Enflamed Appendix

Lucky me :/

The past 2 weeks I have been dealing with an enflamed appendix. I have been fortunate enough to know many dr's in the alternative healthcare field, so no unneccessary appendectomies for me! It just really stinks b/c we were going so good on the raw food diet and I was feeling great then all the sudden my appendix started acting up and I crashed. Now food in general is only MILDLY repulsive to look at/ smell, and I can at least force myself to eat. It was a lot worse than that for awhile, but I will be kind enough to keep those details to myself :) I am doing detox to take care of the appendix toxins and that on top of things is detoxing the rest of my body making me feel even more sick. On top of that, I had to wean Andrew so he wouldn't be getting the toxins in my milk. (we were pretty sad) The weaning caused me to get engorged, so yeah, that was pretty bad too lol. I was lucky to learn about an awesome poultice and long story short- it was like magic!! Combined with frequent doses of Sage leaf tea and 24hrs later the engorgement is no longer a problem.

I feel bad for Andrew and Kevin! Andrew just caught the sniffles (which I suspect is a result of spending time with family on Thanksgiving combined with the sudden cease of antibodies from nursing) and his sleep has been pretty fitful, poor guy. It has been difficult to spend all the quality time with him that he needs, the past few weeks, but he actually has been very patient and loving (giving kisses-big open mouth smushed against any place of me he felt needed a kiss- and hugs) despite that. Kevin was having to take up my slack around the house and help take care of me, on top of his full time work and school. He has been so patient and really helped me stay positive. What troopers they are! I couldn't ask for a better family.

These recent 2 days I seem to be improving dramatically and hope to get started on our moving/packing. I am very excited to be moving in January and shortly after starting my holistic nutrition and herbalism courses/certification.

Life really doesn't seem to turn out how you would think! I never once thought, when I was younger, that I would be into the "kooky" alternative medicine one day, let alone seek out training to help others with it. I am grateful for the opportunities Heavenly Father has provided and inspired me with to lead me to where I am today. I am truly grateful for the Word of Wisdom and all the insight and knowledge the spirit has helped me glean from it. There are so many blessings ready for those who truly seek to understand the Word of Wisdom. Take a look HERE at some pretty cool quotes by prophets, and a different way of looking at the Word of Wisdom.

I guess I am a little late to be posting my "attitude of gratitude" but better late then never, right? Anyways- I am also truly greatful for the wonderful family and friends that I have. I have been so richly blessed when it comes to them. I am loved and cared about more than I feel I deserve at times! What wonderful people I have in my life.

Andrew's Birthday

This last Saturday was Andrew's birthday and a busy day for me! Since we are moving we had decided to have a garage sale on that day also. The garage sale started at 6:00 and I had been up late the night before wrapping presents and preparing some of the raw ingredients for Andrew's b-day cake; I was pretty tired! It was worth it though, I was so excited for our first child's first birthday, It felt like Christmas. lol.

The day dragged on a bit, but it was fun to spend time with family and neighbors who had joined us in the garage sale. We all had so much junk to get rid of, it filled my driveway and whole front yard! I ended up buying a bunch of stuff from the neighbors (including a couch) and I wondered if I was buying more than I ended up selling! The couch was a great inspirational piece for decorating our loft at our new house though. I will try to post a pic of it and Andrew's b-day once we can load pictures from our digital camera again. (Our upload program doesn't work right now unfortunately. )

After the garage sale I made "Rawberry" Shortcake for Andrew's b-day. I plan on posting the recipe soon, after I go back and write out how I made it! I am really bad at recording my recipes, I just make stuff as it comes to me, tasting it along the way. Anyways, the cake turned out pretty good, decent enough for all those who came for Andrew's b-day not to barf anyways, so I think my raw chef skills are improving. For those of you who don't know, I am a raw foodie, which means I only eat vegan raw food- a.k.a. the Raw Food Diet. Nothing cooked or processed, as living as possible and no animal products. At All. But more about that in a little bit.

I really enjoyed our little birthday get together that evening. My husband's brother, wife and daughter came and so did some family friends/neighbors down the street. It was an interesting transition that day to look at my little son and realize he wasn't my little baby anymore, he is now my little boy. As we all sang happy birthday to him I looked his deep blue eyes and felt so special to have such a wonderful little guy in my life. I love him so much and am grateful to be able to be home with him everyday to teach him and watch him grow up. Saturday was a special milestone. All in all, it was a long day, and I felt bad that Andrew had to wait out our little garage sale on HIS day, but it was fun too and will definitely be a memorable one.

P.S.-
Here is a short quote from Rawteacher.com about eating raw:
"Why eat a raw and Living Food Diet?
There are so many reasons why you should eat a raw food diet. A few of those reasons being that you can lose amazing amounts of weight, heal your body from illness and look and feel younger.WHY? Because raw foods are not heated above 112 degrees, therefore the enzymes are not destroyed in the cooking process. These foods retain an enormously higher nutrient value than foods that are cooked. Enzymes are the life force in food. They aid in digestion and absorption of food and will not cause toxicity in the body as most cooked foods do.Raw foods also have an alkaline PH, which is ideal for optimal health. An over acid body is found in most people with acute or chronic diseases.

What is a Raw Food Diet? Uncooked Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts, Seeds and Sprouted Grains make up a vegan, organic, Raw Food Diet. These foods are consumed whole or chopped, blended, shredded, diced and juiced to make delicious, gourmet raw food meals."

Out Of The Loop

So I come to find out that I'm the last person to start an official blog, or something. I am finally getting one started up and I also find out that I have no idea how this stuff works! I hate being unknowledgable, so of course I'm not asking anyone for help, haha. (silly me :p)Thats how you learn, right? As of now after many blog help searches and the like, this blog is officially begun! I hope to be able to share all the interesting (or not) happenings in my family and my life. Enjoy :)