Author: The Wild Gems

We are all like precious stones. We all come in different shapes and sizes. It is when we are cut and polished that we begin to live a more radiant life.
The Wild Gems hopes to inspire you to live life to the fullest and to enjoy every moment!

Book Club Questions – General, Deeper Exploration, And Emotional

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General Questions

1. What themes stood out to you the most in this book?

2. How did the characters evolve throughout the story?

3. Were there any moments that surprised or shocked you? Why?

4. What was your favorite quote or passage from the book, and why?

5. How did the setting impact the story?

6. Did you find the ending satisfying? Why or why not?

7. How did the book’s structure (chapters, time jumps, narrative style) affect your reading experience?

8. What did you think of the author’s writing style?

9. If you could change one thing about the book, what would it be?

10. Did the book remind you of any other books, movies, or personal experiences?

Character-Focused Questions

1. Which character did you relate to the most, and why?

2. Were there any characters you struggled to understand or sympathize with?

3. How did the relationships between characters develop or change throughout the book?

4. Did you find any of the characters particularly inspiring or frustrating?

Deeper Exploration

1. How do you think the book would have been different if told from another character’s perspective?

2. What social, political, or cultural issues did the book address, and how effectively were they explored?

3. Were there any symbols or motifs you noticed in the book? What do you think they represented?

4. If this book were adapted into a movie, who would you cast in the main roles?

Emotional Exploration

1. What emotional journey did each character go through to reach the relationship’s outcome?

2. Were there any moments that made you feel frustrated with the characters?

3. Did you find the ending satisfying for the romance, or would you have preferred a different conclusion?

4. What did the book say about love or relationships that resonated with you?

Soften The Heart: Devotional #23

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Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.

Psalm 127:4-5

In this scripture we understand the significance of children. It is made clear how much of a gift that they are. Children are the arrows, they are the direction, they are the way. If we pay attention to the children they will lead us to the answers that we seek.

You’ve heard before that, “Children are the future.” Thats because they are THE FUTURE.

To have any children in your life is a blessing. Whether you have children of your own, nieces or nephews, maybe you’re a teacher, counselor, you’ve adopted, etc. “Bless is he whose quiver is full of them.”

(A quiver is a case that holds the arrows of the warrior.)

God has placed the children in your life as a blessing. See them as such.

With this awareness you can become more mindful of your influence around children. With this awareness, you understand that you are the one shaping them. Whether you have given birth to them or not, you are apart of their “maintenance and care”. So that they, like arrows, may be strong and sturdy. That they may hit their intended target.

Born doesn’t just mean to to give birth, it mean’s “to bring forth”. Any children brought to you in your life are a blessing. The scripture tells us this.

This scripture also tells us that we need children as much as they need us. How does a warrior fight without his arrows? How does an arrow fly without its warriors?

We are to be strong warriors with our bows and arrows (patience, calm, precision, is what makes a good archer) and we are to direct them. We are responsible for the accuracy and sharpness.

God has given us the best weapon to defeat the evils of this earth. To restore peace and love. We have been given the gift of children.

God also reminds us that we will struggle inevitably out there on the courts. In life.

However the more arrows that we have in our quiver the better. Which I interpret as the more children you influence in a positive way the more that they will influence others in positive way.

For every hand you touch, you touch every hand they touch as well.

We have great power to influence children and this awareness helps us to be more observant and patient with them. WE are what shape those arrows, WE are the ones that pull the arrows back and release.

Arrows that are shot with no intention can hurt and destroy. It’s important and vital that we understand who we are, that when the time comes to launch our children out into this world, they too will be warriors.

10 Questions About STRESS Answered – Gaining More PEACE In Your Life Gives More PEACE To Others

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First of all I want to acknowledge this awesome photo who I wish I knew who to give the credit to. I love how it depicts stress. We can appear calm but be fuming on the inside where it feels like our heads are actually on fire and we are covered in dark, heavy smoke.

We may be so use to the smoke that it’s just become apart of our day to day life. With this blog I want to extinguish some of that fire and help you to see through the smoke.

Your heads still going to catch on fire from time to time let’s be honest but maybe we can make a fire extinguisher more accessible for you and for others.

