“BeYOUtiful” sign

While shopping for a Mother’s Day gift, I came across a sign that I really liked. I immediately thought, “I could make that! Hmmm, actually, I could make it better!”

So like any other ‘normal’ person would do when inspired, I left the store to go home and create.

I have wood scraps my husband saves for me; actually I make him save them for me. If I don’t catch him in time after his projects, they get burnt in the fireplace. Sometimes the ones I wanted him to save for me end up being used as cheap heat anyways. This is because I don’t create with them fast enough and they “get in his way.” So when inspiration hits, I must get right to creating.

I found the perfect wood board and promptly sanded it by hand; the belt sander still intimidates me. I mixed water with a white paint for my base coat. Once that dried, I painted my favorite blue color over top.

I let the blue paint dry overnight then sanded the board a little more to make it appear “worn.”

I found some white glittery chipboard letters for scrap booking, positioned them to spell “BeYOUtiful” and used mod podge to stick them onto my painted board.
I also found a broken headband with a cute flower. I had previously saved it in my craft box swearing I would fix it. I am sure you know how that goes. I decided to repurpose the flower and attach it to my sign. I cut it off from the headband and used hot glue to attach the flower to my board.

In the meantime, I was invited to hang out with friends at the brewery. I, in turn, invited my brother and his family. I discussed my project with them. I really had wanted to add some beads somehow but didn’t have any. Luckily my sister in law, and niece, had a large supply.
I was running out of time ON Mother’s Day, YES, I waited until the last minute! My brother drilled holes at the top of the board to save me time while I browsed the beads.
I chose 22 gauge wire, (I liked the blonde color for this project), and thread it through along with beads. It will work for hanging because the board isn’t too heavy. (Normally I would not use this light of a wire for hanging).

Thanks to my “beYOUtiful” niece, you can view the finished product.

My mom loved it for Mother’s Day!

Do you like it?

Would you create one?

Vanellope Von Schweetz Birthday Party

Every year I throw themed birthday parties for Zoey in our home.  This year it was a Wreck-It Ralph Birthday Party.  The more I talked to her about what she wanted, the more it turned into a Vanellope Von Schweetz themed birthday party.  Same movie, just a different character.

When we were in Disneyland last year, we saw lots of toys and accessories for this movie.  However a few months later looking for this theme, we came up very short.  Apparently all of the Wreck-it Ralph stuff we had seen in Disneyland was pulled from the shelves.  I have no idea why.  We couldn’t find anything for sale other than on e-bay; and you had to be willing to pay outrageous prices since these toys were hard to find.  We weren’t willing.

I decided I was going to have to be a little more creative.  We focused upon the Sugar Rush theme.  I decorated the whole house with generic cutout candies, colorful swirls that hung from the ceiling and balloons I found at the party supply store.

 Photography is not a gift for me…I need help.  Haha!

Decorations also included Mento’s hanging down – like the inside of Diet Cola Mountain.

We had a “sugar rush bar” (with some non-sweets too).

In various clear containers we separated by colors: M&M’s, in both peanut and regular, skittles, Mike & Ike’s, Mento’s, candy themed – pencils and mini erasers, also colorful bracelets and hair clips.

Yes I used every surface in the house since the table was reserved for dinner:  Mini pizzas the kids made on their own out of English muffins, tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.

The kids made edible race carts out of sweets…

“Treat Bar”

Rules:

1. They had to wash their hands first.

2.  Absolutely no licking fingers or eating while they were creating the race car.

3. There will be a contest/vote at the end for the best race car so do your best work!

I was strict about this since they were all sharing supplies and I didn’t want to be spreading germs.  They took any sweet from the “treat bar” and used frosting to create their own race car.

Everyone voted on paper for the race car they thought was created best.  They couldn’t vote for themselves though.  When they were done we put them on the counter and wrapped with plastic wrap for them to take home.

The cute race cars…

After that we sang Happy Birthday to Zoey with real cake, cupcakes to be exact…

They were allowed to eat these, cause I am not THAT strict!  We have a sweets bar too for goodness sake!

