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Later, Alligator! Saying Goodbye to Family Vacation 2012 – Hilton Head, SC

June 20, 2012 by Amy 2 Comments

Our annual family vacation in Myrtle Beach didn’t pan out this year. When I saw that Ashley was auctioning off a week in Hilton Head as an adoption fundraiser a few months ago, I knew it was the perfect fit. If you have a few spare dollars, I’m sure they’d appreciate a donation to their adoption funds as they’re trying to bring home TWINS from Congo.

This year’s vacation will have a few special memories. Perhaps you’d like to hear a few?

On a Mommy blogger note, Emma showed some signs of maturity this year. First, I loved that she rode her bike to the beach every day and was excited.

If you’ve been around awhile you know the bike hasn’t always been her strong suit. But I suppose everyone has to learn and now she’s terrific. Since our house isn’t really suited for going anywhere on a bike, this is the first I’ve seen her use a bike with purpose. And speaking of bikes, they were EVERYWHERE. I’ve never seen so many people biking.

Second, she gravitated towards the adults sometimes just to talk. I mainly hung out at the hot tub in the pool area and she would drift over, sit with us and just talk. I’ve heard of these perks of aging children but I think I got a glimpse of it on my own this week. Third is her branching out to the deep end of the pool. Since we have an above ground she doesn’t get a lot of practice and always has shied away from anyone else’s but this week she swam across and jumped in.

Hilton Head is a very natural, green place. Lots of natural attractions and wildlife. I have to say when we first got there I was a little scared about seeing the alligators. All anyone could say was DON’T FEED THE ALLIGATORS. I even asked the front desk lady how likely it would be to see one. She said very likely and sure enough, we saw one swim up in the lagoon behind the resort’s pool on the second day.

No fence, no zookeeper, no ditch keeping it from coming for us. But for whatever reason, he minded his own business. We also enjoyed the live oaks and Spanish moss. The trees were an attraction of their own.

Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House in Savannah was definitely a highlight of the trip. We will talk about that place for years to come.

Mrs. Wilkes is an 80 year old restaurant that serves family style meals. Dining room tables were set for 10 with sweet tea and then 23 Southern dishes are laid out for everyone to pass around.

I’m not saying this lightly but it was the best food I’ve ever had. I loved the lima beans for crying out loud. I loved that the owner said grace before the first table started and we were responsible for taking our plates and cups to the kitchen. Mrs. Wilkes is a must for all Savannah visitors. Just get there early . They only serve 11-2. We got there at 10am and were already about 10 people back. The funniest part was when the girls claimed it was even better than PawPaw’s cooking and then Lexi’s disclaimer saying "only a titch better." A titch is some word Lexi made up meaning just a little.

Another memory will be the toll bridge bypass to get on and off the island. It’s $1.25 each way and we were all the time hollering for change. We managed to round up enough every time without paying solely with 125 pennies.

I will always remember Emma and Lexi getting into it helping me eat my crab legs when we visited The Crazy Crab in Harbor Town. They really got into it and even tried some and didn’t hate it.

I’m sure visiting The Salty Dog Cafe and tie-dying their shirts will be memorable for the kids. Nevermind that they have 20 other t-shirts at home. It’s all about the experience!

And finally, this will be the trip where we spent way too much time watching TV and were introduced to The Turtle Man. Have you been watching his show The Call of the Wildman on Animal Planet? The Turtle Man is in Kentucky and grew up catching turtles in ponds. As he’s grown, he has gone on to catch any "critters" for folks in his area. And the trick is he catches them all with his bare hands. He and his friend are straight up REDNECK and it is straight up hilarious.

It was SUCH a great week. Exactly what we needed to reconnect as the kids finished school and Scott came back from several weeks out of town. As it turned out though, I went to New York two days later last minute for work. It was almost a vacation from vacation :) Coming up next is a wrap-up post from the Big Apple!

Strawberry Picking

May 4, 2012 by Amy 9 Comments

For years, our town’s spring festival was called Fest-i-Fun. Vendors lined our little Main Street with the usual festival fare. Teenagers roamed the streets, boys attempting a swagger and girls whispering and giggling about them. Kids turned sticky from cotton candy and begged their parents for sand art. When we were in high school, our (at that time, one) high school marching band had been state champions for years. We had a sign on one of our main roads touting our wins and each year a plaque would be added with the year. In May of 1994 when there were probably 20 plaques, Scott and I had just begun our courtship. And by courtship, I mean many late night phone calls. By the 7th day, he was my real boyfriend. Fest-i-Fun was the following weekend and Scott was one of the drummers. I was smitten. We stood at the end of Main Street where the marching band was standing in a semi-circle and listened. I can’t even recall which friend I was whispering to beside me. All I know is it turns out his mom was standing right next to us. That’s the first time she saw me.

