january 2014 {life}

sometimes life doesn't exactly go the way you thought, and while my life isn't as bad as a les mis song {i dreamed a dream....}, it certainly wasn't what i envisioned for my forties. everyone says your forties are the best years, well in some ways mine have been, but in other ways they have not.

my thyroid issues took over much of the last three years of my life. it's strange living with chronic pain from an illness that doesn't have a cure, but does have treatment to be managed. so that's where i am currently. after having the radiation done last november, being in seclusion for a week and staying away from most people for another week, i was really no better or no worse. i wanted to see results quickly but knew from what my doctors had told me, that i wouldn't notice a "serious change" until eight to twelve weeks had passed. um? that's two months, BEST case, and three months if my body was a lazy bugger. which, it turns out, it was and is.

however.

in the last week or so, i have noticed significant change and i want to jump for joy. no seriously. i do. usually, a typical day for me is waking up to an upset stomach which was more than debilitating. it absolutely decided whether or not i would stay at home or venture outside to run errands or enjoy a day. if the pain was just too much, i laid low and kept close to home. yes yes, i was on medications. in all, and at the height of the worst of it, i think i took somewhere around 26 a day. the most being a beta blocker (250mgs a day) and a stomach pill (Bentyl) that i took no less than four times a day...just to keep the stomach muscles from going insane. it was honestly some of the worst pain i'd ever experienced in my entire life, but i've been told that i have a high tolerance for pain so maybe it could have been worse? lord. i can't imagine that.

so back to these last two weeks.

life has been grand. i've gone out and enjoyed being with friends, gotten outside and have organized and cleaned stuff that i had completely put on the back burner to do "when i felt better." well, now i feel better and i have really enjoyed getting back to my old life. the one thing i have noticed was the change in my intestines... not to get too graphic, but i would be in the bathroom up to about eight to twelve times a day. now we're down to a manageable three or four. that's life-changing, people. seriously i can't even get over it. the stomach pain has all but vanished, only popping up a couple days a week--which i can deal with, certainly.

i'm off everything i used to take and now i'm on the thyroid pill to keep me regulated. it's kinda unreal. i never expected this to happen. i thought i would have to live my life with this sickness because nothing really seemed to work, and now that the radiation has worked, i have some hope for the future.

the downside:

it seems that the biggest side effect of the RAI is getting your thyroid to really shut down which in turn shuts down your metabolism. sigh. so i'm creeping along and in the last month have put on about fifteen pounds. that's more than a dress size, which bothers me, but i'm trying to decide which i'd prefer. a size 16/18 pants or being sick at home and not wanting to live life. hmmm.... tough question? nope. not a chance.

so once i start to have consecutive days and weeks where i feel GOOD, not just okay, but GOOD, i'm going to do swimming in the morning and walking with my best friend. i've not been able to do any of that for a while since i had such weakness, that there was no way i could exert myself like that. but now? now i have great hopes.

the nice thing is, it's still winter and i have a few months to get a good twenty-five pounds off of me, and i have the energy to do it, thank the lord. lol

the other day i stood on the scale, it was a tuesday, and the number was expected. the following day the number was 13 pounds higher. i stood on it again. punched the start button again. the same. 13 pounds? so i started going crazy, complaining to jeff about it, and so he said to check it the next day. i did and i was down 6 pounds and the next day up 3 and the next day down 10. it is just nuts. so i'm not sure what's going on, but the point is, until my body gets regulated a little bit, there's no point in standing on the scale. lol it won't give me an accurate reading anyway. from what i've read online this is par for the course. so i'll deal with things but in the meantime, i'm going to exercise and enjoy life because i really do feel good. it makes me happy.

so here's a few pictures from late july to mid-january taken from my instagram account...

my parents and our family went to oak island this past summer. we had a lovely time. not sure we will go back there, i think my kids would enjoy more shell-searching than ocean-surfing.

this was a low day for me and sometimes you need to step back and realize that you can always choose joy...even when it's incredibly difficult.

threw a surprise party for jeff's 45th birthday and also a quasi-graduation party for him, too. fun was had by all.

