Tough! I like this word. It means strong and durable, not easily broken, and capable of great endurance. I often use to describe how things have been going lately and I have even used it to describe myself a time or two. "If life is tough, I must be tougher!" I'd say.
I didn't feel tough yesterday though. Yesterday was a hard day. I received a phone call bright and early from my GI Doctor. He wanted to go over the results of my recent Abdominal MRI. Apparently there were some images of my ilium (part of your small intestine) that came back abnormal. He is now wondering if I have Crohn's Disease on top of my Esophageal Dysmotility. The next step is a colonoscopy and multiple biopsies of intestinal tissues. Sounds like fun right, because who wouldn't want to do that? I don't know what results I was expecting to hear, but I wasn't exactly expecting to hear that. Although I try to find a positive in every situation, this situation was a little harder than usual. So I asked my son if we wanted to go for a walk. He requested a bike ride, so we put on our coats and headed out to brave the rain. We had a blast. He ran through every puddle he could find and the bigger the better. Of course, right? Right. We ended up walking two miles with friends, and by the time we reached the house again I was beyond exhausted. I sat down to take my shoes off and immediately became overwhelmed. My body hurt, my house was a mess, I was too exhausted to start dinner, the recent results were still in my head, and I missed my mom. I lost it and turned into a puddle of tears. I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but at the exact moment I was wishing that I had someone I could call for help, I got a message from my Aunt. She happens to be one my most favorite people in the whole world and her timing could not have been more perfect. We ended up having a great conversation and I could not have been more thankful. The afternoon ended with me snuggling up with my son and the two of us falling asleep during an episode of Sherman and Mr. Peabody. I think that was exactly what both of us needed. If you have been following along with my quest to walk 1000 miles this year, this where I am: So far I have walked 80.46 miles and have 920.54 to go. I don't know how this journey will turn out, especially with all the testing that I will be doing soon, but I am still determined to get out there and walk. Even if it is just a little bit every day. Have a great start to your week my friends. Talk to you soon! Danielle
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Have you ever listened to someone speak and their words changed your life? That happened to me recently. I've said before that I believe that there is power behind the words you say and I believe that now more than ever. Earlier this week I listened to a man speak about noticing goodness and reaching out and connecting with people. He was amazing. His words were genuine and powerful and I walked away thinking about life differently.
The first think that stuck with me was how he talked about connecting with people and reaching out. For many people, this may be easier said that done. Sadly society has a tendency to stereotype people and all too often us as individuals go right along with what society says and judge people before we actually get to know them. I am guilty of doing this exact thing. Wednesday I was at the park with family and friends and a group of bikers came riding in and parked not to far from us. They seemed harmless enough to me at first, but I still kept a watchful eye out and had my guard up. Then one of them came right up to my friend and me and asked if he could give our children a sticker. I was a little taken back and my first thought was "why?" This questions was followed by more questions like "what's on the sticker?" or "what's it made of? Is it laced with anything?" My friend said "sure" and I said "sure, but let me walk over with you so my son knows that it is okay." (We are practicing stranger danger.) The man then hands our children a red and black sticker with gears and a fist on it and the letters B.A.C.A. Bikers Against Child Abuse. He then hands us a pamphlet and explains that the intention of his biker group, B.A.C.A, is to create a safer environment for abused children and if we know of anyone or any circumstances that their help might be needed to please let them know. I found out a little later that they are known as the "Keepers of the Children." Let me tell you, this was not at all what I was expecting. I stereotyped that group of people the first time I laid eyes on them and I couldn't have been more wrong. I most definitely learned a lesson today. Another thing that I think happens all too often is that we get so caught up in life that we forget to notice the good things. Life isn't the easiest right now, for I am struggling with many things. I struggle with my health, Mommyhood, being a Godly wife, a good friend, and supporting my husband while he follows his dream. Starting a new business from scratch is incredibly stressful. I'm constantly thinking about my husbands next job and what the paycheck will be while still giving him the positive support he needs to continue on with his dream and my son hawked a loogie in my hand today. It was a great mommy moment, just in case you were wondering. I had a great moment of noticing goodness that came one night this week when I was playing the "what's in here" game with the refrigerator. You know the one when you are standing in front of the open freezer and refrigerator doors looking between each to determine what items you can throw together for dinner. The fridge was looking kind of bare, but as I searched I noticed all the vegetables I harvested and froze this summer. I had potatoes and beef broth in the pantry