For our non-candy craft, we made banners.  I bought a bunch of colored felt sheets and the kids cut them into triangles.  Then they took a sharpie and wrote one letter on each triangle.  We hold punched the corners and connected the triangles with twine to create a word banner.  I forgot to take pictures of the actual banners but I did find one in this picture…

 See the example on the entry table, next to the cut out triangles?  Sorry it’s the best I could do.  🙂

Next Zoey opened presents and we all watched the movie Wreck-It Ralph.

It was a great time for everyone and now Zoey is already planning next years theme…Warriors.   As in the book series about the cats.  UGH, I might have to read a book to understand what the fuss is all about because I haven’t a clue!

Anyone know or have any ideas???

Valentine’s Day Treats

I made cute baggies of these treats for Zoey’s class party today.  They are actually Muddy Buddies but jazzed up for Valentine’s Day.

Not sure where I ever found the recipe, probably from a box of Chex cereal.  They are so yummy!

Get everything together first…

1 cup vanilla baking chips, 1/2 cup of peanut butter and 4 Tbsp of butter into a microwave safe bowl.

Another bowl with 9 cups Chex cereal in it.  (I used Corn Chex because that is what we had in the kitchen, but you could use any flavor).

Line wax paper out on counter or table.

Put 2/3 cup of powdered sugar into a gallon size bag.

Set out red and pink sprinkles along with 1/2 cup regular chocolate M&M’s.

1.  Microwave vanilla baking chips, peanut butter and butter on high for a minute.  Stir well.  If the chips still need melting, microwave for 30 seconds again and stir well until smooth.

2.Pour over Chex cereal.   Stir carefully together making sure not to break the cereal but getting each piece coated with the chocolate/peanut butter mixture.

3. Place half of the cereal mixture into the plastic bag with powdered sugar and shake to mix.  Spread onto wax paper to cool.

4.  Add to the other half of the cereal mixture, M&M’s and approximately a Tbsp each of red and pink sprinkles.  Spread onto the wax paper to cool.

5. After about 15 minutes mix both cereals together in serving bowl.

Optional: Fill decorative cello bags and tie with festive ribbon to hand out to others.  Just be sure to save some for yourself.  🙂

(I made a half batch of dark chocolate Muddy Buddies too.  Those you just use dark chocolate chips instead of the vanilla baking chips.  Also I mix the whole mixture into the powdered sugar then added colored M&M’s.)

ENJOY & HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!

Reusable Beer Carrier

Valentine’s Day just happens to be my brothers birthday.

He doesn’t like that it falls on this holiday.  I think because he feels he gets no recognition, no big party.   His friends are always doing things for their girls and forget about his birthday.

He has had an even harder time since he turned 30 a few years ago.  (He thinks he is getting old- ha- ha).   I have made it a point to celebrate with him.  But usually it is me, his wife and kids and a few (one or two) friends that don’t have girlfriends/wives.

Brian hasn’t been home for a Valentine’s Day for years…I actually do not ever remember him being home for this holiday, but I am sure he has been sometime in our 8 years together. We always say Valentine’s Day is not the day to go out. It should be celebrated a different day to avoid the crowds.  So I go hang with my brother and if Brian is ever home, he will come too.  🙂

Anyways, this year I wanted to do something special for my brother but I didn’t know what.

I was at the World Market and saw some of those big bottles of beer.  He likes beer so I chose four bottles.  Turns out they don’t have a carrier pack to hold the bigger bottles.  They only have those small 6 pack holders.  Well that got me thinking I should make my own carrier for 4 big bottles of beer and it should be reusable.

I got home and brainstormed with my husband.  I don’t sew so I can’t make any reusable bags.  But my husband can build anything with wood!  I didn’t want anything too big but I had to go with my husbands plans since I don’t know how to build things…yet.

We started by measuring the bottles of beer to get the measurements for a box.  Then we cut scraps of wood to those measurements.

Next cut the pieces to fit in the middle to make 4 holder slots…

The hardest part of making the box was creating the handle.

