Life...

Post two for the day... Yup buckle up people I'm on a roll.

I've recently been diagnosed with Crohn's disease. Might I just add that this is a horrible horrible disease. I was first diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis based on the findings of my colonoscopy. Yes I'm 33 years old and have already had the insanly fun pleasure of having a colonsocopy. But the findings weren't 100% certain it was just Colitis. So then I had to endure an MRE, that was so much fun to. Officially I have been diagnosed with Crohn's disease, stricturing disease in the TI with colitis noted in left, right and transverse colon... So pretty much my intestines suck and don't work.

Initially it just started out small and annoying but as of recently it's gotten worse and has progressed. My doctor told me that I have an aggressive form and it's mostly located in my illeum and so right now food and I are not friends. I have had to change my views on food. Food is not about enjoying a wide variety and more on trying to get nutrition in my body. My body sorta rejects food, it's awesome. I've lost over 40 lbs in the last year. Although I've enjoyed getting my body back to prebaby weight, the whole process of getting there has utterly and truthfully sucked.

I've learned just recently after tending to my flu stricken daughter... That I do not get to be the tendful mother who makes her babies feel better. Why you might ask? Well soon after my daughter got better from the flu I go the flu. When your immune system is already at it's worst and part of your body is attacking itself and then you add the flu bug into the mix it makes for a bad combo. It sent me to the hospital, I litterally lost 10lbs in about a week. I am now on an aggressive steroid to try and get things under control. The risks are HUGE, I had to sign waivers, I have to go in every two weeks for blood work to make sure my kidney's and liver aren't shutting down.

Have I mentioned how much fun this disease is?

So the battle continues, and all through out this I pay a butt load (oh geez) of money for my frequent doctor visits, my prescriptions, my ER visits... It's a battle I'll have all the rest of my life. I have my good days, I have my bad. I really try and stay positive. I have so much appreciated the people who have stood by me through this, especially my amazing husband. He really does try his very best to get me to change my focus on the negative and keep me pointed in the positive. He is my rock and I hope someday I'll be able to repay him for his un faltered love and support.

This is my journey and I'll keep you all updated through out this fun ass disease which usually always has a pun intended joke attached... hahahahahahaaaa!

It's been a while...

Apparently people on my facebook don't like my posts. I mean I know they aren't always positive and full of butterflies and rainbows... I do sometimes use it as an outlet, but whatever. My mother suggested I start up my blog again, cause this momma needs an outlet.

I'm not sure where I should start. I guess I'll start with the thing I struggle with the most. People and their priorities. Especially when it comes to children.  I'm trying to think of a witty quote, they play out in my head all the time... but today I asked for a filter and today I apparently got one.

I have witnessed on almost a daily basis the amount children suffer when parents don't make their children a priority. The thing I don't understand is you had a choice to have children. I mean I understand that they might not have been planned, Jared was not planned. But when these creatures, these children enter this world, HOW ARE YOU NOT COMPLETLY CHANGED BY THEM? I feel like I'm the exception to the rule sometimes, and not all people are this way. But all to often I see people bitch and complain about the things they have to give up for their children, the inconvience of their children, the struggles, the list is long. I see the parents who choose work over their children, parties over their children. Believe me I know all to well needing to take a break from your kids, sometimes parents need a time out. But I'm starting to think that as of lately kids are just an acceserory to this sorta "status" you are required to have. But the people who pay the price for these selfish ass people are the kids.

I'm not perfect and I do not pretend to be. But the minuet my son was born my world was forever rocked. My priorities completly changed, my outlook on life forever changed it's focus. I have had the insane opportunity to stay home with my children from the beginning. We've made sacficies for this to happen but I wouldn't change one second of this for any amount of money in the world. To be able to be present in my childrens lives, to be able to be involved in almost every aspect of their lives has been one of the most amazing gifts I've been given in my entire life.

I have to admit that it is also amazing having the kind of husband that I do. He has the same view on raising our children. He is 100% invested in our children. He would much rather spend his day off with both of his children. He makes them both a priority and will plan individual "dates" with both so he can have one on one time with them. We decided when we got married a year after Jared was born (we did things a little backwards) that instead of a honeymoon we would have a familymoon... Yes our son went on our "honeymoon" with us. We are dedicated to our children, we love our children, our children make us better people.

It goes without saying that we as parents do need time away. We do make it a priority to take time to be alone together. We will go out on dates from time to time and we may stay up late watching our favorite show together... we do plan one trip a year for a weekend getaway just the two of us. But together as a family is where we enjoy and love to be.

I can't change people and I cannot adopt all the kids in the world who were given shitty parents. I don't know how to change peoples veiws or how to not let it frustrate me... I guess I can just keep on trucking, loving on my children like there is no tomorrow... You are not promised tomorrow, what if tomorrow never came?

July is a crazy busy month!

I haven't gotten any new cloths since this whole thing started. I get so frustrated because I love shopping... but I lie because our family went on a mini vacation back to the place where Mike and I met, the place where Jared was born- Spokane!!! When we were there we got a couple of shirts and yes they were all made in the U.S.A... I'm proud of that, so super proud of that!

A lot of things have happened this month and are going to be happening this month. On July 13th it will be Mike and I's 10 year anniversary of our first date. Can you believe that? I can't, seriously where has the time gone? Our first date I can still remember everything that happened that day. I remember what I wore, what we did. It's amazing to me that was the first day of forever.

