gluten free

first of all, i absolutely love breads, in all their forms. but in the last couple of years, i started noticing a pattern in my life... i was avoiding them. the cinnamon rolls, the donuts, the muffins, the bread itself. and then i paid attention to pattern and noticed the finer patterns it was comprised of. bread was making me sick. it was causing me to feel sick, to have an upset stomach, and on occasion, causing a migraine.

as a result, i started moving towards a gluten-free diet. i found new respect for those that are celiac, or have any other food allergies that limit their ability to eat food. it can be incredibly difficult, and extremely frustrating at times.

we recently moved, and as such, i needed to find a solution for the sacrament at church. the previous ward did gluten-free bread for everyone. the new ward is struggling to figure out how to fulfill my need. what surprised me most, is that there were a few other people in the new ward with the same requirements, but none of them had spoken up about it. they merely did not partake.

whoops

when i picked up michael from head start today, i locked myself out of the van...

i have a spare, but it was in the car.

thankfully, the insurance was able to call someone to come and open it for me.

i'm getting a key holder to hide under the car so it doesn't happen again.

release

they have released me from the library. in a way it's a relief, but at the same time, now i have to socialize...

shocking!

today, i went to get my daiths pierced. hoping that it would help with the migraines.

i went to a local tattoo parlor, inks anonymous. they were fabulous, and didn't want quite as much to do them.

i had one that was difficult to thread the jewelry through, so that one is a little sore.
the other one was like putting a hot knife through butter. slick as a whistle!

the only problem we ran into was that i went into shock.
the piercer made sure that i was recovered before he let me leave the shop.

migraines

i'm so done with migraines!!

i'm going to go get my daiths pierced today.
with the exception of the artificial sweeteners, i've not been able to identify any triggers.

update: the place i tried to get the piercings done at was not open today. i called and made an appointment at another place, 15 miles closer to home! friday!

work

i have decided that i need to be able to have something to do that makes me feel like i'm being productive outside of my house and family.

i've started looking for a job.
i'm working on my resume.
i need to get a cover letter template made up.

it's not going to be a quick process, or produce instant results, but i'm starting.

health updates

taylor has complained about his knee for awhile now. then, one day he came from school in KC, and informed me that he had fallen down the stairs on the bleachers, and his knee was worse.

doctor visit number 4 since we've been back (all of 10 days).
amazingly, this kid now weighs in at 104 lbs!
as for the diagnosis, osgood schlater disease. which shaun also had as a pre/teen. sadly, there's nothing that can really be done. when the pain gets really bad, we give him meds, but we have also starting taping it (watch a video here, on how).

shannon just needed a well-check, so we got that taken care of as well.
she weighs 62 lbs, and is 52 inches tall!

i had more xrays taken, they also came back normal.

thankfully, no one else caught the strep that elizabeth had.

wrist update

xrays and bloodwork all came back normal.
...now what?!

mama has a gimpy hand

i have had issues with my left wrist for months. it aches, and sometimes burns, and frequently unusable. i finally decided i'd had enough, and went in to see the doctor.

we decided on xrays, to see if there was any indication of arthritis, or improperly healed breaks.
we also did blood work to check for any autoimmune issues.

hoping to have some answers soon. this is getting way out of hand

singing and substituting

um, so i used to be in choir in high school. not many people know that. 

i can't remember when i stopped singing. at some point, i even stopped listening to music.

2 weeks ago, i "impulsively" volunteered to sing in church. (i was guided, but it kinda looked like it was impulsive.)

today, i sang.

in sacrament meeting.

in front of at least 100 people.

AND i loved it!!!

i sang "i am a child of god." it was actually a lot of fun. i had forgotten how much i loved doing it. and it was fun to look out there into the congregation, and watch people's reactions. watch them mouth/sing along with me. 

i have decided that i'm going to start doing it more. 

i can see

my glasses came today!

i can see correctly again!

ickies

oh my word! everyone has had this nasty summer cold!! it's a sinus infection, but it first shows in the eyes. then it drops down into the chest and you develop a cough.

shannon caught it first. then ashley, then michael, then taylor, then me, then michael again! wouldn't you know that i caught it just as i needed to focus on getting ready for our trip to missouri! i was down for 3 full days!

thankfully we are all better now.

shooting

shaun i are were able to take a firearms basics class. it was 2 night class.
it was so cool! we got to learn about basic safety, and the parts/pieces of guns the first night. the second night we went to the range to shoot.

i shot a .22, a 9mm, and a .40. the .40 was my favorite.

i shot about 50 rounds, and only missed 6 times!

wahoo!!

we had our last class tonight (family culture essentials).
we did a potluck, and talked about how the class has helped us, and what changes it's brought about for our families. we were also encouraged to continue to seek out opportunities to learn and grow, as well as finding them to teach others.

one of the members of our class is an army rotc teacher. he offered to teach us self defense and firearm training! i was so stoked!! so, thursday, we have the basics class, and friday, we go shooting!!

