A Ladybug's Journey

I still haven't gone to a Weight Watchers meeting, however, based on my scale at home I've down 5.2 lbs in just two weeks.  That's an amazing 'tell' into how my body has been reacting to gluten. Also, I have to admit, there was gluten in my life on Tuesday.  We went to meet with the caterer and we were not planning on tasting anything while there, and we hadn't told him about the gluten sensitivity, because at that time we still were not 100% sure that this was something that was going to be taking place in a year.  We were still thinking that we could have gluten every now and again, maybe feel a little bad, but not too terrible. That is not the case. Within 30 min of eating a handful of croutons, 1 roll, and a crostini with cheese, I had a headache.  My bedtime I was all achy and feeling run down.  In the morning I woke up and I felt like myself... not the recent self who has been feeling amazingly better, but my 'before' self, in pain, cranky, s

... of being 100% gluten free that is.  It's going pretty well.I've been surprised to find the things that do, and don't, contain gluten.  I've also learned that I'd rather do without bread, than deal with the nasty bread that we've tried so far. Here are some of the meals that we've had since going gluten free, that I've taken photos of: The two above are a flourless, doughless, gluten-free pizza.  Recipe from Pintrest can be found here . We really enjoyed this pizza, more than we ever imagined we would.  I'll make it again though by baking it on a pizza stone the second time around (it's a two bake process). Okay, we may have a pizza problem around here... These are pics of pizza's we ordered from Abby's .  A bit expensive, but they were gluten free, and awesome.  Definitely a place for an indulgent delivery pizza. While this doesn't look appetizing, it really was!  Tilapia with brown rice and black beans -

There has been a lot going on in the past few months, culminating in my gaining back 10+ lbs. Today starts a new path, one to clean eating (as Jill calls it) or to the rest of the world, eating Gluten Free. I'll come back and fill in the blanks when I can, and I'm going to be posting up pics of our dinners. We're going to try this until 9/30. Hopefully by then we'll feel so good that going back to crap won't be an option.

I've fallen off of the wagon for the past few months. It all started when my sister came to visit, and we went on a road trip.  It was KFC, Taco Bell, Burgers, Donuts, etc. while she was here.  During that long weekend I didn't track my points.  From there, I stopped pre-planning my dinners for the week, then stopped tracking my days regularly, then just stopped all together.  It didn't happen overnight, or even over a week... it took four months.  Slowly during that time things made their way back into the house... chips, ice cream, little debbie snacks... popcorn toppings - do you know that I've never had popcorn toppings before now??? Summer has hit, and I am going outside, doing yard work, riding my new bike, but my weight is not dropping, nor are my inches. I need to get back on track, start fresh.  Maybe I should buy a new tracking book, instead of keeping with the unfilled one that I have, as a physical reminder of starting fresh. Last week I was still at a 20 lb

It's been a long time since my last post.  Since then the Oregon rain has stopped, I've earned my first official tan (though still white compared to most people), we've gone camping and purchased bicycles. I'm still on Weight Watchers, though I have not been giving it my all... honestly, I haven't even been giving it my anything.  Babe is not on WW any longer, and I think that makes it harder for me.  I'll update my weigh in's and off scale successes soon. For Memorial Day weekend we went camping with friends.  It was a great time and a great way to start the beginning of summer.  Since then, I've spent a good amount of time outdoors and Babe and I have even purchased bicycles.  I love mine.  I'm still getting used to riding a bicycle again, I think it's been 20 years or so since I was last on one, and boy does my rear end hurt!  I'm so glad that I purchased a stability ball last week to use as a seat here at home, it's the only w

So we moved in last weekend and have been able to get everything unpacked.  There's still some decorating to do, however here's some progress pics of the new house (and yard). First, the kitchen.  It's small, so I have to stand at each entry and use two photos to capture it. Next, the dining room, from the kitchen entry. A view of part of the living room (mirrored wall), kitchen, and dining room.   Second bathroom. Master bath. And now, the outdoors.  Right outside the sliding door is this beautiful bush, and below is a close up of one of the flowers. When we moved in, that green plant on the left bottom of the photo was taking over the whole walkway.  There's still more to clear on the other side, which you can see in the second photo. We believe there used to be something large in the back yard that covered the ground and didn't allow the grass to grow.  We're pretty certain that this is not natural (caused by shade

I'm exhausted.  We haven't even really start moving yet, but I'm beat.  Thursday and Friday afternoons were spent cleaning the new place.  It was completely filthy and smelled like wet dog.  After lots of effort and more today, the place is finally to the point where we are comfortable moving in furniture.  I still need to work on the floor of the shower in the master bath, along with finishing cleaning the blinds, but we're ready to start loading in some items.  We still have a week before we do the big push and get all of the furniture moved in, but we'll have everything else done by then to make it easier on the last day. Last weekend I think I sprained the lateral plantar muscle in my right foot.  It's been hurting ever since.  There will be much less pain in the morning, almost down to just a soreness, however after strenuous activity (cleaning/moving) it hurts to bad by night time that I have difficulty walking.  I'm trying to push through, as much a

Photos are up!  Here's some more photos of us at Color Me Rad this past weekend.

We participated in the Color Me Rad 5k yesterday and I honestly can't wait until next year to do it again.  It was the most fun I've had at a 5k ever! In case you haven't heard of Color Me Rad , here's some information direct from their website : When Zoloft and balloon animals can't seem to raise your spirits, the best way to brighten your life is to run  Color Me Rad 5K .  Historically, running has only been acceptable when trying to escape the law, personal responsibility, the truth, and grizzly bears.  Instead of running FROM something, get ready to run FOR something at this year’s Color Me Rad.  Run for the Hell of it. Color Me Rad  is coming to a  town near you  with a tsunami of color that'll make colored tears of joy run down your cheeks and will renew your will to live. After  5K of color bombardment , we guarantee your outlook will be brighter, your boyfriend will be more affectionate, your girlfriend will be less needy, the hair on your head wil

I am so excited, we are moving to a house! We won't own it, we're renting, but I am still so excited.  I'm going to plant my own hydrangeas and california poppies!  Since moving here I can fallen in love with the vibrant orange of the california poppy, aren't they beautiful? Source Breathtaking aren't they?  They grow wild here just about anywhere it seems.  I've seen them along the side of the road, at Mount Pisgah in the parking lot and in people's yards.  I only found the name of them yesterday after I searched "orange wild flower" in google images.  Beautiful. If you follow my wedding blog you may have noticed my love for hydrangeas.  These beautiful flowers get their color from the minerals in the ground, so the same plant may have different colors from one year to the next, or even better, within the same bush.  My favorite are the blue and purple colors (especially the one below that is also mixed with green), however I am a huge fa

Before you try something new, especially visiting a place you've never been to before, you should do a little research.  You should not assume, let's say, that all butte's are created equal.  If you do, you may find yourself sorely mistaken. Today we attempted one of our yearbook activities.  We visited Spencer's Butte.  I'd only heard about it by seeing a photo that my sister posted on my facebook page, that she originally saw on Reddit. Source I did not think to do anything other than look up it's location on google maps: Source Babe and I decided it would be a great afternoon adventure to visit Spencer Butte this afternoon.  Imagine my surprise when this is what I found: We started up the trail, however less than 5 minutes in (parking lot was still visible), the cold (thin?) air was hurting pretty bad, and the decision was made that we were not ready for this hike yet. We made the decision to try again in a month, and if w