10 Questions About STRESS Answered – Gaining More PEACE In Your Life Gives More PEACE To Others

1. First of all what is stress? How is it defined?

Stress is a feeling of emotional strain and pressure. Stress is feeling out of control. Stress is a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances. It’s feelings of tension.

Stress is your body’s reaction to a change or challenge. Stressors can be positive and negative.

2. How do we react when we are stressed?

There are mental, physical, and behavioral ways of reacting to stress.

Examples of mental could include feeling overwhelmed, loosing your temper, feelings of irritability, thoughts of self harm, racing thoughts, etc.

Examples of physical could include headaches, digestive problems, muscle tension, even your breathing can change.

Examples of behavioral could include jaw clenching, biting your nails, even becoming verbally or physically aggressive.

3. Who gets stressed?

EVERYONE experiences stress. Even babies and children.

4. What are things that cause stress?

An overall answer to which causes stress could be lack of control over a situation.

Common examples could include; life changes, work, family, financial problems, health.

Not so common examples could include; unrealistic expectations and even procrastination.

Most things that cause stress fall under one of those categories above.

5. When do you feel stressed?

  • When you are under lots of pressure.
  • When you face big changes in your life.
  • When you are worried about something.
  • When you don’t have much or any control over the outcome of a situation.
  • When you have responsibilities that you find overwhelming.
  • When you don’t have enough work, activities or change in your life.

6. Does our stress affect the people around you?

The short answer is ABSOLUTELY. There is such a thing called ‘secondhand stress or stress contagion’ if you can believe it!

Stress from others can affect your own stress levels even if there is no direct interaction.

Stress contagion can happen through social and biological mechanisms, such as pheromones, social cues, and emotional expression. For example, people are four times more likely to catch stress from someone they know, such as family, friends, or coworkers.

People that are stressed release a chemical that can be inhaled by those around them, causing these people to become more anxious, as well.

Read more about it here.

7. Can you be stressed and not even know it?

Yes. Feeling unwell or becoming sick could actually be caused by stress.

Many of us are so used to feeling stressed that we may not even know it until we get sick. 

Often times we also mistake anxiety for stress.

8. What happens if we ignore stress?

Ignoring our stress can lead to poor mental health and physical health over time which can take a toll on your body and open all sorts of un-fun doors. Obesity, diabetes, heart problems, and that’s just to name a few.

9. Why does stress happen?

It happens to help us, ultimately. Stress is the bodies response to pressure.

When we are stressed our body releases adrenaline and the hormone cortisol. Cortisol is “natures built in alarm system.” It’s a steroid hormone that our body releases in response to stress to reduce inflammation.

10. How can we reduce the stress in our lives?

There are many ways that we can reduce stress in our lives.

Examples include:

  • Good sleeping/eating habits
  • Yoga
  • Meditation
  • Exercising
  • Asking for help
  • Decluttering
  • Going for walks
  • Saying NO
  • Mindful breathing
  • Making time for hobbies
  • Acknowledgement of our stress
  • Connecting with others

And that’s just a few!

Overall stress isn’t going ANYWHERE but understanding it and acknowledging it is one way we can learn to better flow with it.

And when we can better flow with it we will develop more peace in our lives and give back more peace to those we love around us.

Lots of love always,

Marie

When Is The Right Time?

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When is the right time?

I don’t know what you’re going through, but maybe this blog can resonate in some way.

In some cases there is no “right time”. You just go, and trust it will work out or that you will figure it out.

However in some cases there is such thing as a right time. But it takes work to identify. There are cues and signs, you have to pay attention.

Have you ever gardened before? Or maybe grown a fruit tree? Let’s take a lemon tree for example, before they turn yellow and are ready to pick they are small, hard, and green. Picking a premature lemon robs it of its process. It cannot grow anymore once it’s picked from its tree.

You have to be patience and wait until the right time. When they are brightly yellow, they are ready and it’s time.

So some things do have a right time and trying to fasten things up is impossible. This lesson of a lemon tree can apply to many things. Learning to trust yourself is being able to identify the cues if something is ready or not.

Trusting your timing is so important in whatever your journey is. Deep down you can feel when something is right or not.

Understand that some things can be a go for it now type thing. But if there’s something you’re waiting for, well, you may have to wait a little bit longer. But that is okay, it’s more than okay.

Life is on your side always, no matter what. It will all work out as it always does.