and thought to myself, I have 4 ounces of ground lamb, 6 ounces of ground pork sausage, vegetables and potatoes, I bet I can make Sheppard Pie. So did. I filled it full of peas, sliced green beans, cauliflower, summer squash, onions, garlic and I even threw in some beet greens...all from the garden. I started out thinking I have nothing to make, but was able to make something wonderful out of the ingredients I had. I may not be able to do a lot of things, but when it comes to providing meals for my family, give me a few ingredients and I can make something out of nothing. This is a talent that am so very thankful for and I thank God every time my family sits around the table and fills their bellies. We have family coming in from out of town this weekend and they are staying with us. Two weekends in a row we have had family come to visit. This is another thing I am thankful for. We have a tiny little house and live a ways out of town, but our door is always open and you are always welcome here. I love it when our family gets together and the house is full. It never feels small when it is full of people. Instead it is warm and cozy and brings us together. Last weekend we explored the country and went for a walk as a family. I must admit that the busier life gets, the harder it is to find the time to walk. I haven't been feeling 100% and my little guy was sick so we spend more time than usual indoors this week. I have not been hitting my daily target miles and I need to get back on track. It felt so good to accomplish my daily goal. I do notice that it is much harder to find time for myself on the weeks where my husband works extended hours or is out of town. It is very much like I am a single parent those weeks and it makes everything more difficult. This week I was able to log 17.5 miles making my total miles walked 62.46. I have 937.54 miles to go. Thank goodness I have time to play catch up. Yesterday's walk was a great one. We added a new friend to our walking group and walked someplace new. I don't know if I will be able to get out to walk today since I have a house to get ready for company, but maybe. I hear the kitchen timer going off. That means that the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are ready to come out of the oven. I pulled out my sister in-laws birthday cake right before the cookies went into the oven so the house smells heavenly. She loves pumpkin so I made her a Pumpkin Cream Cheese Dump Cake to celebrate. The house smells like pumpkin, cinnamon, and chocolate......yum! I better run before the timer wakes up my little guy from his nap! I hope you have a great weekend! Danielle Ps. Just in case you were wondering, the links for the cookie and cake recipe are below. Cookie Recipe by TheVegLife at http://theveglife.com/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-cookies-vegan/ *I doubled the recipe. It came out great! Cake Recipe by YourCupofCake at http://www.yourcupofcake.com/2014/09/pumpkin-cream-cheese-dump-cake-got-dumped.html *We are yet to dive into the cake and taste it, but it smells amazing! Yay Friday is here! I don't know how your day started off, but mine was a bit of a challenge. My sweet son was not one for getting up this morning. Today was a Preschool day and even though I set out his clothes and packed his bag the evening before, we still had a bit to do before we could get out the door this morning. It was the normal things such as getting dressed, eating breakfast, and brushing your teeth. Easy things, so you would think, but not to my son. He could have won an award for his dramatic performance and his pace, well....a snail could have done it faster. Needless to say we left ten minutes late and arrived to Preschool just in time. Then, the poor guy wasn't feeling it. He didn't want to go into class today. Secretly I didn't mind the extra hugs, but of course seeing him upset made me upset. I spent a few minutes with him in his classroom, and soon, thanks to Miss. Abbey, he took interest in magnets and was not worried about staying at all.
I walked back to my car feeling a bit unsettled only to find that I would be walking alone today. Unfortunately my walking partners could not make it. I almost didn't go, not because I didn't want to, but because I felt a little uncomfortable walking alone. It's silly, but sometimes I have a hard time doing things by myself. I am so used to having company, even if it is a 3 year old, that doing things alone feels odd sometimes. I almost don't know what to do with myself. Weird, huh? There is a quiet little neighborhood behind the church where he goes to school. I am familiar with it and know that if I keep to the side of the road and follow it through all of the loops and cul-de-sacs, when I make it back to my car I will have walked 2.2 miles. So I put on a dab of calming essential oils, took a deep breath, and off I went. It was lovely too. It had rained earlier this morning so the ground was wet. The leaves are starting to turn colors and the black top was sprinkled with fallen leaves. No one but me was on the road. I heard nothing but the sound of nature and my own thoughts. It was quite peaceful. I was calm and centered when I returned to pick up my son. As soon as he saw me he ran to the door, eagerly holding out his artwork for me to see. He was so happy and so was I, much different than how we started the day! To date I have walked 44.96 miles. This is so close to 50 miles, I can taste it! How are you doing on your walking? Where are you at? I'd love to hear from you! Best wishes on a wonderful weekend, Danielle Hello friends! Happy Thursday! We are one day closer to Friday and soon enough the weekend will be here. I went on the most wonderful walk today with a dear friend and her son. We walked 3.75 miles and I loved every minute of it.