I used an old wooden curtain rod, that I wouldn’t let my husband toss out.  It’s been sitting around while I dreamed up what I could use it for.

Ugly for curtains but great for this project and future ones as well.  🙂

I cut it down, sanded, then cut it again to the desired length for the handle.

Here is the carrier so far with the handle…

We had trouble attaching it since I didn’t want the nails to show on the outside.  However the drill wouldn’t fit inside the cubes so we had to put some screws on the outside anyway.

Everything looks good, time to stain it.

I almost forgot to add my signature…I am loving the new Dremel power tool my husband bought me last year.

My husband suggested using sharpie to write it but I really like how subtle this engraving turned out.  I re-sprayed clear coat over it since I forgot to engrave it before we stained.

I am really happy with the way it all turned out.  Here it is all packaged up and ready to give tonight.

I hope he likes it.  If he doesn’t, I want it back.  🙂

What do you think?

The Super Bowl: A Sex Trafficker’s Playground

Feeling the need to bring awareness to this issue today. This is sickening but we cannot just pretend it doesn’t happen.

Mandy Black

In just a few short days hundreds of thousands of visitors will flood to the MetLife stadium in New Jersey for Super Bowl XLVIII. Many visitors will be coming to show their pride and cheer on their favorite team, but tragically, thousands more will be coming for something entirely different. What most people don’t know is that the single biggest game of the year has also been called the single largest human trafficking event on the planet.

Just beyond the stadium lights, hidden within the shadows will be thousands of victims, women, children and even men, caught in the inhumane web of sex trafficking. For them this day will bring something much different than football, loud cheers, hot dog stands and painted beer bellies. For them it will bring pain, abuse, repeated rapes and even fear of death. The exact numbers of trafficking cases in a given year or…

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Fun Winter Date

It’s cold, hazy and it has been forever since we have seen the sun.

Brian surprised me last week by booking a hotel room in McCall for our date night.  I was excited for a chance to get away from town, not so excited to be headed to the mountains in the cold.  We would arrive the day before the annual Winter Carnival and had hoped we would be able to see some of the snow sculptures in our short visit. 

After driving north for an hour, the sun appeared!  I was much happier and more excited than I already was for a fun date with my hubby.

We arrived in McCall and checked into the hotel.  To my surprise again, Brian had booked us a spa suite!  We had our very own Jacuzzi in a large hotel room!  After settling in, he suggested we go check out the snow sculptures and take our picture at each one.  I was excited that he was making this a fun, interactive date; (something that he has claimed to not be good at).

We ventured out to the farthest one on the map first, at the Shore Lodge.  The roads were covered with ice and it was hard to walk over to it from where we could park.  I was nervous at first, it appeared everyone was working on their sculptures fast and furiously to get them done in time.

     You can see they were still hard at work, but everyone was more than willing to have us come in and look.

We drove to a few then decided to park and walk to a cluster of them in the middle of town.  Brian drove onto the only one way street in town but he was going in the wrong direction!  He noticed after it was too late so we had to keep going.  The cars headed right for us had to stop and wait for us to pull to the side but we got to a parking spot safely, laughing all the way of course.

 Here, Brian is pointing out the obvious.

Next stop was Mountain Java.    YUMMY!  Definitely helped warm us up for the cold stroll.

We walked around the downtown area finding the sculptures with a map; some finished, most not.  Some artists were there and excited to share the details of their work.  Others offered to take the photo for us but at most locations we just set up the self-timer or took “self-ies” so we didn’t interfere.

 An interactive sculpture: The owner ran out to move the boxes blocking the sunlight, told us to grab a sign and pose!  “Star of Wonder” at Razzle Dazzle

“Penguin Paradise” at Sterling Bank: Cute and fun!

 “Crystal Eye’s Bar” Salmon River Brewery: Very Impressive and Functional.  (The next morning we went by to check it out again and they were already selling beer).

When we got done with the downtown area, it was getting dark.  We stopped for dinner then explored some more.  We could tell that some of the sculptures would be lit up cool at night so we went to those.