I don’t even feel like I have green lemons yet on my tree. Right now my tree is barely sprouting. 😉

Lots of love,

Marie

Hello My Readers – I’m Still Here

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Hi my beautiful readers!

I have not posted in awhile and I am so sorry for that! As most of you know I have 4 little ones and they keep me very busy! It’s been hard to get moments to really write or share anything.

I do want to share though that I can be followed on Facebook and instagram where I share things on there as well 🙂 .

Instagram – thewildgems

(On this instagram I share all sorts of things! It’s kind of like an abstract painting lol. There’s a lot going on)

Facebook – the wild gems

On this Facebook page I share videos that I’ve watched that inspired me, quotes, feel good things)

And I did create another instagram very recently where I kind of just share my thoughts under

gemwilde

Looking forward to connecting more! You all mean so much to me! I am grateful to share this journey with you all! I feel truly thankful.

Lots of love,

Marie

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

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What You Need:

1 large zucchini or 2 small ones finely shredded 

1 beaten egg

1 1/2 cups of flour

1 handful of dark chocolate chips

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup of sugar 

1/4 cup of vegetable oil

Steps: 

1. In one small bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

2. In a separate medium/large size bowl mix the beaten egg, sugar, vegetable oil, and shredded zucchini with an electric mixer.

3. Begin adding the dry ingredients (the flour and spices) to the wet ingredients (the egg and oil) slowly till batter is consistent. Add in the chocolate chips.

4. Generously butter up the loaf pan and pour batter into pan. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

5. Allow bread to cool for a moment and enjoy!

Dear Readers, My Birth Mom Passed Away

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My birth mom passed away. It’s been a week now. It’s lead to an indescribable type of grief that I feel very alone in if I’m honest. And I feel compelled to just release some of the things that I’m feeling at the moment.

My aunt (my birth mom’s sister) texted me last Wednesday telling me that she had passed. I had never met her. That wasn’t my choice. I’ve been wanting to meet her my whole life and I actually almost did last spring but it just didn’t happen because she had somewhere to be apparently. Who knows what the full truth is. I can feel I’m not being told everything. I know she was mentally unstable. Suffered from schizophrenia. But how she died seems to be unknown. She checked into the hospital for something, was there for a few weeks, and passed “with family by her side”.

I was really upset at first, clearly I still am. My birth mom was in the hospital for a few weeks and my aunt didn’t tell me? The opportunity to meet the woman who birthed me is gone and it breaks my heart.

All of this pain as being an adoptee has resurfaced I don’t even know how to handle it. I just keep crying. I never knew any biological family until I turned 29. I always felt so completely alone growing up.

I haven’t even told my adoptive parents that my birth mom has passed because it’s just going to make them uncomfortable and they’ll probably say I’m sorry and that’s about it.

When I told them I had found biological family on ancestry there was no happiness for me. There was fear. Never have they ever really talked to me about how I felt being adopted. But they didn’t know, I know that. I was just a grateful child who hid the wounds very very well.

Having adopted two children (my niece and nephew on my husband’s side) I will be a different parent. Their wounds will get the oxygen they need. And I will help them find answers.

I’m just sad right now. I’m just really really sad and another adoptee told that I’m experiencing disenfranchised grief. Basically it’s a grief that’s not understood or validated.

It’s lonely. It’s lonely to want to share this with more people in my life but they won’t get it but also I think…I don’t want to share because I’m not ready to fully reveal how much I’ve been holding in and for so long. Plus I can’t talk about this without crying.

I think that’s why I love this blog world so much. I can be so raw and just let it out. And no one close is going to read this because hardly anyone I know reads my stuff, and if they even do they never say anything.

And if you just read this, wow, thank you. Thank you for hearing me for a moment. Thank you for letting me cry and share.

To be a grown up and still this lost at times and here I am raising children…..

How do you guide children when you aren’t even sure of the way,

Ps – I do have a picture now of my birth mom when she was probably about 18. My youngest daughter has her eyes. They’re so beautiful.

