For those of you who would love a little two day get-away, I have the perfect fit!   
Spark 3 will be Oct. 21-22 in Lindon, UT this year…a two day creative event and artisan market…with meals and snacks prepared for you…all you have to do is enjoy the beautiful ambiance, and the fun things to make with everything set out for you and easy instruction.  Not to mention Mindy Gledhill will be performing, who I absolutely love.

So meet me in Utah, we’ll share a hotel room, and have some fun…just the girls!  Alex my oldest gets to come with me this year, she’s working hard to earn her tuition(it costs $350 for two days full of everything(which I probably brought back home half that much in supplies, not to mention all the stuff I made and brought home-they really spoil you!), and I hope it sparks her creativity even more…she’s already amazingly creative! 

If you want to see some pic’s of what to expect…copy and paste link below, then scroll down just a bit. 

http://chocolatechipsandpeanutbutter.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-10-26T12%3A53%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=499  

You’ll see beautiful inspiration eeking out from every room…it was so inspiring, and it did spark my inner crafty self, I can’t wait to go again!!!

Copy and paste the link below to get a peek at what will be goin’ on!   
Come on, you know you want to come!

http://www.sparktheevent.com/

may 28.  2011

Our second outdoor movie night was a hit, thanks to all that came(around 60-80ppl.) and those that helped out.  One of my Young Women is a chef like her mom, and she came and made three different kinds of cupcakes with three different kinds of frostings, all of which were “gluten-free.”  Thanks to the awesome flour I have found through Authentic Foods, we can bake cup for cup and it tastes great!

We also were able to get ahold of a vintage popcorn machine, and I found cute vintage popcorn boxes, which made it so much fun! 

It’s just great hanging out with friends, eating, chatting, and getting to know people better.  We are just so very grateful for this wonderful ward we are in.  Sitting on blankets under the stars is so very calming, and brings a wonderful peace and appreciation for this beautiful place!

(the girls found Alex in the youth group and loved running and hugging her!)

 (I love Nadia’s 40’s swimsuit…I’m not sure what girl we had gotten this for first, but I love the hand-me-downs!)

may 8.  2011

mother’s day was lovely!  I had a healthy omelette and oj brought to me in bed…roses…dinner was made without my help…and a fun scavenger hunt that the girls did for me around the house.  I’m so grateful for this amazing man I’m married to, and these sweet girls!  It was a lovely day!

august 13.  2011

I have come to love Ferris Wheels…Jarom and I rode one in France last year outside the Louvre…and I have come to appreciate the perspective that a Ferris Wheel can give.  Sometimes you are on top, and can see everything so clearly with a far perspective, and other times you are heading downward, and can only see things really close with a very narrow perspective of things.  We swing up and swing down in life.  Things are great, things aren’t going so well, but as we are taught in Sunday School, it’s how you handle the ups and downs that really matter.  I just want to say, as the downs are very difficult, we find the ups to be liberating, we are grateful, and we enjoy them more knowing the downs we have experienced.

So that leads me into our family journey…one might say it sounds like the ferris wheel is heading down, but I beg to differ.  I feel it swinging up…it may get stuck a few times, but it’s heading up.

Looking back on the day, when I would meet someone who had a food allergy, I remember thinking that I just don’t know how they could live without milk, or gluten, or eggs.  I’m grateful for our process of receiving the news line upon line.  Before testing anyone else in our family, I thought it was just all me, since my symptoms of lack of health were obvious.  But it has led us on a journey of discovering that you can be allergic to foods without even knowing it, and it causing long-term health effects if not treated.  So yes, I am grateful for having had my journey, a hard one as it has been, but now knowing the food allergies our whole family has, has given us the chance to rebuild and strengthen our bodies and hopefully giving us not only longer lives, but more importantly, a quality life.

The answers to a few tests have come in.

Allergies to food:  Alex and Camden are allergic to gluten, dairy, eggs, and each one has a few more allergies individually.  ( We have come to love Almond milk now, but both are allergic to almonds.  So now they have come to love Rice Vanilla Milk.  Thank goodness for so many options!)

Madison only has a few food allergies, which I was very surprised about!  Eggs, bananas, pineapple, and asparagus.

Now as to the test that overwhelms me more than any food allergy, is the lyme test.  All three older girls are positive.