 “Pharaoh’s Tomb” at Hunt Lodge Holiday Inn Express, created by a professional (paid) team but still impressive.

 “The Enchanted World Journey” at Cheap Thrills: We had to stop for the music and bright, flashing lights!

We stood by a campfire, behind the huge lot of sculptures, with creators Chris and Sandra.  They offered beer and stories, telling us everything about the process.  Extracting ice from the lake was hard labor but worth it to create their mini Stonehenge.  It took 3-4 men to lift the blocks, estimated 600+ pounds each, onto the sculptures. You could see the layers of ice in each block and even an occasional weed that froze inside. While we were talking, I could hear a chainsaw roaring from another snow sculpture artist finishing his masterpiece in the night. The stars were visible and bright in the sky. The campfire offered some warmth among the cold air as I marveled at the awesome time we were having.  
We asked about prizes. Chris said the biggest prize of all is the joy shown by the kids when they get to climb, wiggle and slide on the snow sculptures.  He explained that it is all about supporting the small community and creating fun family memories of the McCall Winter Carnival.  This was their 3rd year participating in the event. The lights they had ordered were specially made for ice and snow so that they didn’t melt the sculptures.  Everything they did was well thought out and detailed. My favorite was the cave with flashing lights and a crescent moon on top.

I had a hard time getting a good picture at night…

  Trust me, the cave was awesome!!

They gave us a flashlight and a tour, encouraging us to crawl through the mining tunnel and slide on the great wall of McCall.

  My smart gloves are reflecting like ET.

Seriously these snow sculptures at location #6 were our favorite and win our vote for The Best!!

Here are some pictures of us the next day with Chris and Sandra…

And standing in the cave

The night before a few of the artists had pictures on the sculptures so you could see what they were creating.

 Here is the Abominable Snowman the next day (finished).  Love little touches like the ice teeth, the ice ball in the back, and the ice wood logs on the “fire.”

I think we have a new tradition now.  I can’t wait to see what creative snow sculptures they come up with next year for the 50th Annual McCall Winter Carnival!

RIP our pet chickens

We are mourning…we lost three of our backyard chickens last week in a raccoons murderous rampage. They were slaughtered in the most horrific ways. It was tragic! We have one lone survivor who for some reason didn’t have a single scratch on her. It is more of a miracle she wasn’t the first to die or that she wasn’t in shock from the whole event. She was the weakest of the flock and was always pecked upon. She is missing so many feathers around her neck she looks like she has a Mohawk.
Here is the hairdo she’s been sporting for several months.

I haven’t decided if I should find a home yet for our lonely Rosy or if I should find another chicken to keep her company. I feel responsible for the others untimely deaths because of our love to “adventure” away from home. We were out of town when they met their fate that day. My poor neighbor, bless her heart, cleaned up and didn’t tell us how gruesome the scene was. She feels horrible since she forgot about closing the coop that night. I don’t blame her at all; it isn’t her responsibility to remember ours. We have another neighbor who was more blunt with my husband about the gruesome mess.

In tribute to our first flock of hens, my husband preserved one of each of their last eggs.
He put a hole in them, blew out of the insides – saving them for a quiche tomorrow, and washed the shells well. He made a box to display them in and set it on the stove. It turned out rather cute if I don’t say so myself.

RIP

Spud, my favorite…

She liked to hang out with me in my office, (On the other side of the window). She first almost lost her life back October when a cat tried to eat her. We called her our $90 chicken after having to take her to a vet to get a shot and antibiotics. The cats bacteria in her wounds could have killed her. I had to nurse her back to health in the house for over a week. It was rough for both of us. But we ended the experience with a special bond.

Here’s a picture of the whole original flock last year…

Zoey is longing to keep Rosy and says she cant bear to lose another chicken. I don’t think they do well living alone and need to have a friend. Maybe if you hear of another lone hen looking for a home you could refer her our home.