I am enjoying how this journey is going. It seems that every week I am walking with someone new. I love how more and more people are getting on board. It looks like we may have formed a Friday walking group. Two ladies that walked with me last week are going to walk with me again tomorrow morning and we should add one more next Friday. I am loving it. We get to gabbing and laughing and we are done just as quickly as we started. I was not one to have a large group of friends, but I am branching out and making connections. We are having fun, our kids are having fun, and we leave feeling better - our bodies and our souls. If that isn't healing, I don't know what is! I'd love to hear how you are doing! Please feel free to share! Have a wonderful day tomorrow! Danielle Good Morning! We are at day 19 of 365 and I have walked 36.85 miles...36 miles! I think this is awesome! I must admit that my body is not very fond of our new walking adventure. The more exercise I do, the more my body fights me. I have had more pain with eating this last week than I have in months. Even liquid hurts. I'm back to smoothies and soups full time, so I must re-evaluate how much energy I am exerting. School has started as well as my MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers) group so life is getting busy, and I know that is taking a toll on my body too. It is so frustrating not being able to do everything that I want to do. It gets be down a bit, but I will adjust and rise above. I may not be able to walk the 2.75 miles a day, but I will still get out and walk everyday. I am going to take Wednesdays and Sundays off and let my body rest those days. That sounds like a good plan, right?
You know what I have found to be the best part of this walking adventure? The best part is that I am not walking alone. I have many friends who are walking along with me. They may not have the same end goal that I do, but we enjoy walking together. Exercising is so uplifting, especially when you do it with others. We encourage each other, we laugh together, we enjoy each others company. Even our children love it, and they have no idea how good it is for them. They just love playing with their friends, just like their mommies do! I am about to head out this morning and take a walk with my son. He learned how to ride his bike yesterday on our walk. He still has training wheels, but he figured out the petals. It was such a happy moment for both of us. I wonder if he will want to ride it again today. I bet he says yes! Have a great day my friends! Talk to you soon! Today is my son's first day of Preschool. Last night when I was getting everything ready for today all these thoughts kept racing through my mind. I first couldn't believe that the big day was here already. As I looked at his sweet face I thought he's only three. Is he too young? Am I starting too early? He's going to be the youngest in his class, am I pushing him into this? As I picked out his clothes I thought about how silly it was that I was fretting over what he should wear. Is there a latest fashion trend for a Preschooler? Do I have to worry about him being in style? What about the other children in his class? Are they going to like him? Will he be teased? How can I protect him if I'm not there with him? But then I realized, they are all three. They are all just children. This age is a blessing for they are more interested in making friends and playing than judging each other. It is us parents that get caught up in the comparisons and ridicule of others. I hope this is not something I teach my son. I pray instead that he is a confident and kind boy who looks for the good in people and is a protector, not a bully.
I feel that my job is to help him grow into to such a person. Instead of doing everything for him, I asked him for his help. He helped pick out his clothes last night and was very happy to put on his bright orange and navy warm up suit and basketball t-shirt this morning. There was no fighting about what shoes to wear. He happily helped put his snacks composed of fish crackers, grapes, and string cheese in his backpack along with his spiderman waterbottle. He couldn't wait to put his backpack on because he picked it out. He was nothing but a ball of excitement as we departed for school. We had been talking and preparing for today for weeks. He knew where his school and classroom were because we had visited it previously. He had already met his teachers, and all but ran into the classroom to say hello and start playing. I told him that I was going to leave, but that I would be back for him when school was over. "Ok bye mom," was all he said. I felt odd walking back to my car and had to take a moment to gather my thoughts. There were no tears today, not from me or from him. I did my best to make sure he was comfortable and prepared for school and he was. He was confident and excited. Because he is such a busy and adventurous boy, I was wondering how long it would take before I had a conversation with his teacher about his actions. He did wonderfully today and minus a small incident with hand sanitizer (he licked it), we think he will do just fine. I am so very thankful for the boy he is growing into. I know this is just the begining, but I can't help but feel that maybe I did something right this time. I pray that I can keep it up and help lead him on the path he is supposed to go. I can't wait to hear about his adventures tomorrow. Until then my friends! Ta Ta! Can you believe it is Wednesday already? I can't. It has been a busy week and the days have flown by. I had the most wonderful weekend with my husband celebrating our anniversary. We went to Leavenworth Washington. If you haven't been there you should visit some day. I learned recently that it is called the "Bavarian Village." This is fitting because the whole town is themed and every building was renovated in the 1960s to look like it came straight from Bavaria. Even the food is Bavarian themed. It is surrounded by the Alpine hills and with the fall leaves beginning to change, it was quite a sight.
