Random

We have returned from our little get away to Branson.  Fun was had by all!  We love Silver Dollar City and enjoyed season passes this year.  I have never been to SDC during Christmas and it was beautiful.  Another successful vacation travelling with all our food.  In a lot of respects it is easier travelling with food because we have everything ready to go and their is no debate about what to eat or where to go.  Meals are simple and we don't think  much about food.  We focus more on what we are doing. 

Christmas has come and gone and it was another wonderful time.  Henry yelled "I wanted that!" after he opened every present.  Mostly we enjoyed having daddy home for extra days.  We are now in full swing party mode getting ready for Gwyneth's birthday. 

I have been sick for the last two days.  Some sort of head cold and junk.  The girls have stepped it up and really helped around the house and let me rest.  Got to get better for the big birthday weekend!!

I haven't noticed any changes in my skin taking the liver cleanse.  Not sure how long until I see results.  Sometimes I think the rash on the back of my right hand is better but then I am not sure. 

So there is a random update for now.  Still not very clear in the head. 

Hmmm...

...this liver cleanse has brought about some *interesting* events.  Staying close to home for now. I also woke up the first night and the back of my hands were itching really bad.  Enough to wake me.  In just the last several weeks I have developed a rash on the back of my hands.  Not sure if it is eczema or more psoriasis spots or some other rash.  It is not itching any more today.  The journey continues.

On the road again...

I frequently get asked how in the world we travel and still stay on our diet.  Well, the answer to that is to plan and cook :)  Sounds pretty simple when you put it like that!  But honestly, it is a challenge but not a deal breaker.  We will be spending a couple of days in Branson and here is how I do it. 

About a week before we leave I jot down the days we are going to be gone and include a line for breakfast, lunch, dinner snacks and treats.  Then I start filling in the blanks with the meals we will eat.  After I have figured out what we will eat I write a list of things to cook, things to bake/make and things to cut/pack.  Then I put the list on the refrigerator and start checking things off the list as I get them done throughout the week.  Maybe one afternoon I will cook one of the extra meals to take on the trip or tackle all the cutting.  If I am preparing a meal that has some of the ingredients to something I am taking with us, I just prepare extra and save.  I just chisel away at it until it is all done and then the day of I can pack it all into our cooler.  Here is our menu for Branson

Thursday
Dinner-chili (we will be leaving straight from the office and the chili will be in the crock pot and we will eat before we leave)

Friday
Breakfast-hard boiled eggs, fruit
Lunch-beef jerky, raw veggies, cheese slices
Dinner-chicken soup

Saturday
Breakfast-yogurt/fruit
Lunch-cold chicken, raw veggies, cheese slices
Dinner-beef stew

Snacks-lara bars, trail mix, fruit,
Treats-brownies, macaroons, fruit snacks

The entire list of food is homemade and has to be cooked or prepared before we go.  Meals are pretty basic but we have gotten use to that.  In the 7 months we have been on this diet I have gotten pretty good at traveling with food.  It use to overwhelm me but now it is just part of the program. 

This diet is restrictive in many ways and I didn't want it to limit the amount of things we can do.  Having to travel with all our food is not easy but I would rather work a little harder to make memories with my family than stay at home just because of food! 

On a little side note, I started a herbal liver cleanse today and am hoping that it is the next step in riding my body of psoriasis.  I am not sure how long it will take before I can tell if it is helping.  We will see....

What a crock

I just received a 6-quart, stoneware, travel lid, programmable crock pot for Christmas.  My world has just been rocked.

Our own lingo

If you come to our house and listen to us a talk you might get a little confused.  Over the years we have added strange mispronounced or combined words to our lingo because they are so cute or funny.  Sometimes they stick and become part of our ever day talk and get us in a rather embarrassing situation.  For example, defaulty.  Years ago I had a co-worker who combined two different words together frequently and their was no use setting him straight.  He didn't care and wouldn't remember and would just roll with his own words anyway.  They would be so funny sometimes that they would just stick.  That is how we got defaulty in our lingo.  Humorous to our group of friends or family who know the back story, not so humorous when accidently thrown into a conversations with people who have no idea you really know it is not a real word.  I was talking to a patient of ours and threw down the word makie.  It is what we call naked.  Doesn't make sense to anybody else but us.  Just makes me look like a mom who doesn't talk to adults much.  Which is true I guess.  Our newest addition is skirtsy.  Taya and Gwyneth had their first piano recital this weekend and had to learn how to courtesy for it.  Taya took to calling it skirtsy and after I corrected her a couple of times I just let it be and joined her in calling it skirtsy.  It is really cute.  When I was younger I use to call the lawn mower a mawn lower.  To this day you can still hear my dad call it a mawn lower.  I have a feeling I will be doing the same 30 years from now. 

Betsy

How to start....

Well, how do you start a blog post after not updating for a year.  I have no idea.  That is one of the reasons why I haven't posted in so long.  So much has happened, so much to play catch up on.  Oh well, I guess I will just ignore it and continue on.  So much has changed in a year.  I am different, my family is different.  We have all grown and changed in so many ways.  I was reading through old blog posts it just tugs at the heart strings.  The kids have grown so much.  So much has changed and yet I am so excited by it.  I guess we will see what happens this next year.  Hopefully I won't wait a year to post again :) 

For now I will jot down a few things about a big change that our family has gone through this year.  On May 2 we started the GAPS intro diet and have been on GAPS since then.  GAPS stands for Guts and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell.  We are gluten, refined sugar, starch, and ALL processed foods free.  It is an intense medical diet aimed at healing the gut lining so that other health conditions are healed as well.  We began working towards the diet in January and it took us to May to finally get to where we were ready to dive in.  It was very painful at first but we have adjusted well and are doing great now. 

I am happy to report that so far Alex has had the most significant improvement in his health.  He suffered extremely from allergies and sinus infections his whole life.  Since being on the diet he has hardly had any allergies and no sinus infections this year!  He even went hunting and spent DAYS in the woods with minimal issues.  He came home and was a little snotty for a day and that was about it!  Before, that much time outside would have put him out with a sinus infection for sure.  We are so excited.

Also, Gwyneth has resolved her distended bowl issue with out the further assistance of laxatives.  I am thrilled with this.  The doctor wanted her on a laxative for 6 months!  No thank you.  Once again, we are so grateful. 

I am still searching and waiting for answers and healing.  I found out this year that I have psoriasis.  Along with the ugly skin issues, joint pain and arthritis can be an issue.  I am not discouraged to not have any measure of healing.  I am grateful to be on this journey towards better health and feel like this has been diet placed in my life to help me take the bull by the horns so to speak.  GAPS is a medicinal diet and the average person is on it anywhere from 18 months to 3 years.  I have no idea how long we will be on it or what our journey will look like.  For now I am happy with the healing we have received so far and look forward to more. 

I have not been to a restaurant or out to eat in over 7 months.  CRAZY!!!  I would have never thought it possible.  I have been on vacations, last minute road trips, and long, unexpected shopping days.  We have still been able to do it.  God always provides the right amount of grace for every situation. 

Excited to see where this next year takes us!