Man cannot live on bread alone....

SO I get random breakouts...
(ok, ew that seems like it's turning into a herpes commercial way to fast)
I get breakouts ON MY LEGS quite frequently... it has happened for years now but recently has gotten more and more consistent.
For the last six years my feet will swell, then get dots and it doesn't exactly feel too wonderful...

My poor sweet husband has def put his time in giving me foot massages...

It happened (BIG TIME) when i went to Brazil in 2007.


You diggin those cankles?

If i lived in OT biblical times I would be the town leper...

It happened when we went to Indonesia last year pretty bad...and it recently had been happening (but not as bad as the pic) so much that i was willing to do anything!

I tried to figure out triggers but couldn't nail 'em.

I, finally, went to the doctor where he took some expensive blood tests and said it could be something like lupus. He wanted me to get on medication for the rest of my life to suppress my immune system. The medicine could also cause blindness...
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

When i said i was willing to do anything.. i didn't mean that....
but actually what i was willing to do, for me, was actually A WHOLE LOT worse than blindness...

I was willing to start a gluten free diet.... (Cue suspenseful music) After much internet research (web MD- Hello!) all symptoms pointed to a gluten allergy

That's right, and on a gluten free diet you can pretty much eat like 5 things:
meat
potatoes
rice
fruits
vegetables

Gone are the Cracker Barrel pancakes!
Gone are any pre dinner appetizer rolls/bread (goodbye sweet bread at O'Charley's, Macaroni Grill, Carraba's...)
Gone are pasta dishes!!!
Gone is MUDDY'S!!!

But as momma says: Desperate times call for desperate measures...And looking back gluten foods were MY STAPLE... i started the day off with cereal or oatmeal, i munched on granola all day, i would have a sandwich for lunch (not to mention the occasional cookie and/or cupcake... and then (my old motto) what's dinner without a roll!

since i have cut out the gluten i have not had one flare up. REALLY!

So enter a new phase of life where my new motto is: "Gluten free = LIFE".

And i really do feel like i have my life back! I know i tend to be dramatic at times (i really do not think giving up bread is worse than BLINDNESS) but it REALLY sucks having your feet swell around 2pm everyday and then by 8 having to rest them b/c they hurt/ Not being able to do a lot on vacation due to a flare up. not to mention on my own wedding day i was SOOO nervous i would have one! and i did have a little one (b/c i would get at least a little one everyday) but i never knew when i might could get a big one (See previous picture)

Another added benefit of a gluten free diet is that i have SO MUCH energy these days!

Thankfully gluten free has become somewhat of a thing nowadays (who would willingly put themselves on this diet i do not know) So there are a lot of gluten free options out there.

I write this some-what narcasistic post to
1)CELEBRATE
2)Kind of vent about the fact that my Dr. had no idea what he was talking about
3)Get the word out there about gluten related allergies. This will not turn into a gluten free blog (although i am SOOO thankful they are out there!) This is just what's going down with my life recently (and, to me, IT'S BIG...dare i say life-changing?!)

My friend asked if i thought i would lose a lot of weight eating like this for now on... I told her i hope so... but i also informed her that one of the first things i baked on my gluten free diet were gluten free chocolate chip cookies...

HEY, a girl's got to live!

7/15/2011

Magic happened last Thursday night...
Twas a day of giddy excitement and finality.
Craftiness and originality...
And all the Potter fans finally got a chance to say it is finished...
We soaked up all we could while we could,
The best way i can describe July 15th is that it was kind of like a High School graduation. All your friends are there, your greeting each other, taking pictures, realizing you have to move on, that this moment won't last forever, so you enjoy it while you can.

The Paridiso was MADNESS! I was told upon picking up my tickets to get to the theater at 9... that's right, you saw that correctly. Our tickets were for 12:04 AM and we showed up promptly. And BOY am i glad we did.

If you know me, you know i have no problem talking to strangers. But that's just the thing. Potter fans are no strangers. It's like a sorority gathering. WE have nothing in common, expect the one thing...our love for Potter.

The people whose pics are displayed below are not friends, I don't know their names, or even who they are. Had actually never met them before (minus one man-the hubs of course). But that did not stop us from fun. And that did not stop me, much to my husbands dismay, from stepping up to them and asking "Hey! Can i take a pic with you?!"

I wish i had thought to bring my camera. There are some pics that the Iphone 3G (without flash) could not pic up. Such as the guy dressed up in red pants, read shirt, a red feather boa with a name tag which read "FAWKS" (MY FAVORITE!!!)or the lady dressed as Mrs. Weasly, or The lady dressed up as Dumbledore. There were SO MANY creative costumes. Here is what i got: Enjoy!

Lovely Luna...

 

I was half tempted to either steal or buy her hat... TWO POINTS GRYFFINDOR!!

 

HP friend we were in line with...

 

Her shirt reads: ONE WAND TO RULE THEM ALL.... a bit Lord of the Ringsy but we'll take it!

 

Ravenclaw being represented

 

These Death Eaters were crackin me up. They kept shouting "Bring me Harry Potter!" throughtout the night (You get mad props if you dress up, more props if you act in character!)

 

This kid had the same idea as me. We both played is cool and simply went as muggles... of course i had to bring my wand though...

 

I need this shirt.

 

Line friends. (We made it in our theater first- WHAT WHAT!)

 

And this is pretty much what the hubs thought about all the festivities/lively characters... he's never read the books...he wouldn't understand.

 

Alas... what a great night... and a bitter sweet farewell...well... at least until The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in universal!

the trouble with cats (Part 2)

 

When you have a long haired cat you always go places looking like "the cat lady", cat hair strewn all over your black pants.

When you have a long haired cat it will probably gross you out as she grooms herself... and you probably shouldn't go into details...

When you have a long haired cat, dust bunnies mutate with cat hair and roll around the house like tumbleweeds in the desert, no matter how many times you dust/sweep.

When you have a long haired cat who DOES NOT let you brush her belly due to the traumatic experience of getting spayed she will develop knots that the Vet warns you to NEVER cut out yourself.

When you have a long haired cat you get to the point where you will pay anything to have her shaved b/c you can't handle the hair around the house anymore and mostly also b/c your husband thinks the knots hurt her and he may or may not be the better cat parent...

When you FINALLY get your long haired cat shaved you may instantly regret it after seeing how they shaved everything but her head, and did a subtle "fur fade" for her tail and her paws causing her to look like the mix between a fish bone with the head attached and a Clydesdale horse...

 

But you will get a good laugh out of it and she'll prance around like she owns the night....