Since the mid-90s our little town has outgrown a Main street festival. They renamed it to the Strawberry Festival a few years back and moved it to a nearby park. The festival kicked off Monday, with the festivities arching over the whole week now. Tuesday they offered half-price pick your own strawberries and a movie for the kids. Since I drink a smoothie every day for lunch, the strawberry picking was a must but for some reason I just needed Scott and the kids to go. The kids wanted to go swim with a neighbor and Scott really didn’t want to go but I just kept pushing. Usually, I’m fine to do my own thing but something just made me want to go with them.

I was thinking on it last night and finally put it together that this Strawberry Festival we were participating in was the same Fest-i-Fun festival I’d stood at 18 years ago. Something down deep stirred when I realized that. The circle of life or some kind of jazz. All I know is, it’s good. Very good I fell in love with a drummer boy and now get to go pick strawberries with our babies.

How We’re Coping with Gluten-Free – Week 3

March 9, 2012 by Amy 9 Comments

We’re going on 3 weeks of our diet changes. One thing I want to be clear is Lexi is not particpating fully in either of these. While she eats some of the gluten-free products and I make all of our dinners GF and milk free, she still eats the regular bread, cereal, ice cream, etc. And while Emma is milk-free, Scott and I are not. So we drink regular milk, have GF products that have milk in them, etc. So basically we’re managing 3 different diet needs.

But even that said, this week was SO MUCH better than last. So much. While I’m not 100% happy with what we ate (wish we could have had less red meat, less grains and more veggies), we ate and there was very little complaining. I was tallying it up last night and I realized I had cooked every meal for ten days straight other than Sunday dinner at Scott’s parents’. That’s a lot of meals in a row for me. I’m sure it’s some sort of record. And I have to say, this week I kind of liked it. While our grocery bill has obviously gone up, our eating out category has drastically dropped and it feels good to know that while the meals aren’t perfect, it’s a lot better than fast food. And ya’ll? I like the meal planning. It’s worked out great for us to either shop on Saturday or Sunday and buy for the whole week.

I thought I’d share some recipes and products that have absolutely saved us these past 3 weeks, broken down my meals.

Breakfast

Van’s blueberry waffles. Emma eats these every morning with syrup. OJ for a drink.
Granola bars. I sub with Bob’s Mill gluten free oats and Bob’s Mill gluten-free all purpose flour (and 1.5 tsp of xanthum gum so it will hold together) and I have a bar every morning for breakfast with some OJ. Emma would eat these but she can’t have the butter in them.
I bought Bob’s Mill Pancake mix but haven’t tried it.
Crystal swears by these waffles.
We also do bacon, eggs or a smoothie as alternates.

Snacks

Lots of fruits for the girls when they’re at home. Their favorites are bananas, apples, grapes and kiwi.
Zucchini bread
Banana bread
Smoothies with Silk Vanilla Almond Milk

I always have at least one of those breads made. I alternate between the two and Emma eats that for snack after school. I’m pretty sure she would eat the entire loaf if I let her. I wish it didn’t have so much sugar in it but I’m just going with it for now.

Lunch

Rudi’s or Udi’s Gluten-free bread. It’s not the best thing ever but Emma has been a trooper and eats her PB&J’s at school.
Vegan mayo. I use this to make Emma some tuna salad for her. Sometimes I put it on bread for lunch and sometimes she just eats it as a snack after school.
Glutino’s pretzels. Both the girls love these.
Pre-packaged fruit. I don’t know what it is but they hate eating fresh fruit at school. Is it not cool? I don’t know. But the packaged fruit is the next best thing.
Applesauce packs

Dinner – main course

Steaks
Salsa chicken in the crock-pot. Just put a few chicken breasts and a jar of salsa in. Shred it towards the end. You can either make tacos out of it, put it over rice or just eat it separate.
Spaghetti with alternate noodles. We tried rice noodles last time and trying quiona noodles tonight.
Manwich. We tried Rudi’s hamburger buns and they were horrible. They soaked in all the juice and made it very dry. We all ended up opening up the sandwich and eating the meat plain which was just fine.
Sweet potato chili. This was delicious. Scott’s parents and my sister all tried it and liked it. Lexi wasn’t a fan and I think she hate some sort of leftover that night.
Amy’s gluten-free, dairy-free spinach pizza. Emma will eat the spinach pizza but I buy Lexi and Amy’s small cheese pizza and just bake them together.
BBQ. Put a boston butt in your crockpot all day with a little water, salt and pepper. Shred after you get it out.
Pot Roast. I don’t like potatoes and carrots in mine so I just put a chuck roast in with one package of onion soup mix and 1/4 cup of water. I even made the gravy with corn starch.

Dinner – sides

Baked potatoes. Earth fare has non-dairy cheese and sour cream Emma uses while the rest of us use regular.
Refried beans. Emma didn’t like these but Scott and I loved them with the salsa chicken.
Any kind of Alexia potato fries. We’ve done both yukon gold and sweet potato.
Spinach. Turns out we like spinach. Lexi of course hated it but Emma asked for me to make it the next night.
Cauliflower mashed potatoes. I made this with the roast and put the roast gravy on them. No one knew it was cauliflower instead of potatoes. Amazing. It felt so good to get up from that meal and not feel too full.
I also use canned or frozen corn, green beans, carrots or peas as a side.

