Nauvoo

Scott's parents came to visit and since Nauvoo is (relatively) close we took a couple of days and headed north to visit. This was my first time to Nauvoo and I spent the majority of the time in the hotel bed because I had strep, though I didn't know it at the time, and I was miserably sick. 

All these pictures were taken by Scott because I was in bed. I have to say he stepped up his "photography game". 

On our way home we drove to Carthage Jail. 

This is the room that Joseph Smith was martyred in:

 I was feeling so awful, but it was still a very spiritual experience to be there. 

If you're thinking, what in the heck is Nauvoo? What is Carthage Jail? Why would people go to visit?

Go HERE. And HERE. 

The girls desperately wanted these bonnets from Nauvoo and have been wearing them ever since. 

(literally, Gracie wore hers to school!)

Health is a journey, not a state of being.

I've now been off of the evil drug methotrexate for seven weeks.

I think I forgot to tell the blogworld that I quit taking it. 

I had to skip a week of taking it for some dental work and it felt SO good to have my life back. Sure, there was no joint pain but there was fatigue. Oh the fatigue. Believe me, I get serious fatigue with my RA, but nothing compared to this drug. 

I was convinced that the side effects of methotrexate were NOT worth it. As I've been off of it long enough I am feeling the RA slithering back into my life.  Will I feel the same way about methotrexate if my RA flairs up? Probably not. I'm a rollercoaster like that. 

I'm exercising regularly which helps a ton. Remember when I told you I was going to run a half marathon? Yeah - that's not gonna happen. But I didn't give up all the way. I'm running the 10K which will be a first for me. I realized baby steps are probably best. I am VERY slow. That is frustrating to me, but I still have three months and I hope to be able to run those six + miles in around an hour. Yikes - that is going to take some work. 

I try to work out 6 days a week. Usually I hit 5.  Besides running I've been doing some weight training classes. My absolute favorite class is called TRX:

It kicks my booty. Big time.

Also, Paleo. 

Remember that word? I do...sometimes. 

No, really I still try and do good most of the time. It's not hard for me to pass up bread and cereal any more. 

What's hard for me to pass up is having some cake on birthdays (believe me, there have been a LOT in my life lately). And hello Easter candy:

 My neighbor friend tries to be sweet and bring me what she knows is my favorite. 

DANG THESE EGGS TO H, E, double hockey sticks! 

I will not be free from sugar this week, or even this month. It is most certainly a journey. And I need to toughen up a bit. I've been much too soft the last few weeks. 

Sugar is to Mormons what alcohol is to...uh...everyone else. It's a social thing. I invite people over for dinner and they bring dessert. How RUDE to not have some, right!? I can see the thoughts behind the eyes of all the ladies at a "girls night out", "Oh, she thinks she's so much better than me because she's not eating dessert."

This is mostly all in my head, I'm sure. But I know I have those thoughts. 

A journey people. A journey. 

Thirty-two

Happy Birthday Love. 

A few favorites of my hunny:

 (on the Alaskan Highway in Yukon Territory, Canada)

(Homer, Alaska)

(Crow's Pass hike) 

(Hike past Byers lake at 1 am)

Dining table reveal!

Here it is! 

I love it! 

(now if I could just do something about that floor...oh, wait! We move in 4 months, so who cares!)

One more look at the before:

(I love how the bad lighting in this photo makes it look worse)

 I've been wanting to add a few plants to the space and it was so easy to just pick up a few pretties from Lowes while I was already there to buy the paint! 

I've gone all crazy up in here.

I often daydream about a new dining table.

Mainly THIS dining table. 

Since that's not going to happen any time soon (if we were to spend any large amount of money on anything a new mattress would have to come first - yes, we sleep on a 10 year old double size mattress).

I can't give our mattress a makeover.

*frowny face*

But I can give our dining table a makeover. 

(the very idea that I feel like doing this big of a project is proof to me
that my new paleo lifestyle is working)

 *fist pumps*woot! woot!*

Here is the sad thing before my husband and I moved her to the garage:

Major scars:

Here she is all stripped and ready for a good sanding:

(sounds like someone in a spa would say...am I right?)

I've been doing some very serious research

Sugar is still my nemesis. 