Disneyland at Christmas

For the last few years we have had a family goal to go to Disneyland at Christmas. We had never been and the kids were excited. Hell, Brian and I were excited! I drew a temperature gauge with $0 at bottom and our money goal on top. I hung it on the fridge and filled it in with a red marker each time we put money into our special account. It was great since the kids were donating their own money to contribute towards our family goal.
In September of last year I knew we needed to purchase tickets. We were a bit short of our goal. But we have a blended family so timing everyone’s custody times together on a major holiday was a lot of work. We couldn’t just put it off until next year or during a summer. Brian and I decided to spend some of our savings from another account to make up for the money we lacked in our Disneyland fund.

It was a great memorable time for all though so here are some thoughts:
My Disneyland Preparation and Tips:

1. Do not go at Christmas time if you are looking for a magical Christmas experience; unless you enjoy masses of people whom will be in your personal space almost all the time. We met quite a few folks who like to push and shove for what seems like enjoyment. At one point I heard a father screaming at his child, “This is supposed to be the happiest place on earth!! What is wrong with you?!”

2. The food sucks! I didn’t even want to ask what was in it, it was all very questionable! They say you cannot bring your own food into the park however I had to since I have food allergies, but they never even asked me about it. I even brought food for all of us since it was easier and cheaper. The day the kids ate lunch at their choice of restaurant, they were all very disappointed with it. We didn’t eat at any of the fancier sit down places since they needed reservations. Each quick eatery seems to have the same menu options as well = not much selection. I thought Disney was going to add healthy options, but it must have been some marketing ploy.

3. Be prepared to wait in line to wait in line again. There will be tons of waiting in lines that you hope are going to where you want to be…eventually. One thing we didn’t have to wait for, and I am so glad I had made a reservation, was the Bibbity Bobbity Bootique. They dressed her up in her favorite Disney character dress, did her hair, nails and makeup. She loved it!!

4. Yes you can get into the gates early (1/2 hour before opening) but it doesn’t get you far. You get to the end of Main Street where you encounter more ropes holding you back until 8 am. No stores are open before then but you can get a croissant or pastry and coffee at the café.
Some characters do stand in the entrance to sign autograph books and pose for pictures when they first open the gates half hour early. We stood in line for goofy and when we were second to the front of the line he “had to go” and we didn’t get our turn. The characters can also be very creative about sneaking off while you are standing in line, – “look a squirrel!” as they run off while everyone looks away for the imaginary squirrel – pay attention Folks! If you are ready with pen in hand you can follow along with them and some will sign as they walk.

5. LOUD MUSIC EVERYWHERE – be prepared for it to be stuck in your head for days as everyone in your house will unexpectedly break out in song or be humming along. You may also awake in the night singing along. It’s 6 months later and I can still recite the song they played over and over and over and over… Do they think the louder the music is the more magical the experience?

6. Watch the parade in the last show and make sure you find a spot at least 30 minutes early! It’s the same parade so only plan on needing to see it once. Ride lines to get a tiny bit shorter during parades.

7. Don’t miss Fantasmic! – it is better than World of Color. Get there 30 minutes early to get up front along the water. Any spot is good along the water.
If you choose World of Color, eat at the restaurant that will give you priority seating during the show. Standing during the long show is not worth it at the end of the day. If you are crazy enough to get a fast pass for it, go get the fast pass first thing in the morning (they sell out) and make sure you line up along ropes a good 45 minutes early. If you are not on the edge of a railing you will not see well and the kids will not be able to see at all.

8. Disney is really good about reimbursing you if they make mistakes. I was really pleased with how I saw them handle the customer service side of things. When we purchased our tickets they made a mistake and we had to go back to have it fixed. We spent 15 minutes waiting on them so they gave us a pass to go to the “front” of the line at our choice of a few popular rides. It really was just like a fast pass because we still waited in line for 45 minutes. Also we got stuck on a ride once and they gave us a pass to get back to the front of the line once they got it working again.

9. Learn fast how to use the fast pass! They sell out and lines get long, so you absolutely have to have an action plan. Go get one for a popular ride to use later. Then go get another – you can have 2 at once. You do not have to use them before the ending time! (DisneyWorld is different I hear). Just go anytime after the start time. Get 2 fast passes quick then wait in a shorter (30-45 minute) line at another popular ride. The popular rides are not as busy first thing in the morning.

