The promised post of gratitude

k, so I promised I would do a post that is solely one of thankfulness.  So here it is.

1.  I'm soooooo grateful for a Loving Savior and Heavenly Father that lift me and give me the direction I need.

2.  I'm really grateful that I know what's wrong with me this time, even though I don't know what the outcome will be.

3.  I'm grateful for my amazing parents offered up their house for us to live in.

4.  I'm grateful for an understanding mom that can help me through things that she has already been through.

5.  I'm grateful I can walk.

6.  I'm grateful for my sister, aka, my best girlfriend.

7.  I'm grateful for food... who isn't grateful for food...

8.  I'm grateful for the gospel!! 'Nuff said.

9.  I'm really grateful that we have had some nice weather lately... until this coldness! But... I really am grateful for the rain, too.

10.  I'm grateful for my friends who have stuck with me through hard times.

11.  I'm grateful for the few wonderful, awesome people who read my silly blog :)

12.  I'm grateful my daddy has work.

13.  I'm grateful for my family's health.

14.  I'm grateful for everyday miracles.

I wanna pull my hair out, but I worked too hard to get it this long.

Can I just vent for a moment? Yes, I broke a salad spoon today.  Was it out of frustration? No.  Should it have been? Maybe.  The coleslaw I made was the first thing that let me attack it.

Let's be honest here.  We have all felt like this technicolor fella at some point in our lives, haven't we? 

I'll start with the simple.  My nail broke.  I like my nails, and after having had gel nails, I have been quite excited about getting them to their normal length once more.  Well, unfortunately, I still have like... a teensy tiny bit that still needs to grow out.  And then one broke.

On top of all that, as you may recall from my previous posting about being a health nut... dear readers, I AM. I DO NOT eat sugar, I don't eat any refined foods of any sort, I love vegetables, fresh fruits, whole grains and healthy fats.  I even love the heart healthy, great-for-your-skin salmon!! So then why, dear readers, WHY do I still get these little bitty "blemishes" (I don't know what else to call them - they aren't black heads or pimples... just annoying!) that randomly and inconveniently decide to pop up when they are so not welcome.  I chalk it up to hormones... or stress... or a combo.  But seriously.  This makes me want to become a zen yoga master.

Oh, and don't worry, I clean the house - THE WHOLE HOUSE - by myself.  I'm tired of not getting help.  Get up off of your rear ends, and clean up your CRAP!! I've resorted to grabbing everybody's stuff, putting it in a pile, and placing it in front of their doors so as they trip on it on their way in/out.  It worked effectively with one.

I know I need to go see a doctor, but I feel guilty because that costs money, and ... well I feel guilty! I don't want to show up and have there be "nothing wrong with me" and having paid out the nose just to have some specialist tell me something that won't make how I feel go away!  This, my dear readers, is a stupid thing of us women to do.  As we all know, when mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.  And when mama ain't healthy, ... well, she probably ain't happy.  Don't worry, I will go to the doctor... soon.

To top it ALL off, I'm supposed to be going to Costa Rica in... something like 43 days.  Guess who still doesn't have a driver's license? Or a passport? Oh right, that would be me.  It's not for lack of trying.  Next step for me... social security office.  Done.  Wait two or three weeks? Done.  DMV time.  Make appointment - 2 weeks away.  Soonest I can get it.  Fine.  Show up.  Done.  Please wait 4-6 weeks for your new driver's license to come in the mail.  Serious? Oh wait, ma'am, this is certificate.  But it's the only one I have.  Yeah, well, it's wrong.  OK.... ? You need to get the full one.  Serious? *jab jab jabbing* AHHH!! K, fine, that's done.  STILL WAITING ON LICENSE.  Gee, sure hope it gets here in time.  Costa Rica, I shall think of you.  

I'll let you know if I ever get to go.

I promise the next post will be one of gratitude.

In the mean time I still feel a little like this ...

Why am I a Health Nut? Well...

Anyone who knows me can vouch for this - I am a health nut.  And I'm proud of it!!.

All of teenage and adult life (I'm an adult now, right?) I've suffered from some sort of digestive malady, regardless of how healthfully I eat.  My body tends to dislike any food that I put into it too often.  This causes me to have to switch from skim milk (which I don't think I'll do anymore at all), to soy milk, to rice milk, to almond milk; eat breads this week, not next, eat this cereal this week, not next; sometimes it likes this fruit, not that, then it switches... you get my drift, right?