And while my new paleo diet prevents me from eating grains and sugar I still find that sugar is sneaky and makes it's way into my daily life anyway. 

Mostly because of fruit. I'm not supposed to be eating a lot of fruit. Maybe one serving a day or so. 

But I eat a lot of fruit...

and chocolate. 

So, my paleo research has found that a little bit of dark chocolate is okay. 

I am usually very good at only having a half a serving a day. 

And with my servings being so limited I made it a priority to find the BEST dark chocolate. 

To be truly dark enough to receive antioxidant benefits it MUST be at least 70% cocao. 

Preferably 80%. 

I've found that 80% and higher just makes the chocolate chalky. 

I'm not a fan. 

I could probably eat more volume if I ate the 80%, but I find it much more satisfying to eat a bar that is 72% cocao and only eat a little bit. 

I'm pretty SERIOUS about my chocolate. 

Here are the different kinds I've tried and my ratings:

Once you're used to the good stuff, Hershey's just has a waxy taste to it.  

It's creamy, but the flavor is lacking. 

 I decided to go out on a limb here and try a small(ish) company. 

I mean, it's organic and it was expensive. 

YUCK!

This was by far the worst  kind. 

I even threw the bar away. 

It's bitter and chalky. Fail. 

Ghiradelli is good.

It's the easiest to find and I'll take it. 

But the absolute best is: 

Godiva - you are my eatable valentine. 

You. Are. Welcome. 

For this random and probably useless information. 

And I thought we were going to get a break.

8 years ago my husband lit the fire for our moving trend.

I love him and I hate him for it. 

Mostly love him for it. 

These last 8 years my life has never been settled. 

This will be move #13 in our 10 years of marriage. 

The longest we've ever stayed in one home was in Anchorage, AK for 14 1/2 months. 

We will have been in Illinois for 11 months when we move to:

ATLANTA, GA!

The military never ceases to amaze me. 

This is a great honor for Scott and his career. We will not live at a base. Scott will be working in downtown Atlanta with only one other JAG. The two of them are the environmental counsel for the entire eastern US. 

I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry. 

Actually, I've already done both. 

They say we'll be there for 2 years. 

Dare I trust them?

Can you guess?

Can you guess what city this is?

I'll give you a few hints:

Peach. 

Coca-Cola.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

96' Summer Olympics. 

Gone with the Wind. 

This city is on my mind. 

Any guesses why???

I know you can't comment, but I just want to tease you. 

For your viewing pleasure.

It's been a while since I've told you about the movies we've watched. 

We've seen several indie films recently and so why don't I just tell ya bout em'?

Last  night we watched this:

Awesome! 

It's just so refreshing to see real lives of real, good people. 

It drew out all those feelings I had as a 10 yr old who just knew that horses would be my best friend and I would be able to connect with them on deep levels. 

(I'm not the only one who went through a beloved horse phase, am I?)

In all honesty, I'm terrified of horses and that is because I've never really spent much time around them.

Another film we watched this last week was this:

It was surprisingly sweet. 

I was skeptic at first as there was an over abundance of "teenage boyhood" jokes. (please read between the lines here - this boy is literally out of control)

But there is hope and the movie takes a turn for the good just in time. 

"Ralph" (lead character) is actually quite a charming character and is easy to love. 

My husband (former collegiate track star) will tell you that it's radical and impossible for a boy who's 14 to run like "Ralph" does, but it makes the movie fun! I mean, the entire theme is about a miracle!

I didn't want to watch this movie. 

But after months and months of Netflix promising that we would like it I caved. 

 Clair Danes is awesome. 

This movie was delightful! I never in my wildest dreams thought I would enjoy watching a movie about a girl who loves cattle. But it was fascinating and I sure hope the world is listening to what she has to say. (Temple Grandin is a real person who is still advocating kind care of cattle and is a great beacon for those who have autism.)

And lastly:

Henry has been sick for several days this week and Little Bear is almost as soothing as chicken noodle soup. 

Definitely a family favorite. 

nothing to talk about

Guys. 

I have nothing fun to talk about...let alone blog about. 

Blech. 

What I can tell you is that I have now been 98% Paleo for 10 days. 