10. Which brings me to the next one…it really is a good idea to plan out where you will start off for the day. The bigger rides and roller coasters get busy so start there. Good wait times are 30-45 minutes. Once you hit the hour mark and beyond, you get grouchy and the kids fight.
We waited in line for Space Mountain for over 3 hours and when we could see the end, they shut it down temporarily for technical difficulties. We waited some more. There was no way they could have asked me to leave the line at that point!
Oh and when we were waiting for Rapunzel’s autograph, the sign said wait time 70 minutes. Around the 60 minute mark with not much movement, we heard she wasn’t even there yet. WHAT?!

So really to sum it up, my advice is to plan your vacation during the slow season, pull your kids out of school and get a 3 day park hopper pass. That is plenty of time to visit both parks and downtown Disney. Do something more relaxing for the rest of your vacation!

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Waiting to see Captain EO 3D

Reconnecting

My man and I have been having some rough spots in the last few years.  Lately the arguments have been almost daily, even while he is away working.  This last time he was home from work, (for 2 weeks), we didn’t get along hardly at all.  I hate airing our dirty laundry but maybe it will give some hope to others along the way.  It is so hard to marry a second time and when you add your own kids from previous relationships it is a thousand times more difficult.  Communication is key and we don’t do that very well, but we are not against trying to learn how to improve.

  Last night we didn’t have the kids, (for the first time in over a month), and our counselor encouraged us to make it a special date night.  I wasn’t too excited since I hadn’t been feeling too fond of him lately.  But he took it upon himself to make it a great night in the midst of our mutual depression. 

Neither of us had ate all day, and really didn’t “feel” like eating, but we decided to cook anyways.  He opened a bottle of wine.  I cooked some Anaheim and bell peppers mixing in some leftover steak and he added some cheese on top.  It tasted fabulous.  We talked a bit but didn’t quite know what to do with ourselves after that.  He poured us the rest of the wine and drew me a warm bath.  He knows how much I love to soak on colder days.  And it had been chilly and stormy.  He was talking about his work and then joked about needing to “work away” so he could put food on the table.  I added in, “and wine in our bellies.”  He thought that was hilarious and for the first time in a long time, I actually laughed with him.  It felt so good that he appreciated something I said.  For the longest time I have felt like I no longer have a voice in my own household and nothing I do or say is appreciated or valued.  Suddenly, I realized that it is because our typical conversations never stray from household duties and the kids.

Later about 10 pm, he spontaneously told me to get my shoes on and to absolutely NOT touch my hair or makeup, (I was ready for bed and looked a bit too natural for my comfort out of the house).  I asked why and he said just do it please.  He then asked if I would go lock up our chickens while he got ready.  I snuck in to put on some makeup really quick but got caught.  He grabbed the makeup brush, put it down and said, “you already look gorgeous, now go get ready!” 

I reluctantly went out back to put the chickens away and realized I hadn’t collected the eggs for the day.  By the time I got back inside he was ready to go.  I asked where we were going but he refused to tell me.  It was exciting and I was anxious to find out what he had planned for us.  He stopped in at the Walgreens and pulled in by a Redbox.  I thought for sure that was what he was after when he told me to stay in the car.  But he walked right on by the machine and into the store.  I had accidentally left my phone and purse at home in the rush.  Feeling bored waiting, I decided to read some mail that I found in the car.  Consumed by all the cute clothes in a catalog, I hardly noticed him until he opened the door and threw a bag in the back seat just out of my sight.  As he got in I asked him, “So, what’d you buy?” 

“You’ll find out soon.”  He said smiling.

“Will you tell me where we are going?”

“You’ll see.”  He drove quickly as if we needed to catch the sun setting even though it was already down and there were clouds in the sky.  As we hit the freeway he said, “too bad it’s not raining anymore.”  I laughed, “raining?  Where are we going that we want it to rain?”

