever eaten. But it took quite awhile for our meals to come. The others had finished eating… 2nd helpings before our food came out.  I would have to say that this was the only slightly negative thing that we experienced.

Everyone there was extremely helpful.  Other than the people checking me in, I’m sure no one else knew I was doing a review.  They provided this cake for the triplets birthday. It was in the room when we got there. I don’t think this was only because I was reviewing. My guess is that this would be a service that anyone would receive.  We didn’t have any forks or knife, plates etc.. in the room – so we stopped by the bar area and asked if they had some forks and plates we could use.  She  did and then when she couldn’t find a knife for us to cut the cake, she went into the restaurant to get us one.

Kim from Crafty Mama of 4 was there with her family the same time we were. That was fun. Our kids and husbands had never met, and the kids got to play some together at the waterpark. They came over and shared the cake with us for the kids birthdays.

There were 2 king beds (one up and one down)  and the other downstairs room had 2 queens. (we thought they seemed smaller than our queen at home, so I would have guessed doubles, but info says they are queen) and then a small little room with a set of bunk beds. The couch also pulls out to a sleeper sofa.

The room across from ours was having a family reunion here. Some were from the DC area, others from IL and they met in Ohio and stayed together, visited and the kids got to play. Great idea!!

The suite was unbelievable! There was 2 stories, 4 bedrooms (2 down and 2 up) 3 bathrooms, the living room with fireplace and a kitchenette area. There was no running water in the kitchenette. So that was just a little strange. We had to take our drinks to the bathroom to dump them out. But no biggie. There was a little dryer there that you could dry your suits! We didn’t use it to see if it worked though.

You don’t have to get a suite though, there are all kinds of different options for rooms, from your basic hotel room to the family villas.

The suite we stayed in was the Bright Angel Point Grand Canyon and cost $499 for the night, but with taxes it came to $599.  It comes with 12 indoor waterpark passes.  The passes are good from 1pm of your check in day.. and extend to the end of the day on your check out day (check out is 11am, but there are lockers that you can change in after you swim if you have checked out).

You can get day passes to the waterpark also. They run $26.99. (prices may vary)

Be sure to visit.. and tell them Sandy from Explore Ohio with Sandy sent you!

Thank you Fort Rapids… we had a wonderful time!

Fort Rapids Indoor Waterpark Resort
www.FortRapids.com

4560 Hilton Corporate Drive
Columbus, OH 43232

877-33-SPLASH (877-337-7527)

Disclosure: Our 1 night stay in the Bright Angle Point Grand Canyon suite and 10 waterpark passes were provided at no charge. We paid for our own meals. The pictures, video and opinions are my own.