Easter for my family will be this Saturday, because it worked best for everyone.       So today I'm doing good prep things.       I had volunteered to make homemade brownies with a cookie dough frosting. That was before my gluten intolerance diagnosis.       So now? Now I'm making two desserts. One gluten free and one not.  I always find a way to create more work for myself.       I also have all the prep for the kids' big surprise tomorrow! Which                I've been stressing about for weeks! And then I threw in a little twist adult surprise to which I am struggling with the most.       I have the non gluten free brownies already baked and cooling. Now I am waiting for the gluten free ones to bake!       Then when those are cooled I am going to be making a homemade whipped cream, chocolate chip...

     Back to being nauseated. I guess I just don ’t freakin’ know at this point. I have been meticulous about the gluten free diet.        I guess I AM about to start my mother freakin’ period. YAY for being a woman and having literally no control over your body for 7-10 days a month. It’s so wonderful!          If you’re a man reading this, consider yourself very lucky. I will literally fight you on this.         I am also giving some of the nausea credit to the fact that I am so stressed and anxious about all the changes and the way I’ve been feeling that I’m bound to feel a little run down and crappy because of it.         I am trying my best to stay positive and be less anxious but if you don’t know anything about anxiety disorders, you don’t know that it’s really freakin’ hard to stop your brain from wandering to those darker, scarier places. If you DO know anything about a...

     I ’m not going to lie to you all, this blog is going to get very medically/gluten-y over the next month or so. I’ll obviously talk about other things as well, but as of right now, my health is my top priority.      Getting my stomach right is literally my top priority. It is absolutely miserable being miserable all the time.         What I can tell you is that it’s day 5 of eating completely gluten free and I haven’t had any flare ups yet. (knock on wood) don’t judge me, I’m not a conspiracy theorist but I don’t like taking chances either when it comes to my health, so here we are.         I’ve been eating pretty basic things so far. Not venturing out into the deep because I just want to slowly introduce myself to these things. Once I’m more comfortable identifying the hidden gluten additives, I’ll venture out into making my own bread, real meals, etc.         These are the only...

    Today was a pretty okay day! I ’m still feeling pretty good from my gluten free diet! My 💩 is becoming a normal color again! Yeah, if you’re new here, welcome to the TMI shit show, that IS my life!       I’m still waiting for my results from my tests to come in! So there’s that! But I AM on day 4 of gluten free and i’m feeling better from previous days. I haven’t had as many upset stomach episodes. Which I read to be good news. I am hopeful, yet still suspiciously cautious. Because i’ve learned that being overly optimistic can only cause problems.        Anyway, I went to my nephews baseball games tonight and he pitched the entire second game and did so great! It was freakin’ freezing out though, so thanks Michigan for that 61 degrees of false hope, you’re the real fucking MVP.         I’m off to get cozy because I slept wrong and my 29 year old body just can’t handle that shit anymore!    XOX...

     Today I went and picked out a few things that are gluten free. I want to introduce these things into my system slowly but at the same time, cutting out a whole food group from your system is difficult. The food you see below costed a little over 65$- The first thing I noticed upon going shopping for everything is that most of it is overly processed or sweet. Which, beggars can't be choosers in this situation, I suppose.      I do plan on trying to make as much of it as I possibly can, fresh and healthy. But, again when you can't use a whole food group and a bunch of hidden additives and fillers that contain gluten.      I'm not bitching...I swear...sort of...but I mean like, come on...this is a change that I'm going to have embrace at some point in time. I'll do it I SWEAR!       Anyway, here's the loot I got, I'll be testing it all out and I'll let you know how I feel about it. Maybe, if I find it to be int...

     Okay, so since I have started this gluten free lifestyle change I figured I would also start documenting what i'm eating, how it's making me feel and my day to day symptoms. I didn't want to download another app, so I decided to make an easy little one page sheet that I can edit each day to keep track of everything.      That way I can go back and see how different foods have made me feel.  You can call me just about anything, but unwilling to make changes and unprepared isn't of those things!      Am I slightly bitter about the fact that I have to give up gluten?! YES! YES I AM! Because some of my absolute favorite things are PACKED with wheat, gluten and all the things I freakin' love.      Am I mad about the fact that I have to change my lifestyle AGAIN? SURE!      Am I going to dwell on it for a long time and be bitter about it? NO! I freakin' am not! I am doing this for my health! I am doing this s...

     So as of today I am officially going to be leading a gluten free lifestyle! I feel like I have been inventing and reinventing myself for 3 years now.        Constantly having to change things about myself and not by choice, but by force.      I know it may seem really small to some, but the minute I start to feel confident in my food choices, healthy and food confident (which if you've never struggled with foods, you know exactly what I'm talking about!)      It's an emotional process, for me anyway. I feel like I am starting all over again and in a way, I am.       I have to learn a whole new way of eating, yet again! And try to maintain my weight loss and journey into losing more weight.      I am doing this in hopes that it will help my gut health. It's also not uncommon for people who have had  cholecystectomy's  to develop gluten intolerances and lactose into...

     I finally put the last piece of the kids' Easter surprises together tonight!  Which included adding custom names, printing custom envelopes, adding heat activated cellophane and then assembling it all!       My final cost was $203.89      Let me remind you that I literally said, "let's do something little and cute for the kiddos this year for Easter..."      Literally freaking 200$ later, I am finally finished! Let me tell you how relieved I feel!       Now, I have to work on the adult goodies! Which is far less intricate than the kiddos stuff but still is going to take some effort!       I am still trying to figure out what's going on with me! Starting tomorrow, I am going to completely cut out Gluten from my diet to see if some of the issues I have been having are being caused by celiacs.       I was on track to being diagnosed with that as a child but...

     What do you do when your doctor AND surgeon NEVER told you that you'd have to take supplements for the rest of your life following gallbladder surgery?!       Let me tell you...for the past TWO years I have been STRUGGLING and in complete pain following my surgery.       Here are just a few of my more severe symptoms: Stomach cramps Diarrhea  Constipation Bloating Nausea that leads to the feeling of vomiting Cold sweats Chills/fever Vomiting Loss of appetite Fatigue  Unexplained weight gain      Those are just a few of the things that I have been struggling with over the last two years and I am telling you, it has had be questioning my sanity and purpose on this earth. When you feel like your body is constantly attacking you no matter what you eat and fuel it with, you begin to lose yourself. When you ALWAYS feel sick or under the weather, it makes you question whether you'll ever feel human again....

     I start my very first art class in two days! I am so excited! Up until now, I haven’t had any formal training at all! I’m completely self taught and learn by practice, example and basically trial and error.         I’ve gotten a lot better since I first started, but I will be the first to admit that I still have A LOT to learn and I am both excited and nervous to start class.         I’m inexperienced, don’t know shit about fuck and have to show my work to an endless amount of people who do know what they’re doing.         Maybe I’m way off base, maybe people don’t know what they’re doing, maybe there really are no rules when it comes to art, maybe I am overthinking this? But then again...I overthink EVERYTHING so, this is normal AF for me.         I think I am just going to have a hard time trusting that what I’m doing is good enough or i’ll find myself competing and ...