So, now what?  Thank goodness for yahoogroups!  The response of one mother who has a 13 year old who can’t even leave the house because her lyme is so bad, responded to a thread of mine, and mentioned besides the salt/c protocol which we both do, they started NAET, a way of relieving the body of allergens, and helping bring balance to the body.

For those of you who haven’t ever been sick, one might say… what?  You just go to a Western Medicine doctor, they say, “you have this or that, or we don’t know what it is”, and then you take the medicine they give you.  Well, one could live that way, and I’m not knocking Western medicine, because it has a time and place to be used, and can save lives in some instances.  It saved our second daughters life as they rebuilt her arch in her heart at 7 days old.  But long term health isn’t healed and resolved this way.  So our next journey, will be what happens, how we respond, and hopefully positive things from NAET.  It’s going to be a tough journey, as your body has to work through healing.  So, here we go! 

july 2011

So this one is a mind-boggling subject…most of us haven’t heard of or given this a second thought…even me…until now.

After being “diganosed” with fibro and fatigue in early 2005(which is an umbrella term for “we don’t know what is wrong”), because I was almost bed-ridden from complete exhaustion, and my rheumatologist had me on four narcotics for pain because he didn’t believe there was treatment for what I had…(great doctor), it’s been a long battle for health.  So to say the least, I’ve been finding my way through doctors.

Being in Georgia for almost a year and half…I saw a couple doctors while waiting for the good one I have now (the wait list was a couple months out),  both had run the test of LYME…which came back positive, and they mentioned a couple ways to try and deal with it, which weren’t really great(like  I.V.’s of hydrogen peroxide!)… and I just figured it was something that would go away on it’s own…I kept thinking we could take care of whatever “fibro and fatigue” was, and whatever LYME was would take care of itself.  Also, within a month of moving here, I gained 15 pounds in a month, which isn’t normal, obviously!  I can barely fit in my clothes, even living off of around 1,000 calories.  They (LYME) have compromised so many things now in my body, including my metabolic function, it’s extremely not possible to lose the weight until the kill load is more, and I can detox more of them out.

Then my doctor now, who is a natural internist, figured out something that made him start to pay attention to my LYME…and start to take notice.  Then we started figuring out how really bad this stuff is…this is where it gets crazy!

After researching, he thought maybe he’d test his dad who has had Hashimoto’s(thyroid disorder) and other health issues…POSITIVE.  Then my doctor has a friend who has “chronic fatigue,“…POSITIVE.  Then, my doctor thought he would test some of his other patients he has coming to him for fibro…a husband and wife...POSITIVE…a boy with Tourette’s syndrome…POSITIVE…then he decided to test himself,  a doctor- who he himself is also allergic to gluten, dairy, and eggs, has felt moderately tired for 20 years...POSITIVE…
his nurse…POSITIVE.

So what does this mean…anything!  If you’ve ever been outside…it could be you.  If you live in any country, you could also have been bitten.  They are in every state, and throughout the world, thanks to migratory birds, and animals.

Something for you to watch, even if you think this is the craziest thing you’ve ever heard of, and probably figure you’ve never been bitten by a tick…take a closer look… www.underourskin.com.   Click on the link at the top that says WATCH…there are many free online resources to watch this…we used our netflix streaming.  This show will give info on the world epidemic that is spreading rapidly, and being overlooked for many reasons by many doctors…having tremendous negative effects on many lives-paralysis, brain damage, and even death.

Or how about this little golden nugget…www.lymephotos.com.  Not for the lighthearted.

These little buggers are entered into the bloodstream when the tick bites you, and releases the bacteria that will enter and spread everywhere in your body, becoming the “great imitator.”  Your body can’t find it to fight it, even if you take the old recommended ways of two weeks of antibiotics.  They are too smart, and can cocoon themselves.  Test results aren’t always the best indicators either.  You have to go by symptoms if you think you may have it, listen to your body, and not what a blood test says.  CDC has it’s own standards, but others follow a better standard regarding blood tests and what they indicate.

Lyme can get into all systems, imitating anything.  ANYTHING…  for instance…(the bugs spread everywhere in your body, corkscrewing themselves into your tissue and hiding, causing any health issue)!