July 14th will be Jared's 9th birthday. My son is going to be 9 years old, that in itself is throwing me through a loop. Honestly I cannot believe how fast these 9 years have gone with my son. It is amazing and it is sad. He is the most handsome boy I've ever met. He is sweet, he is gentle. He has the biggest most amazing heart of anyone and I've never been prouder of my boy! But I must say time really needs to slow down a bit. It's hard for me to catch up to all that's going on, but then I wouldn't change it for a minuet. Weird how that works out huh?

I hope that every one's July has been wonderful, more updates to come!

What an adventure.

So this is hard I must admit. I've wanted to call it quits and just run to my favorite stores and by a new shirt or something... but there is just something about it that doesn't allow me to. Maybe it's my annoying husband. But honestly this is so much harder than I thought. Let me give you an example. (FYI I did link to the web pages)

Cloths- they are almost impossible to find made in the U.S.A... jeans especially. We decided one day to take an adventure. We found a few stores that carried some items that may or may not have things made in the U.S... so away we went to the Tacoma Mall. Our first stop was Buckle . Mike did some research and found that they do carry some brands that are made here. But what we found is that the Jeans you can only get online but they do have some shirts that are cute but a little pricey... Does price matter when there is a reason behind your madness? Our next stop was Nordstroms . We found a few more items that were made here however one pair of jeans were almost $400 (YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME?)... Mike found a pair of 7 For All Man Kind on clearance and he got a pair. However he did not read the whole tag and the fabric was imported from Mexico and assembled in U.S.A (close enough). He didn't realize it until after and we had a discussion that this would be ok because we are finding more and more that jeans are almost none existent here. I however found some Hudson Jeans . But I plan on losing some weight before I buy some of these jeans!

So it's a very slow and long process in finding things (especially cloths) made here in the U.S.A.. But we are determined to do this; to pass this onto our children; to pass this onto others so that maybe just maybe we can make a small difference in the bigger picture of things.

So ya umm...

I'm so bad at blogging lately. So much going on and so much keeping me from being able to focus on a blog.

Garage sale UPDATE. We had it and we survived! We made some money, we made off pretty good. The hard part has been trying to find things to replace it with. Plus I still have a garage full of stuff I need to get rid of. Some big things I have to try to sell but the rest I'm just gonna take to the goodwill. We have noticed that will all this stuff gone we don't really miss it, that's good!

My husband is amazing when it comes to research and we've found some places we can get furniture. If ever we aren't sure he'll email the company and find out. We will probably utilize EBay to get a lot of our cloths (cloths is becoming almost impossible to find made in the U.S.A). This really has been an adventure and it's going to continue to be one. I find myself more and more frustrated as I turn the tag over and find where it is NOT made. But I'm gonna keep faith and hopefully help you all in this adventure if you dare try. I do have pictures to post but as of right now I have not downloaded them to my computer (super fail)...

Any questions out there???

1 more day until...

So tomorrow is the day we try to sell all our non American made products. I'll admit that I've had a hard time deciding what to get rid of because I find myself oddly attached to them. (Oh that one fits so perfectly on the wall, that I got on clearance when we first bought our house.) Oh Oh OH... but Mike will remind me and I've reminded myself that these are just items they are not what makes our house a home. We are doing this for a reason and a reason that is good, to keep jobs in the U.S.A. So as attached as I find myself I have to take a step back and remember this is for a greater good, something that I can teach my children.

I feel good in the fact that we are going to be living lighter. I mean who really who needs a house full of stuff? My garage is FULL of stuff that honestly not being in my house doesn't make my house seem any less my house, just less cluttered. So the things I try to find and fill my house with I will love and I'll be proud that I kept one more person employed here in the good ole U.S.A. I'm gonna try and take a ton of pictures tomorrow of our adventure and I'll post how it all worked out and then show you what we replaced it with. We also have a few more things in the works as far as educating others in this adventure. I appreciate all my readers and hope that we can show you how all this can be done. Please if there are any questions post away and I'll answer them the best I can. Thank you!!!

American made...

So I think that my blog is going to be changing. I think I'm going to document our families adventure of changing our lives and changing our life style. We are on a mission to buy only American made products. I'm going to try and use this blog as a way to help educate others and show you that it to can be done.

So if that didn't explain what we are doing... My husband has been doing research and getting very passionate about buying only products that are made in the U.S.A... I wasn't completely on board. To be honest after looking at all the labels in my house I was discouraged. Almost everything was made from a completely different country then the place where I live right now. My views on the way I live have been evolving over the past year and this is a huge one for all of us. I've lived in the shadows of not knowing and honestly not caring, it never has effected me. But being naive to what is going on only hurts my children and their future.

I watched a documentary of sorts with Mike and I'll link it later once I figure out where it is and what it was. But it said something in the lines of "If everyone spent $66 a YEAR that would keep some 200,000 Americans employed!" Umm what??? That's a lot for such a small amount of money. And wouldn't you rather keep our economy growing then depleting?

I'm aware that this adventure is going to be hard but to start it off we have decided we are going to sell all the items in our house that are not American made (almost) and replace it with American made. We might not be able to replace everything but then we'll just live lighter. Because who really needs all this stuff anyway? Garage Sale next weekend and we've cleaned out a bunch of stuff in our home. Yesterday we went out around our town and even traveled to a smaller town about 25 miles out and did a little research. In this one store we found maybe 5 or 6 things that were American made. We also stumbled upon a furniture store that did have some items that were American Made and even Locally made (score)... On top of that we also went to some Antique stores.

I hope you follow along on this adventure and I will start posting on the places we've been to, what we've found. Hopefully I can help you along in your adventure to change your life style...