Cheesy, Saucy, Baked Pasta

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What You Need:

Between 1 1/2 lbs and 2 1/2 lbs of ground beef or sweet ground up sausage or you could do a lb of each of meat

2 jars of your favorite marinara pasta sauce we like ragu

1 lb of your favorite pasta noodle (ziti, rigatoni, macaroni, or spiral pasta are all good ones)

3 zucchini’s chopped green and yellow

3/4 of a sweet onion finely chopped

4 – 5 tablespoons of Olive oil

1 heaping tablespoon of jarred minced garlic

2 cups of Mozzarella cheese or extra depending on your cheesy level

1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese

Steps:

1. Heat up a large skillet while you chop your onion, and zucchini. Once skillet is heated through add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sauté the onion, zucchini, and garlic until soft. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Then set aside.

2. Cook pasta as directed in a large pot. (Tip: once the water begins to boil, add a few dashes of salt. THEN add your pasta. That will flavor your pasta) Once cooked, drain your water, and add the pasta to a 9 x 13 baking dish.

2. In the same skillet you cooked your veggies, add your meat. If using ground beef season as you normally would (I like to use salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, a little turmeric, and maybe a little oregano.) If you’re using the sausage you don’t need to season, should already be seasoned. Once cooked, drain fat if needed.

3. Add the veggies to the meat and mix well. Add both jars of pasta to the meat and veggie sauce, reserving about 1/2 cup of sauce. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the sauce and a tablespoon of Italian seasoning mix. Allow the sauce to cook for just of minutes or until heated through.

4. Add the reserved pasta sauce to the naked pasta in the baking dish and mix well. Along with a tablespoon of olive oil.

5. Next add the meaty and veggie sauce to the pasta and mix well. Then add in 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, give or take and mix well.

6. Once fully mixed, top with the rest of the Parmesan cheese and then top with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake at 375 for 25 mins covered with foil. Once the 25 minutes is completed, removed foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

7. Allow to sit for a few minutes, garnish with fresh parsley (optional ) and serve with your favorite crusty bread with unsalted butter.

Enjoy!!!

Summer Bucket List – 2024 edition

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  • Plan a staycation somewhere with a good pool and beautiful scenery – better with some friends!
  • Catch a movie at your local cinema – indulge in the buttery popcorn (snacks are so expensive at the movie theater, we like to visit the store beforehand and sneak in some goodies into mamas purse. Shhh! )
  • Have a day at the water park
  • Visit the beach, get in the water, and enjoy a pina colada – Mexico is calling our name
  • Spend a weekend at the lake with friends
  • Watch fireworks
  • Have an ice cream date
  • Enjoy an outdoor concert
  • Have a picnic at your favorite park
  • Make a time capsule and bury it deep into the ground open it in 10 years!
  • Make friendship bracelets
  • Camp in the backyard on a Friday or Saturday night and watch a movie on the projector
  • Go bowling
  • Dance in the rain
  • Host a movie/game night
  • Participate in a water balloon fight
  • Visit the library and visit more than once
  • Create your own tie dye shirts with some friends
  • Make ice cream sundaes
  • Go on a boat
  • Swim in lots of pools
  • Make homemade pizza
  • Do a science experiment
  • Have a total lazy day with no obligations
  • Complete a puzzle
  • Visit Grandma
  • Have an all day girls day – brunch, pedicures, shopping, Starbucks!
  • Start and finish a new book
  • Go for a morning hike
  • Go for an evening walk
  • Learn a new recipe
  • Play in the sprinkler
  • Make a clothing/toy donation to your local thrift shop
  • Have an electronic free day
  • Spend more than one morning doing yoga
  • Paint a canvas to display in your home
  • Watch a sunset
  • Make a recipe book
  • Have a family dance party

What will you add? 🙂

Party Pico De Galo

The Wild Gems4 Comments

This is one of my favorite things to make for outdoor parties along with homemade tortilla chips. It’s yummy and refreshing, and guests love it!

What You Need:

4 limes

6 to 8 jalapeños chopped depending on your spice level

1 medium white onion chopped

27 to 30 roma tomatoes chopped

1 bunch of cilantro finely chopped

Salt for taste

Steps:

1. Chop all veggies and mix together in a large bowl.

2. Add your lime juice from the limes and mix well. Add salt lightly, mix, and taste until you achieve your desired taste.

*tip: taste test your pico with a tortilla chip. And always add salt gently. better to have little salt where others can add salt to their pico vs your salsa coming out too salty*

3. Serve immediately or allow to refrigerate overnight before your big party.

Enjoy!

Click here to learn how to make homemade tortilla chips