ON, Coffee, & Bear - OH MY

I try to avoid posting updates on anything when I'm feeling emotional. The reality of it is, those are the moments when I'm most compelled to write - so here we are.

I found out this week that my medications are going to cost $1,800 per month after insurance pays their part. While there is the option to apply for assistance through the brands, etc., $1,800 is a large number. It may as well be $1,000,000 because we can not afford it either way. It's an interesting feeling to know that you have to pay such large costs for medication to treat diseases that you don't want. I mean, I know that nobody wants any disease that they may have... but to have your diseases be genetic... to be something that you could have done nothing about to prevent... and have them cost such an obscene amount of money... is overwhelming.

I think that's the perfect word to describe how I feel. I'm overwhelmed.

With that in mind, I don't want this to be a completely negative post, so here's a little bit of what we've been up to lately.

• About a month ago, I went back to cash handling one night a week [Wednesday] at ON. You can see in my casual bathroom selfie that I'm loving it. The extra money has been helpful though, so hey. PLUS, my hair is long - which is the only reason I'm letting you guys see this picture.
• My parents shaved their dog to help with the heat. It was getting pretty long so he had doggy dreads since he lives outside. I am positive he's more comfortable, but he looks kind of silly. :)
• I've spent my day today drinking coffee out of a large mug and trying to mentally prepare for returning to work tomorrow. You probably think that seems early to go back to school, huh? I have been given the opportunity to serve on the SPED Leadership Team for our district this year, as well as be a "Building Buddy" for a new teacher. I'm excited about these new opportunities, but obviously they will require meetings and trainings, hense my early start date. I'm excited to actually get back to it and see my kids soon.

  

TWO WEEKS GF

I know that is has only been two weeks since I cut gluten, but I have to say that the past four or five days have been the toughest. Between working and taking a trip out of town for a wedding, finding GF food to eat has been tough. As much as I love eating out, choices are much more limited now and it makes it a little difficult. Here are a few pictures of food over the past few days; I'm doing my best!

 

Noodles & Company rice noodles have become a new favorite of mine! I've never had rice noodles prior to this venture, and I was not disappointed. I think I may actually like the dish better now. - Additionally, Ben ad I went to the city market last weekend and stocked up on squash and nectarines. I spent some time chopping and bagging so that we'll have these in the freezer later when we want them!

 

As far as Columbia, one of my favorite meals was on our trip to Cafe Berlin! Cafe Berlin is a small, yummy breakfast place downtown. They're locally sources and have a lot of organic, GF options. I ended up getting fresh-squeezed orange juice, potatoes, and eggs benedict over GF bread.

The biggest concern I had about our trip was the dinner being served at hte wedding. They had pork chops, potatoes, and cinnamon carrots. I ended up having to grab a waiter and have him send the head caterer out to ask about the meal's ingredients/gluten. I ended up learning that the meal was GF, which was great! I had to miss out on the cake, but I did have a little frosting. :)

 

The biggest change that I'm planning to make this week is to increase water and cut carbs. I've decided that I'm only going to intake carbs 7 times a week. Maybe, it seems lofty considering we eat 21 meals a week, but I think it is a good starting point for me. If you know me, you know I don't really drink a lot of water so I'm going to start by intaking 64oz of water today, and increase it by 16oz a day until I get to half of my body weight in ounces. I'm using water bottles to measure this.

Here are progress photos from July 27, 2015. My hands are definitely more clear than they have been, but they are still dry/rough. I am down four pounds since my starting point, and I'm hopeful to lose a few more as I cut carbs out even more. Still waiting on my monster pimples to clear up! OOF.

 

  

 

Thanks for sticking with me so far! Check back on Monday for another update. I go back to work on Friday, so I'm going to make Monday the update day. :)

MIZtoMRSHagedorn

The Duvall clan spent the weekend in my old stomping grounds - Columbia, MO - to celebrate Marissa and Justin getting married. It was fabulous weekend of celebration, drinking, and reminiscing on my college days. Ben even let me go to the bookstore and buy a new sweatshirt - thanks, B! Here is a snapshot catalog of the weekend:

  

Friday night consisted of attending the rehearsal [B played his cello for their processional/recessional]. Following rehearsal we hit El Rancho for nachos, and then the Penguin to do a little pre-celebration with Marissa and Justin! I took my first tequila shot in about six years.

Saturday during the day we took Ben's mom around campus. We visited the bookstore, the quad, and I gave her a verbal tour as we drove around. I learned that I need to get more specific facts about things if I'm going to continue to give tours in the future... "That's Sig Nu, I hung out there when I was a freshman" just doesn't cut it, haha.

  

Of course, the most important event was the wedding itself! It was a beautiful, sweet service and everybody looked truly happy - here is proof in pictures!

  

The reception took place at the Tiger Hotel in downtown Columbia. The ballroom that they had it in was BEAUTIFUL and had a great vintage feel, making minimal decorations the perfect look for the affair. The hints of vintage, green, and candle light made for the perfect ambience.

  

  

  

 

Overall, the weekend was really fun, everyone looked SUPER at the wedding, and Marissa landed her man! I was so glad that I got to spend the weekend with all of the crazy people I married into calling my family - they're the best!

Day 10 of Being GF

I think for this experience to authentic, I have to be 1000% honest with you guys. This forces me to be 1000% honest with myself. This past week has been... interesting. I'm planning to do this thing in phases. We cut the gluten, yes, but we have still been consuming GF carbs. The plan is to cut those out gradually over the next few weeks while increasing water intake. Let me tell you though - my body definitely knows that something is UP. Things have been all out of whack! My face is breaking out [I feel like 14-year-old Kimberly], my Psoriasis has dried up and flared up at the same time [however that is possible??], and FOR THE SAKE OF HONESTY [and maybe oversharing] my bodily functions have been abnormal. I've been told these things are normal and will pass as my body levels out.