I spent the early part of this week getting ready for our MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group to start. We had a preparation play date on Monday, our first MOPS meeting yesterday, today I am preparing the remainder of our summer vegetables to store over the winter, and tomorrow is the first day of Preschool. Sigh, that is a lot to do this week. Thankfully things have been going smoothly and I have been able to get a few walks in. With an exception of Friday, I believe I averaged about 2 miles a day. I plan on walking 2 miles tonight after dinner. The next two days may be a little easier. I hope to walk while Tre is in Preschool. Let's hope these next few days go smoothly too shall we? Fingers crossed! With life getting busy, how do you manage to get your walks in? Do you go in the morning or in the evening. I always have my little with me, do you? How do you do it? Yesterday was a much needed day of rest. I started out the day with a lovely text from a friend checking in and making sure I was doing okay. It may be the simplest gesture, but it brought so much joy and was a wonderful way to start the day. I then spent the morning with a dear friend. We chatted over tea and coffee and watched our boys play. These two friendships have blossomed this summer and I appreciate both women so much. It is even better that our children are friends and look forward to seeing each other just as much as us moms do.
It was another beautiful sunny day and my son and I were itching to play outside when we got home. He raced up and down the slide as I picked vegetables from the garden. I had to keep a watchful eye on my son and our dog because both would sneak behind me and grab the tomatoes out of the collection basket. They do the same thing with berries. I wish you could have seen those two yesterday on our berry picking adventure. It was just like the book "Blueberries For Sal." I would put a handful of blackberries in the bucket and my son would put two handfuls of blackberries in his mouth. I even caught Kahlua our dog with her nose in the bucket a time or two. She is the second dog we've had that picks berries right off the vine. Between the two of them, I never know how many berries I'll actually get in the house. I was planning on picking at least 3 cups of berries yesterday to make my husband blackberry slump for our anniversary. Only 1 cup made it inside the house. It was such a great day. Went out to dinner as a family to celebrate our anniversary. I can't believe how fast time has flown by. We've been married 10 years already and today I took my son to his Preschool Orientation. It is moments like this that I think "how can it be possible? Where has time gone?" It has been a great 10 years, not perfect, but wonderful all the same. I feel fortunate that I can say I found an amazing husband and love him more and more every day. I think that this is one of the reasons I am on such a mission to improve my health and quality of life. I have so much to live for and I can't let my chronic illness get me down. I have to find a way to live life fully and be as healthy as I can be. Even though yesterday was a restful day and today was a busy day in town, I managed to walk a combined 3 miles over the two days. I did not set out to walk 3 miles, but I am glad I did. I love hearing from you all and how you are doing on your walking adventures. A few days ago I received a message from a friend and family member asking if I had ever tried using Bragg's Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar as a treatment for acid reflux. I have not personally, but have heard great things about it. It was a wonderful suggestion and I intend on giving it a try. I have not purchased the vinegar yet, but when I do, I will let you know how it goes! Tomorrow I intend to get out and about and walk again. I hope you get to too. Have a blessed day my friends. Talk to you soon! Another day is on the books! When we started today's walking adventure it was drizzling. It was almost as if we were walking through a cloud, and I thought for sure we were going to get rained on. Thankfully the weather held out and we were able to join our friends for another great walk. Our sweet boys had fun together racing up and down the road. They ran, hopped like frogs, pushed each other in the strollers, and filled their bellies with a healthy snack. We found out today that having snacks for them is very important and had to stop mid walk to pick some up. Our walk lasted 2 hours today so I'm not surprised at all that they were hungry. I would be too if I ran about like they did. They were the cutest frogs I ever saw!