I CAN'T WAIT!!!

changes

there are big changes on the horizon, and although i'm ready to face them, it's not going to be an easy road. there will be many bumps in the road, and times when i feel like i've chosen the wrong path. but i know that this is the path i need to take. i am so grateful that i have supportive friends, family, and leaders. i will definitely be leaning on them a lot in the near future.

migraines

oh, how i despise them! they take me away from my kids and duties, and make even basic things extremely difficult!

i've had 3 in 5 days. but i finally figured out the cause!

i am UBER sensitive to artificial sweeteners. at first i made sure to just stay away from aspartame. as this last bout showed me, i need to stay away from them all.

i've been drinking something called mommies moonshine. it's an apple cider vinegar concoction, sweetened with truvia.

i will be sticking with straight sugar or hone from now on.

Self care

I took a stand last night, and finally asked for something that i firmly believe i am in need of. 

Apparently, i'm being unreasonable and selfish. 

Birthday, conference, and ickies

Interesting, very full weekend.

Thursday was my birthday. Tried to do some school with the kids, and help cheri get her house put together. Late afternoon i started feeling sick. Took some meds and Went out to eat yummy chinese with good friends. I sent shaun home with the kids and stayed with my friend for the night, hoping some good sleep and quiet would help me get better overnight.

Friday i was super sick, and spent the day trying to recover. Stayed in bed most of the day. Had shaun keep the kids at home.

Saturday conference we spent with friends in st anthony. I was still sick, and probably should have been home in bed. But, we had this day planned for a month, and i really didn't want to miss any of it!  I had conference packets for the kids, and treats as positive reinforcement. We did 7-up chicken and potato salad for dinner, and even managed to catch most of the priesthood session too!

Sunday conference started at home. We were hoping to be able to go back up for the afternoon session, but i wasn't feeling any better, and michael was throwing up (he was unable to keep even tiny sips of water down.
We called the home teachers later, and got me, shaun and michael blessings.

Monday we took me, michael, and ashley to the doctor. Ashley was starting to come down with what i have, and michael had been throwing up everyhing for 24 hours. Did a cbc on michael, elevated white count, and dehydrated. We decided on the more aggressive route, a pushed iv fluids, with some fenegran for the nausea. He's doing better, but we are going to keep a close eye on him.
Ashley and i have an upper respratory thing. We both got antibiotics, and i got a steroid shot for the tightness in my chest. I can breathe easier now.

Even being so sick, i think it's the best birthday i've ever had!!

…so much for 4-wheel drive

Taylor had shakespeare tryouts today. He did a tiny part, but he did it. And he did a dang good job, too!

As i wasn't really interested in staying all day long while they did casting and such, i got a friend to bring him home, and left.
…well, i tried to leave. When i got out to the car, i was blocked in. There was enough room to maneuver around the cars on either side of me, so i wasn't too worried (i forgot to take into account the 2 feet or so of snow, plus mushy earth). I got stuck, pretty quickly. AND it took 6 youth, and 2 additional you to help push me out.

I'm just grateful that i didn't feel like a complete moron, and everyone was willing to help and didn't make me feel horrible.

dryer

the dryer has been really squeaky and noisy lately. 

today, i threw a load in, and it wouldn't start! it had power, and would click, but not run. with the help of a friend, we tore it apart to see if we could fix it.

the belt was super loose, and it turns out, one of the pulleys was worn and needed to be replaced.

i quickly ran to an appliance store to see if they might have the piece in stock. they did! i was able to get it put on, then spent 15 minutes trying to figure out how to wrap the belt correctly.

i pulled taylor in to help me, and with the assistance of the repair directions online, and the light on my phone, he was able to figure out how to wrap the belt!

2 hours later, 3 people, and a $24 pulley wheel, the dryer is working, and it's no longer noisy!!

i am superwoman, hear me ROAR!