Welcome, Lucy!

"Aunt" Ashley holding Lucy

"Aunt" Ashley holding Lucy with Dad naping in the background

So my best friend and cousin by marriage, Whitney was blessed with the birth of her third child on Saturday August 24th. This day happen's to be Whitney's birthday so she received an extra special gift this year. I was excited to be there to see Lucy in the hospital only a few hours after she was born (I was also present for each of her brothers' hospital welcomes).

Whitney and Lucy

Remembering a High School Tradition: Mum Corsages

I wondered why my husband never knew what I was talking about when I mentioned Homecoming Mums! I didnt realize this is mainly a Texas tradition. I never had a date give me one, but my dad had me one made for the first Homecoming Dance I attended in high school. I had never seen the men's mums worn on the arm. In my town, men were given stuffed animals wearing the corsages for the Sadie Hawkins dance. Some of my friends took their mums to the actual dance, but I just used mine for pictures and left it at home. It was too big to wear comfortably, although I know many peers who wore mums to the dance that were much much bigger than mine. I now want to go find a picture of me and my mum.....wonder if I still have those pictures somewhere. This is a fun article that took me down memory lane: http://jezebel.com/5965232/inside-the-weird-texas-tradition-of-enormous-homecoming-corsages/ (Hopefully pictures to come at a later date)

My First Vlog

I have been enamored with youtube videos lately, so I have a wild hair to try creating them myself.  This is my first video and its pretty terrible, but I hope to plan out future videos so that they are better. My thoughts are to use my new vlog to review gluten free food items and as well as talk about things that interest me (much like I do on this blog).  Essentially, my vlog will be a companion to my blog here.


Edit: I have since deleted the vlog I made that was included in this post. I think I will restrict my vloging to videos that are more like video slideshows for now. I just wasnt comfortable with the video of myself (edit added: 8/23/13).

Gluten Free Goodness is Trial and Error

So I have been gluten free for over 3 months now and I have to say that I must be lucky because I hear horror stories about all the terrible products out there.  So far I have tried several gluten free brands and products and have been very pleased for the most part.

I would like to share my experiences with these brands for two reasons: 1.) I hope that this will help others on their gluten free journey and 2.) so I can remember these items in the future.  None of these companies have contacted me for an endorsement and the only "gift" I have received has been some coupons that I requested because I love the items and wanted to purchase more.

Products I have Tried:

• Wow Cookies (Chocolate Chip): I loved these cookies!  They were soft and almost tasted like cookie dough.  

• Pamela's Mini Cookies (Chocolate Chip and Extreme Chocolate): These cookies were crunchy and a little smaller than the Wow cookies, but there are more in a bag.  These cookies were delicious!  I will say that the Extreme Chocolate tasted like it was a darker chocolate, but I generally dislike dark chocolate and I loved these cookies.

• Annie's Berry Patch Fruit Snacks: I didnt like these at all.  The texture was too gooey and they were so sweet that I couldnt taste the flavor.

• GoPicnic Ready to Eat Meals (Turkey Pepperoni): These lunchable type meals were amazing!  I ate everything in my meal and it was enough to satisfy me for lunch.  These are definitely kid friendly because I had a 7 year old friend of my sneaking bits out of my lunch! (More detailed review of a variety of flavor s coming soon)

• EnviroKidz (Lemur Peanut Choco Drizzle Bar): These were ok.  I bought these for breakfast and I will eat them and probably buy them again, but I dont love them.  They taste like a peanut butter rice crispy treat, which to me is more dessert than breakfast.

• Amy's (Gluten Free Non Dairy Burrito, Garden Vegetable Lasagna, Indian Palak Paneer): I love Amy's products!  Not all of her products are gluten free, but she does have a large selection and all the packages are very clearly marked.  I ate the burritos with salsa and I couldnt tell the difference between these and a regular frozen burrito.  The lasagna was good, but I prefer more cheese on my lasagna than was in this dish.  The portion was good, but the noodles were a little odd (im still getting used to gluten free noodles).  My favorite frozen dinner is the Palak Paneer.  In fact, it was one of my favorites before even switching to a gluten free diet.  If you love spinach, you will love this frozen dinner!  I contacted Amy's via email to rave about their products and they sent me a ton of coupons, so never be afraid to ask for them!

I will post more Gluten Free favorites as I try new things!  What are your favorite gluten free products?