(I say 98% because I still eat too much fruit. Can't get over my sweet tooth and I talk myself into it by telling me how far I've come and how it's so much better to eat an apple with peanut butter than a cookie)

I will be 100% Paleo at some point. I say that because it is working. 

I feel so great! I can't believe it. 

I've never even had the gumption to stick to any kind of diet, but I always feel completely satisfied and hardly feel hungry! I still daydream about cookies and chocolate, but I think that will disappear soon.
The plan is this will be my life forever. 

I can feel it healing me and my seriously messed up digestive track. It seems conflicting because we've been taught for decades that meat and fat are the bad guys.
What I love about Robb Wolf's book is how he goes into very detailed science of why grains, legumes, and dairy are so hard on the digestive system and in response your entire body.
Sometimes it made my brain hurt, but it was a good pain.

I would love to have a Paleo friend. :)

Anyone wanna jump on the bandwagon with me?

I'll even let you borrow my book. 

You didn't sign up for this.

I never had any intentions for this blog to turn into a food and health sight. 

I didn't realize how often I blog about nutrition and health until my husband said,

"All you blog about anymore is healthy food. You should go back to school and become a Nutritionist". 

It took me back a little. I hadn't even realized I had become so obsessed with researching. 

But I have. 

Yesterday I got this book in the mail:

I can't wait to delve into it. 

Several months ago I read this book:

Pretty much the exact opposite of "The Paleo Solution".


On another slightly related subject:

My husband signed up to run a marathon in June, in Utah. He also has recruited half of his family and many friends from around the states (people he worked with on his deployment to Guantanamo Bay) will be flying in to run it with him. 

In an effort to NOT look like the fat, sick, lazy wife I really want to be able to get a hold of my food choices and possibly run the half marathon. 

The world seems to think RA victims who are on immune suppressents can't run half marathons. 

They are probably right. 

But as of this week, I'm ready to prove them wrong. 

First 3 workouts, done! 

Just in case you want to run along with me, here is the book I'm using as my guide and workout plan:

Sugar Attack

My body is under attack. 

I really feel this to be true, and, sadly it is currently losing.

You all know I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis about one year ago. 

5 weeks ago I started taking a prescription called methotrexate. 

I have to give this drug 6 months before I call it quits, because the rumor is that it will get better. 

But right now, it seems that the side effects of this pill are out weighing the benefits. 

3 weeks ago I was also diagnosed with PCOS. 

Another pill. 

Metformin. 

Last week I got a stomach bug that lingered for 10 days or so. 

My daughter also got the bug, but was only effected for about 36 hours. 

Now I have another internal infection that is making me want to pull my hair out. 

This all sounds so depressing. 

It is!

But I have an idea of where I need to begin to get the healing process of my body jump started:

I am declaring war on 

SUGAR. 

I have had a love affair with sugar all my life. 

I've known for a while that sugar is slowly killing me.

It truly is poison!

I've never had the determination or the gumption to take major effort to quit sugar until now. 

I'm convinced it's ruining my life.

You'd have to be an ostrich with your head in the ground, or in complete denial (where I've been for the last few years) to deny the horrible effects of sugar. It seems to be the root of all things physically negative. It's been strongly linked to:

depression

heart disease

diabetes (obviously)

PCOS

autoimmune disorders

weight gain (obviously)

and more! 

I've read this book and really like her ideas:

{Click HERE for link}

I am certain that I will have to slow the process down for my personal success. I am just SO addicted. 

For instance, I've been trying to go just 24 hours without a treat and I just can't make it without shoving a handful of peanut butter m&m's down my throat. The 3 o'clock hour and stressful moments are my weakest points. 

I've been using the calorie counter/food diary at Lance Armstrong's websight to help. 

It's awesome! It has every food in their system and breaks down ALL the nutritional values for you. 

Even when I thought those m&m's were the only sugar I was eating I was shocked to see that I had downed over 150 grams of sugar in a day!

**********************************

Eventually I would like to be living the Paleo Diet. 

Some people will call me crazy, but I just have to go with my gut on this one (pun intended). 

Cutting out grains completely will be a major accomplishment. Especially with a husband and kids who are not so convinced. That's okay for now. For now, I'm just starting with sugar and myself. Maybe next year I'll tackle all packaged foods. Then move onto grains. 

 2012 = Chablis' war on sugar