Hello long lost friend

Well, it has been awhile. My life these last two months has been a roller coaster of emotions. This has been an incredibly tough semester and I just have to survive because after this I have one more left till graduation!!! It is so surreal. I will have a bachelors degree in May, Lord willing. I am excited and scared. I tell people and myself that I am going to graduate in May but sometimes I am not sure how I am going to get there. I have to study for and complete my GRE this winter break so that I can apply to grad school.

I am super stoked because Josh Groban's new album is coming out on the 15th!! He has already released three songs and one more on tuesday. He is doing a few "Before We Begin" concerts and tonight was the first one. Heard it was great. Did we doubt??? NO WAY! :) I am a little sad and melancholy because I can't go...why??? I live too far away! Never dreamed that when we moved to Alaska I would fall in love musically with a curly haired man with magical pipes. I am still waiting for my first concert. We should be back in Indiana by the time his new tour starts!!

My husband and I will celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary on the 14th. Hard to believe it has been that long. It has flown by. I am so blessed to have a wonderful man like him to love me and take care of us.

Tonight we set our clocks back for the end of DST. It is so bizarre that Alaska does this. Now we just get darker sooner. The sun won't rise until after 10 am tomorrow. And it will set at 5 pm. The joys of the Arctic :)

Excitement & Happiness

I have to take a moment to squeeee for a moment. Josh Groban is finally finished with his new album and he named it 'Illuminations'. The first single, 'Hidden Away', is out and the Josh appearances have started happening! It is such a gift to get new Josh music. The album comes out in November and I can not wait! My goal this time around is to get to at least one concert. It will be a tough one because we are in Alaska until June. I am just crossing my fingers that he tours internationally first and then the US because I need to get back to Indiana first!!!! We shall see. It may be my graduation present to myself! :P I promised to take my youngest daughter too because she loves Josh too.

I have gotten settled into classes and we have our home routine down so on Monday I start my workout routine. I can go to the gym MWF and hopefully on Saturday. I am excited because I really enjoy working out. It's just when we get short on time the only thing that can give is usually that. I know it shouldn't but we are going to get better at that. I need to get in better shape so I can cross-country ski without killing myself! LOL!

Prayers of Thankfulness

I am happy to report that I do not have celiac disease. My scope came back normal so that is comforting. I am still gluten & dairy intolerant but without the pesky autoimmune disease to go along with it. I am so thankful!!! Now to get myself to feel better which means being super careful and eating a well balanced diet! Sleep would be a good thing to but who are we kidding??? ;)

Need to Vent

I need to vent about food issues right now. Being gluten intolerant/sensitive/allergic is a huge thorn in the side. Are we lucky that we can control our "issue" without medications...sure...but it also means that we have to know EVERY SINGLE ingredient that we put into our mouths. Just when you think you have it down & relax just a wee bit it comes back to bite you in the gut. You heard that right...not the butt...the gut! I get so tired of having digestion issues!!! Not only do you have to be on super high alert as an adult but when you have a child with the same condition you have to be even more careful and teach them what they can and cannot have. You try your hardest to teach your spouse (who thinks you are a bit off your rocker about the whole sitch), family members and friends. I have had people from my husband to my family and friends try to feed me, unknowingly, the wrong thing.

So, the reason for my vent is that my husband fed my son something today that he wasn't supposed to have. My son even told him that, "Mom says I can't have this." What does he do? He says, "I read the ingredients and they are fine!" The product in question happens to be a pre-made Kellog's Rice Krispies Treat. In their Rice Krispies they use malt flavoring which is a no-no for us wheat intolerant folk. I know this from my research. My husband knows a lot but not as much about the little ingredients that I do. What makes me the most upset is that my son told him and he shot him down about it. That puts my son in a bad position. Not only this but my husband is also upset at me for questioning him?!?!?! Really?? I told him point blank that he has tried to feed me things that I am not supposed to have. What about this does he not understand? I think his biggest problem is that underneath it all he thinks that this whole gluten intolerance/allergy is in my head. I have had the blood test that came back negative. I just had the scope and don't yet have my results. I am having allergy testing done in October. Even if all of these came back negative I know that gluten does VERY bad things to my body. I will never eat it again! Why do I need a medical test to tell me what I know? Why can't my husband just trust my judgment?

It's almost time!

I am finally having the scope done to see if I have celiac disease! Updates coming soon!!!

Home again, home again....

Well, we finally made it home after over two months of insanity! How can I describe two months with our families? In all fairness we had some pretty great times but we also had some pretty crappy times too. We loved seeing our church family and are eager to be back with them next year. The summer also helped us realize why we moved to Alaska in the first place! However, we are still going to go back to good ole IN when we graduate and I will pursue my graduate degree(s) and then we shall see where life takes us!

While in IN my talented younger sister took a BUNCH of pictures of us and so far I have seen a few. My favorite by far is one of my husband and I that I have posted as my profile pic on facebook and twitter. Here are 2 that I haven't posted yet.

Maximum capacity

Have you ever been so upset and disgusted that you just shut down? This last week and a half have been too much for me and today I just couldn't take any more. I literally just shut down. I quit trying to save face and play nice with my MIL. I just kept to myself and helped my kids but I finally had to tell my 10 year old that I couldn't take any more and I needed her to just do what she was told and stop arguing. She has been upset by this last week and a half too. How would you like to be a guest in someones home where you have to ask for every little thing you do...even get a drink of water. This is just so they can't come back and say, "Where is the glass you used?" I have felt like a prisoner in my MIL house especially because of my kids. It doesn't feel very good to know that she disapproves and thinks badly of my children.

Have I said that I'm ready to go back home?