To be perfectly honest, I'm pretty much a vegetarian, if not almost vegan.  I never (ok, VERY VERY rarely) touch sugar, I don't eat any red meats, ever, hardly even touch poultry, but I do love fish (which, if you ask many vegetarians, you can eat if you are vegetarian).  I only eat whole grains, nuts, seeds, sprouted foods (so healthy!), green smoothies, GREEN SALADS, and drinks that are good for the gut, I could go on and on!! I'm so into all this.  It is a goal in life to become certified in Naturopathy.  It makes me excited :).

Sooo, as of late, my digestion has been serrriously out of whack.  And after a lot of research and conversations, I do believe it's time to do a flush.  That's right, a flush.  And it pretty much is what it sounds.  You may wonder, gee, what would prompt you to do such a horrific sounding thing? Well, dear reader, it would be this.  Flushes are necessary when the colon needs a good cleansing.  Sometimes, the body can't do it on it's own, and it needs a little lovin' and shovin'! Blockages and the like can happen for many different reasons.  A poor diet, lack of nutrients, lack of fiber, overgrowth of yeast in the intestines and more.  And you know what? You probably  need one.  But you're probably chicken.  And I don't really blame you...

See, there is this flush called a "Salt Water Flush".  They are saying it's new, but to me, it just sounds like a homemade version of Fleet.  Fleet is the NASTIEST substance on the planet.  When I was 12, I needed a colonoscopy (top and bottom, people) and the day or two before I was allowed NO solid food, only clear foods - water, clear juices, jello... that's about it - and then the night before I had to drink this incredibly salty solution called Fleet.  In all honesty, if I had anything to throw up in my stomach I would have done that and more.  It's that bad.  So when I was reading about this...

Salt Water Flush

1 liter of water

2 t - 1 T organic sea salt

Drink this, lie on your right side, and wait for... the crappy finale.

How freakin' hard to get down would this be?!  Ahh! Now, I haven't spoken to any professional on this cleanse, but as far as I have read, The kidneys can't absorb the water, and the blood can't absorb the salt, so you aren't overdosing on sodium.  Don't take my word for this!! I would not do this before consulting a professional.

But yeah, that's a good example of what a cleanse does to you! It ... *flushes* you out.

There are tons of different flushes and cleanses out there... even we health nuts need 'em.  But I am really glad I AM a health  nut, because that means I can ELIMINATE the problem, not just "put a bandaid on it" and make it "feel" better.  That's one thing that seriously bothers me about people who adamantly refuse to get any other help than traditional medicine.  While I believe that traditional meds have their place and are totally necessary at some times, I think the system is way too overused.  When you have a problem that can be fixed by diet and lifestyle, that's right FIXED, as in CURED, why on earth would you ever give up that chance? This body is the only one you got!! And it's a gift, dear readers.  So I say, to all of you who suffer, seek the natural help!!

I have a real history, and I want SOO badly for people to be helped the way I was!!  It was in my fifth grade year that I started getting really ill for long periods of time.  I missed school for months at a time.  Sixth grade got worse.  I was diagnosed with Mononucleosis.  And it hit me hard.  End of sixth grade year, and I was only getting sicker and sicker.  That summer before 7th grade I stopped walking.  My left knee, and ankle simply would not move.  I couldn't hold myself up.  I was allergic to every food on the planet.  I was taught by a home/hospital teacher, so I stayed up with, if not passed, my peers.  It was a struggle for me to get from the back bedroom to the living room, just for a change of scenery.  I dropped from 115 to 80 lbs at 5'5", I seriously looked like a skeleton.  Nobody in my family likes looking at pictures from that time, you can imagine why.  We all thought I wasn't going to make it.  The frozen joints moved from my left leg to my right leg, and to my left arm.  My hair and nails stopped growing.  Modern docs told me I was crazy, needed therapy, I was anorexic... ya da ya da ya da... one doc (the one who requested the colonoscopy) discovered that I had a mild sort of version of Crohn's (which I did).  She wasn't LDS, so we weren't really going to explain away everything.  After countless incredible blessings, and countless visits to my AMAZING Chiropractor, I started to make a recovery.  Some of my joints began to move again, I could walk with crutches, albeit slowly, and my hair started to grow... a little!  It was miraculous to say the least.  My incredible Chiropractor took a course on alternative medicine, became certified, acquired an Assyra Machine, and learned almost everything about Chinese medicine, all because of me!!  Heavenly Father truly healed me of my disease through him.

That whole episode is still a battle, I still have to fight to keep my health up, and I learned from that time, that if I don't take care of this body... I'll end up how I was back then, and I do NOT want that to happen!! I'll be normal one day, but I have to do my part.

So that's why I'm a nutrition freak :)

I didn't even mean to tell that story, I just got to writing... but it felt good! And I hope that maybe someone will read this and feel inspired... or something.  Have a good one, dear readers!