Here is a bit of a recap of the past nine days:

  

My first big test was a lunch date with my dear friend, Hannah. I got online and did some research and found out that everything at Chipotle is GF save their flour tortillas [duh], so that's where we went. WHO DOESN'T LOVE CHIPOTLE?! I'm a burrito girl and I thought this was going to be a tough loss for me. I'm pleased to inform you that I think I can make the switch to bowls quite smoothly! :)

Last weekend we also wanted to try out a date night. We had a giftcard to Bravo! in Zona Rosa and it turned out to be a great option as they have a [limited] GF menu! I was able to enjoy a pasta dish and it was glorious! I really liked it and I think I'd go back there again. We followed up dinner with dessert at Yogurtini where ALL BUT TWO of their flavors were GF! I topped my Lemon Drop-Lime Sorbet mixture with fruit and a little chocolate to make it perfect.

  

As far as eating at home, we've been trying to follow our menu plan as best as we can. Ben and I try to make a habit of hitting the city market during the summer. This allows us to get fresh veggies at a deep discount. This has been especially helpful with this change as those healthier options are around the house when I might go grab something else instead. Grapes and Watermelon have been saving my life.

Pictured below are a few of the different things that we've had over the past week or so. Sorry, I didn't take snaps of everything we've had every night. I apologize - bad blogger. Jump to after the pictures for their break down.

1.  2. 

3. 

4.  5. 

1. CHEESY CHICKEN RICE: We actually really liked this one. It's not the prettiest of presentation, but it was delicious - we think it would be great in tacos too.

2. BAKED TILAPIA WITH CREAM SAUCE: We aren't usually a "sweet sauce on fish" type of crowd, but this recipe changed our minds. I would love to use this easy sauce on other proteins! The pasta that is paired with it is a GF option from Aldi.

3. TACOS: I presume you guys have your own taco recipes, so I won't link one up. We used GF taco seasoning, corn shells, and cheese. I'm so glad I don't have to give up tacos. [Also, check out the AWESOME taco plates we got as a housewarming gift from one of my coworkers!!]

4. CHICKEN NUGGETS: When I went to Costco with my mom and we saw these, I got them so that on the days that I felt defeated in this endeavor that I would have something easy and GF to make. Obviously, we had one of those days last week. They're pretty tasty though!

5. BRATWURSTS: This is a bratwurst of the bacon, cheddar variety. We paired it with our uncle RJ's secret bean recipe [which is also GF].

Here are a few progress photos as well:

  

As I mentioned earlier, I've started to break out with pimples on my face. I was warned about this, but I still hate it considering my skin diseases cause my skin to be DRY - so basically the opposite of zits. I've got a couple of big ones on my chin and forehead. As you can also see, my skin is still splotchy prior to my Rosacea cream [it closes my pores to reduce redness] and a little concealer/foundation. BUT HEY, LOOK AT HOW LONG MY HAIR IS, OKAY!?

  

  

  

As far as the leg, feet, and hand photos above, I think it's fair to tell you that the leg and feet photos were taken right after my nightly application of topical steroid ointment. That's why they look so moist - although the ointment did not change the color or soreness. My hands have been dry today because I used them quite a bit - I went to the grocery store, did three loads of laundry, outlined a scrapbook/ordered pictures, cleaned the kitchen, and now I'm typing this post. I can note though that I have noticed that my larger pustular spots have dried up.

The next big change coming next Monday is I'm going to try to introduce infused water into my diet. I'm not a huge water person - I never have been - but after talking to a number of people, I feel like increasing water is going to only HELP this process.

I know that this is a process. I also know that in order to succeed that these first 3-4 weeks are going to be muddy and hard. I'm working on it. Still left to tackle this week... a wedding! I'll keep ya posted how it goes! XXO

SSS

I think a new goal of mine should be to try to make sense of all of the random things floating around in my head. Life is busy. Life is beautiful. Some days, life is hard. So on Sunday's I will bring to you Six Sunday Statements [Triple S/SSS]. Here's what's in my head on this Sunday, July 19, 2015.

• Ben is upstairs doing the dishes from our housewarming party. You're probably thinking, "YOUR HUSBAND IS DOING THE DISHES?! HOW LUCKY ARE YOU!?" ... except that the housewarming party was on June 27th. Gross.
• I have been doing a lot of reading online about GF coffee options are Starbucks. [Don't judge me, sometimes a girl just needs her $5, commercialized coffee!] While Starbucks does not guarantee that any of their products are GF due to cross-contamination, they do say that the products themselves that are used to make Pumpkin Spice Lattes are GF. I'll keep you updated on this one.
• I'm almost halfway excited to go back to work here in a couple weeks. I know that once the year starts that I probably won't be saying that, but right now, in this moment... I kind of miss it. I think that being alone most days contributes to this.
• I got to go with one of my best friends while she tried on wedding dresses this past Friday! While she didn't find THE dress, I think she's narrowing down what it is she really wants and the whole thing is just so exciting and I love her. Today is her fiance's birthday. Happy birthday, Tim!
• Between Hannah's wedding planning and Ben's cousin Marissa's wedding coming up this weekend I've got wedding brain. I think this is silly considering I got married a year and a half ago.
• Ben and I went to the City Market today to buy some produce. For $8 we got: 3 HUGE squash, 2 red peppers, 2 lbs of green grapes, and 5 nectarines. We plan to cut, blanch, and freeze some of the squash. I also got a really yummy smoothie while we were down there; I love simple mornings like this together.