 around that same time, our beloved sallie was getting frail. we knew about a year ago that she didn't have too much longer with us, because she was diagnosed with lupus. i didn't know dogs could get diseases like that, anyway, ultimately it took her life and we were heartbroken to see her leave us. below is where she's buried... it's a seriously good view. {love you salliegirl}

 she is missed...

everyone was so sad to lose sallie, that i thought maybe a couple applie pies would help. good food can heal the soul...

 i have been addicted to this for a while now, i never knew it existed until recently. duh.

took on a painting project with moon. this is the third floor of our church--youth floor. god love her. at one point, after hours sitting on the hard floor, painting, she turns to me and says, "i need to tell you something." what? i say. and she says, "i hate you right now. i just thought you should know that." lol cracked me up. ultimately it took us an entire week to finish this project...

 

 and i think it was worth it... it turned out beautifully.

true story.

 all throughout the year, jeff performs weddings. last year he performed about 75.

i know. kinda wild. sometimes i go and snap iphone pics. for christmas, he bought me photography lessons to hopefully do something more professional. sometimes people don't have a photographer and by all means, i'm not fabulous, but i figure it's worth a shot. plus, i love it. for years, i've done my own photography with jewelry but people are completely different, still going to try my hand at it. what do i have to lose?

i listened to this book on my iphone and loved it. i think it was better than reading it... from what i've been told.

this was right before i went away to have radiation. last meal before i left. it's beef and mushrooms with thyme. pioneer woman recipe. link here: Beef Stew with Mushrooms

 

 i'd just returned from being away for seven days... happy to be with my wonderful family. they're what makes life so worth it. i don't know what i would do without these faces. funny story: since i'd just returned, and my mom was here helping all that time while i was away, she wanted to spend thanksgiving with my dad back in ohio, so this was our first thanksgiving with just the six of us. i didn't have a lot of energy to stand, let alone make a dinner, so we all had thai food in lexington. hilarious. i kept wanting to sing Far Rar Rar the whole time in honor of A Christmas Story. :)
{jeff took photo, he was there too! :)}

had a girls sleepover at church. sometimes i don't always have the brightest ideas, and this was my reaction. turns out the sleepover was a lot of fun. :) looking forward to doing it again in the springtime.

 natalie's first big swim meet. she placed first in both of her heats. cool stuff!

flashback friday pic. the upper picture was taken in 2007 and the bottom was taken in 2013. i cannot believe how much they have changed. while i'm sure they will continue to change as they grow, i know that they look a lot like they will as adults and it makes my heart so sad. as much as i LOVE them at this stage in life, i miss those wild looks, crazy days and easy weekends where we were all together. life gets so busy, it makes me thankful for winter when you're forced to slow down and take it easy.

  

natalie isn't a hugger, so it was nice that she indulged and let nicole, who is a hugger, hug her! LOL

 

 the eller grandkids. time sure flies. upper left-hand corner is faith and morgan. jeff's brother's girls.

clockwise: faith, morgan, nicole, nadine, nathaniel, and natalie.

happy new year! 2014 will be our best year yet!

we're building a house. i feel good health-wise. jeff is teaching. kids are busy.

life is good.

thyroid disease awareness month. it's always good to be aware.

recent date night with jeff. jobeth bookstore's cafe. you can never go wrong with their coffees and tiramisu. best in town.

what i'm currently listening to right now. omg. amazing.

 

 we had a snow day a couple weeks ago, and not for snow, but for extreme cold.

that's all we really seem to get here in kentucky these days. we haven't seen a good snow in a few years. oh well. could be worse. my folks are buried under snow right now. anyway, jeff made his

fabulous chili and we always top it with cheddar cheese, fresh chopped cilantro and sour cream.

i wish i had a little diner place where you could all try it.

 

 kinda my new year's resolutions. lol no really. it's true.

 

 happy 2014 to everyone! i hope to be back in the shop this week and have some things for valentine's day. with life taking such a crazy turn, i haven't been able to do much except the custom order now and then, but now that i'm feeling better (and my eye isn't so insane!) i'm going to get back to it.

see you soon!

warmly,

laurie