Here are some symptoms and diseases linked to Chronic Lyme…

Fatigue
Insomnia
Brain fog
Poor memory and concentration
Autoimmune Diseases
Parkinson’s Disease
Alzheimers
Lou Gehrig’s Disease
Fibromyalgia
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
Light and Sound Sensitivity
Seizures
Muscle Pain
Muscle or facial twitches
Tremor
Joint Pain
Back pain
Painful soles especially in the AM
Neuropathy
Neuropathic pain
Digestive problems…reflux, ibs, microbial imbalance, abdominal pain, nausea, constipation/diarrhea
Feeling hot and cold
Thirst
Hot flashes
Fevers
Sweats
Swollen lymph nodes
Frequent infections(sinusitis, bronchitis)
Hormones
Mitochondrial damage
Impairs liver detox
Mood disorers
Dizziness/vertigo
Blurry vision
Tinnitus
Restless legs
ADD
Autism
Poor Wound Healthing
Air Hunger
Chest Pain
Hair loss
Weight Problems

So the good, I know what I’m fighting now… 
The bad, it’s not an easy road to kill the buggers… 
And the ugly, it can be transmitted through the womb…if I got it before I was married,  I could have easily passed this horrible nightmare to my children.  And yes, I’m highly suspicious Jarom has it too.

The fight continues…
Here’s to a healthy life!  Onward and Upward!

april/may 2011

So Madison’s friend party was having lunch at American Girl here in Atlanta(not one of the best of ’em for sure, I’d say New York is the best one!).

Then a little action at Monkey Joe’s, getting some energy out…they had so much fun.  We went the last hour of the day, and no one else was there…so I guess you could say we rented it out…you know, kinda…or maybe just timed it right!

Madison and Nadia have been really cute sharing a day to celebrate, which we won’t always do, but since Nadia’s birthday is April 29th…Madison’s birthday is 
May 2…and we got Nadia three days old on Madison’s birthday…it’s become a wonderful time to share between these two.

april  2011

This was great fun for Madison to participate in, especially the time she got to spend with dad building and cheering her car on.  

It’s so cute seeing Jarom having fun with buddies…he knows Ryan from the good ‘ol days of being at Rick’s College before the mission.

june  2011

So a wife’s intuition can sometimes be spot-on…and sometimes not…but in this case, I was grateful for Jarom listening to me.

He just seemed a little more tired lately, exercising and eating better, with no weight-loss, and honestly I would tease that he must have more estrogen than me because he was unusually moody.

Thank heavens for a good doctor, natural internist, treats the body as a whole, and tries to find out why your body is doing something, not just prescribing a medicine for it.

So, let’s cut to the chase…we are BOTH allergic to gluten, milk, and eggs.  Gluten has been a change for me for a year or two, but milk and eggs were a shock!  And then for both of us to be allergic!!!  My husband who can drink a whole gallon of milk in a day…NOT ANYMORE! 

So, from what I’ve read or been told, most americans are allergic to gluten, around 80%, and don’t know it.  The allergic reaction that happens without an outward manifestation can sometimes be worse, causing long-term damage and other effects.  Also, 60% of autistic children have been found to act “normal” on a gluten-free diet.  So, as I once read, our food is our medicine, our medicine is our food!

So, this is what we have found to be good:  Authentic Foods has the best gluten free flours and mixes.  Do NOT buy frozen gluten-free bread, gross!  The best milk we have liked is Silk Almond Milk, and their Dark Chocolate Almond Milk is delicious…I let the kids eat that with Rice Krispies or Chex. 

We are adjusting pretty well, and the girls are now on a gluten-free diet as well…their bloodwork was done, and awaiting results, but we’ll be a gluten-free family.  And for the record…Jarom’s estrogen was double mine…so we’re working on that and other things like our thyroid…naturally, teaching the body to learn to do it on it’s own, and detoxing the bad stuff, instead of popping pills for the rest of our lives.  

We are grateful, hopeful.  We want to live a long life with good health.

may 1.  2011

With a birthday on april 29, and may 2, and Easter in-between, we threw one family party for it all.  It was lovely, not to mention the yummy red velvet cream cheese frosting cupcakes.  Mmmmm, oh, and of course, gluten-free!  (Authentic Foods has THE BEST flours to bake and cook with…can’t tell any difference, and better for you!)

So one of our girls turned 3, and the other 10, but we only had a 3 and 7 candle…so there you have life, and all was fine, no big deal, and we had fun.  I love these girls, they are wonderful!