“I don’t really know,”  he said.  I didn’t believe him.  We drove out towards Micron and took the exit to go towards Idaho City.  We pulled in at the Lucky Peak Lookout.  He told me, “I thought we would be alone here but it looks like this is a popular place.”  We got out of the car and crossed a newly built fence. He took my hand and told me that this area is a bit dangerous especially in the dark. We walked down to look out on the cliffs over the Lake.    We sat down when he determined we were in a good spot.  He fumbled with the keys and some change in his pockets for quite some time.  We heard some swooshing noise and he asked if I knew what it was.  I didn’t.  He told me it was a night hawk diving in the sky.  Then we heard a fish jump out of the water and both said it at the same time.  We heard another car pull up and laughter as some kids thought they were the only ones to jump the fence and find a secret spot.  We laughed and enjoyed our own secluded place.  Then he grabbed my left hand.  I hadn’t been wearing my wedding ring and at that moment I felt embarrassed and ashamed.  He had brought it in his pocket and slipped it on my finger.  Then he put his ring in my hand.  I was shocked and asked if he hadn’t been wearing his either.  He looked sad as he said, “I noticed you hadn’t been wearing your ring but this morning I realized we were probably at the point of no return.  So I took it off.  I thought you were looking for places to go.”

“I was.” I admitted.  I had been thinking we were done as well.  Luckily we have an excellent marriage counselor and we both found an inkling of hope left in us.

I put his ring back on his finger. I know that the kids can sense our frustrations and arguing but I felt so sad wondering if they had noticed neither one of us was wearing our rings as they left us that day.  I vowed to continue to wear it no matter what.  I got cold quickly so we walked back to the car hand in hand.  He drove me to the boat dock and parked right up at the water.  We got out and walked down the docks.  As we got back in the car I asked him what was in the bag that he bought at the store.  He pulled out a ton of junk food.  He said, “I know you haven’t wanted this around the house but I couldn’t resist tonight.” 

I laughed and said, “we really could have used this last week while we were camping.”  We both had a bad sugar craving then and regretted not bringing any candy.  We had been pretty grumpy about it.  Poor guy has done so well eating all the health food I buy and agreeing not to buy any more “junk.”  All to suit my needs. We only needed to eat one mini candy from each bag that he bought before we were sick from it.  (I was quite literally but it was so worth it).  We had a wonderful date night and vowed to do it more. 

On the drive home, I saw something in the sky so he pulled over.  It was a floating lantern.  We had lit them last time he was home with a friend who had just lost her dad.  She had thought of me and brought another for my grandpa who also recently passed away.  We wrote notes to our loved ones on the paper, lit the spot inside and let them float away over a pond.  It felt so special so we sat and watched this one. I pondered the meaning and realized no matter whose it was or what it was for, it was there for us to see and enjoy as well. I imagined all my thoughts of our rocky past to float up with it, as it flickered in the clearing night sky until it faded away. And we continued home to start anew, to try again. 

 

Hope

Two and a half weeks ago I got extremely sick again. I am pretty sure it was food related but the scary thing is I have no clue what I had ate wrong. I was not able to keep food down for about a week and the next week I was still getting sick after eating. Stomach pain and a new physically exhausting feeling overcame me. Well meaning family and friends were urging me to get to a doctor. However I have been that route. I have spent thousands of dollars in medical bills doing every medical procedure and test the doctors could think of. Of course after each one I was told I was in prime shape- healthy as can be. On my own I discovered allergies to Aspartame (fake sugars) and Monosodium Glutamate.
I decided I needed to try a different type of doctor this time. I went to a natural health clinic where they do a procedure called NAET. They tested me for a few allergies and balanced my body. I liked the way I felt after my appointment so I will continue to go to weekly allergy tests and treatments. They say after being treated, I can be 80% or more cured from that allergy. I will no longer need to be nervous to eat away from home or fear severe allergic reactions. So far they found allergies to egg and whey proteins, also that my body isn’t absorbing Vitamin C and I have a strange “knot” in my stomach. The allergist did a lot of deep massage to try to get it to release but it is still there. I have to get that checked out by an actual MD next time.
Overall I am hopeful again.