A Gluten Free Dinner - Tilapia and Zucchini

Tilapia, Sushi Rice, and Zucchini with Sun Dried Tomatoes
Serves 2 (plus extra rice)
389 Calories per service

Sushi Rice (Village Harvest Koshihikari sushi rice) - Serving size is 1 Cup cooked rice

Rinse 1 cup dry rice and soak in 1 1/4 cup of cold water for 30 minutes.
Add 1/4 cup of chicken broth and some Mrs. Dash seasoning
Simmer for 20 minutes (adding liquid as needed)

Tilapia and Zucchini with Sun Dried Tomatoes - Serving size is half of the contents of the skillet

Heat 1 teaspoon of EVOO in a nonstick skillet.
Add 2 tilapia frozen filets (I use the Sams Club ones).
Cut 1 small zucchini in half lengthwise and then cut into 1" pieces and add to the skillet.
Add 2 tablespoons chopped garlic.
Toss in  1/4 cup of sun dried tomatoes.
Flip tilapia over after a minutes or two and season with Mrs. Dash.
Add 1/4 cup chicken broth and cover.
Cook 5 to 10 minutes based on thickness of fish (check for doneness).
Season with salt and pepper.

Hashimoto's and going Gluten Free

In March of 2012 I was in a car accident that caused me to my left wrist (my dominant hand).  I suffered a lot of pain, shock, panic attacks, and gained back all the weight I had lost in 2011 (25lbs).

 In May of 2012 I was diagnosed with low thyroid function by my GP.  My most obvious symptom was chronic exhaustion, but looking back I had dry skin, dandruff, trouble focusing, and (after reviewing medical records a year later) reduc.d vision.

I was getting married in October of 2012, but I kept gaining weight, no matter what I ate or did.  It was so frustrating.  By the time we got married I had gained 40 lbs from the time I bought my wedding dress in January.  I still get sad every time I think about it, because it barely fit and it wasnt nearly as perfect looking on my oversized body.  Thats what happens when you go from a size 8 to a size 12.

Picture 1 is the day I bought my dress in January 2012 and Picture 2 is my wedding day in October 2012

After working with my GP for a year, I still didn't' feel like myself.  I didn't feel like I needed 20 hours of sleep in a 24 hour day anymore, but I was still exhausted all the time and I was still gaining weight.  In March of 2013 I started seeing an Endocrinologist.  He ran some tests and did a sonogram of my thyroid and diagnosed me with Hashimoto's.  Hashimoto's is an autoimmune disease in which your body attacks your thyroid, causing low thyroid function (although some Hashi's patients fluctuate from hypo to hyper).

I am now taking Levothyroxine at .150 micrograms 6 days a week.  I still have hypothyroid symptoms, but the Endo says my bloodwork is "in the normal range."

I have talked to a lot of people who have thyroid problems and many say that they never felt "right" even after years of medication.  I have talked to people who have weight problems all their lives.  I have read and read and read (I am a librarian after all) and I have learned alot, but mostly I have learned that thyroid patients are all different and Endos are all different, so it takes a lot of work to find the right lifestyle balance and a doctor that will work with you for optimal results.

My current doctor, Dr. Boehm, is not my ideal doctor.  I have seen him twice and I know I need to look for someone else to treat me.  I keep gaining weight and he refuses to discuss my weight, diet, and health with me.

Since my wedding in October I have gone up another clothing size and I now wear a size 14.  I am unhappy at my size and I have started using MyFitnessPal to watch my calories and try to lose weight.  I know it will be a struggle.

I have read that some Hashi's patients need to take in significantly fewer calories than the standard person working at weight loss and need to exercise 3 times as much for similar results as a non-Hashi's patient (like everything, some people disagree).  Lots of what I have read focuses on the importance of a gluten free diet for thyroid patients.

I started working towards a gluten free diet on May 28th and to date have only miss-stepped 3 times that I know of.  So far the hardest part has been the lack of cakes and cookies (which I don't need anyway, but I am addicted too) and easy to prepare meals without having to cook from scratch.  I did make a trip to Little Rock (45 min from my home) to shop at a health food store and I was able to pick up a few ready to eat items.

This is going to be an interesting journey...

Keeping Up with Social Media and Technology

I always say I am going to post a new blog, tweet a new  tweet, edit my website, etc and it rarely happens.

In today's digital world there are so many ways to participate and be active, but the more technologies  apps, etc that are launched, the harder it is to maintain your online presence.  There are plenty of tools out there that claim to make it easier....but they are just one more thing to remember.

Today I am working to update my website which is sad and pathetic because I probably last updated it a year ago. ...So today I am updating my personal website.