We walked another 2.85 miles, and I'm afraid the amount of walking I've been doing is starting to take its tole on my body. I often forget that I am limited. It's probably because I still am having a hard time accepting life at a slower pace. My mind is determined to take on the world, but my body...well not so much. I can't begin to explain how hard it is to have my mind and body in two different places. I'm working to find the happy medium between the two, but I think it is something that I will always have to work at. I feel even more discouraged because I was doing so well this summer with my Esophageal Dysmotility. I really worked hard at identifying how my body reacted to certain medication and eliminating the ones that aggravated my acid reflux. The goal was to decrease the acid reflux and allow my esophagus to heal. We were hoping that with this healing, the nerves in my esophagus would regrow and the rhythmic muscular movement that pushes the food down would return. I'm having quite the set back today and I don't know if the exercise is causing it or something else. I'm finding that swallowing anything is painful and difficult today and I am physically exhausted, so much so that I am actually resting in bed as I'm writing to you now. Thankfully my little one is sleeping too so we both can rest during nap time. The usual housework will not get done, but maybe I will have the energy to play with my son this evening because that is most important. I may need to take the day off tomorrow and allow myself time to rest. I am quite bummed about how I am feeling, but I hope that it is just a minor setback, just a small speed bump on the road. I wish you all the best. Talk to you soon my friend! Hello My Friends. Happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and a smooth start to your week. We had a grand morning this morning. We have a little over a week before school starts and life gets busy again so we took advantage of the opportunity to sleep in. After our extended snuggle period, we got our lazy bones dressed and headed out for a walk. The leaves are starting to fall and a few of them have found their way to the ground. The sun was out today, but I noticed the air is a little crisper. The best part was we went for a walk with friends. We are fortunate that we have a family near by with boys my son's age. They have so much fun together. We walked 2.85 miles at the boys' pace. You should have seen us mommies pushing our stroller up the great big hill. It is hard to walk up it by ourselves, but fill the strollers up with babies and you huff and puff or sure. We were quite a sight.
It is always fun when we get together, and today, our favorite horse was out in the pasture. She came as close as she could to the fence and we practically had to peel the boys away from their little perch. They would have much rather stayed and talked with her all day, but we had a walk to complete and other sights to see like the blackberries that are still ripening and the bunnies who were also out to play. We even met a new mom today. I think she may come with us tomorrow. She has children around the same age too so it will be quite the adventure. Maybe we will have a picnic lunch like we did today. A walk, a play date, and a picnic. Sounds like fun to me, especially if there are babies to snuggle. So far we have made it 4 days in a row. We have 361 to go, and I don't know about you, but I had to do a little extra stretching today. We have a long road ahead of us and it is important that we protect our bodies from injuries. I believe one of the best places to start is with proper walking form. I know we started walking around age one and have been ever since, but there is actually a technique to walking, one that puts the less stress on your body and allows you to walk quickly and efficiently. One article I particularly like is from Walkingconnection.com. (Please see http://walkingconnection.com/fitness-walking-technique-and-form/ for the full article). It is suggested that we should focus on these four techniques: 1. Posture: Stand Tall, Walk Tall. Comfortably stand straight so that you spine is elongated in such a way that you should be able to draw an imaginary line from you ear to your shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle. 2. Keep Your Head Up: Try to keep you chin parallel to the ground and your eyes facing forward. Try to focus on things 12 to 20 feel in front of you. If you need to look down at things closer to you or things on the ground, try to only use your eyes, not your whole head. 3. Swinging your arms: Your arms should be bend at a 90 degree angle at the elbows and swing naturally at waist level as you walk. Try to avoid excess tension by keeping your arms and hands relaxed. 4. Stride: This may take some practice, but you will get it. As you walk focus on where and how your feet land. Your feel placement should be in front of you as if you are walking in a straight line. (I think of how models walk on the runway as if one leg is swinging directly in front of the other.) As you walk, you should land on the heel of your foot and roll forward onto your toes as you propel yourself forward. Heel, toe, heel, toe. You got it! This may take flexibility and time. Stretching and practice will help! You got it! Let's give this a try tomorrow and see how we do. I bet we will feel less strain on our muscles and improve our walking time. Let me know if it helped! Have a great day my friends. See you soon! |
AuthorHi there! Welcome to Grace In A Glass. My name is Danielle and I am so happy that you are visiting this site today. We all have something in life that we are working to overcome. I began blogging about my struggle with overcoming Esophageal Dysmotility and Crohn's Disease with the hope of reaching others with words of encouragement and hope. Thank you for letting me share my stories with you, and hope you have the most wonderful day! Archives
November 2022
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