Desserts

Chocolate Cookies
Earth fare Gluten-free chocolate chip cookies
Dairy Free ice cream. You can get this in any store. Just look for a yellow wrapping at the top.
Oatmeal raisin cookies. These didn’t bake well for me but it still tasted good.
Peanut butter cookies

Miscellaneous

Smart butter is what I use for Emma on popcorn, potatoes, bread. I actually really like it and use it too.
Dino’s BBQ sauce. I got this recommendation from Katie and it’s really fabulous if you like it both sweet and a little kick. It was too hot for Emma and Lexi hated it but Scott and I loved it.
Agave nectar for sweetner in smoothies and coffee

So that’s what the last 10 days or so have looked like.

In really good news, Scott has seen no acid reflux at all. Before, he would only see a few good days in a row before he’d need to take some medicine. He did have one incident this week when he ate gluten by mistake and threw it all up that night. The doctor said it was a normal reaction when you are cleansing yourself from gluten. He also said it could be related to the bad fats they used to make it. I think that speaks a lot to how his body must be changing because of the diet changes.

Emma has only had one stomach ache in the past week and it was one morning she woke up and I can’t say it wasn’t just because she was hungry. She was fine as soon as she ate. She also has been MUCH more regular.

As for me, I’ve lost another pound or two, I rarely get bloated and my skin is looking so much better. Someone at work just saw me for the first time in a few weeks and immediately commented on my weight and skin. That was a great confirmation for me. I’m just enjoying having no cravings. For at least a week now, I haven’t had ANY food after dinner. We eat between 5 and 6 and sometimes don’t go to sleep until 10 or 11. I think that’s huge.

Truth be told, I’m not sure we’ll go back to gluten. This week really proved to me we could happily be gluten-free and I’m not impatiently counting down until our check-up at the end of the month. Feels great!

Mountains, BBQ and American Girl

February 20, 2012 by Amy 4 Comments

If you haven’t read yesterday’s post, please do! It will explain why we made a trip to Northern Georgia this past weekend. There were a few non-medical related tidbits I thought I’d share.

First off, I had no clue Georgia had mountains. Although if I’d stop and thought about the fact I’ve been to Stone MOUNTAIN twice I would have put two and two together. I struggle with the common sense sometimes. So I guess I was kind of shocked when we got off I-85 in Georgia and started heading deep into the mountains. By the time the GPS said we were just 15 minutes away and nearly dizzy from the hair pin curves, we found ourselves atop a mountain with the Appalachian Trail somewhere nearby. We stopped at this little store perched on the top of the mountain.

While it looks like it might just be a rest stop, it was packed with high quality hiking gear and local art to buy. We loved the views.

Blairsville, GA turned out to be a tiny little town. They did boast a Zaxby’s, Fatz Cafe, Bi-Lo, Ingles and WalMart but overall, this was a small mountain town still teeming with local businesses. The hotel I had chosen was family owned. In fact, the owners live on site. The decorations were humble but it was super clean, the staff was more than nice and more importantly, cheap.

Photo Feb 17, 4 38 19 PM

The funniest moment was Emma trying to work the TV and saying, “It won’t go to 2-9-9!” Those with DirecTV and kids will appreciate that joke.

Since we didn’t stop once other than the little mountain store, we were all ready to get out and get some dinner as soon as we got there. We decided on a local BBQ place. I was hesitant but Scott said you know if you go to these local places, they do it right.

This particular restaurant had recently moved to a new location. Don’t those roosters crack you up with Scott sitting there? Well, dinner was no laughing matter. It was DELICIOUS. Honestly, some of the best BBQ and baked beans I’ve ever had.

After dinner, we made a quick loop around town. Speaking of, on the trip we ran into all these small towns that had one huge building in the center of town with a round-about Here is the picture from our hotel parking lot of the center of Blairsville. Do you have these in your town? I think there might be some here in South Carolina but ours isn’t like that.

Photo Feb 18, 8 05 09 AM

We realized that this little town was still holding up many locally owned business. Isn’t this little grocery store Foodland a hoot? The last thing our town had like that was Piggly Wiggly and they closed probably 20 years ago.

We realized quickly that most of the town shut down about 6pm. Scott couldn’t talk the girls into strolling the aisles of Home Depot for the evening so we settled in to our hotel room and watched American’s Funniest Home Videos on Netflix on the laptop.

Saturday morning I was happy to eat at the nearby restaurant Cook’s. If the town’s BBQ was any indication, breakfast was going to be good.

And it was. I tried to stay healthy and only ordered one egg and grits with orange juice. Emma got toast and you could literally squeeze the butter out of it. So bad but so good! We were drooling over the biscuits and gravy at the next table.

After the doctor’s appointment which ended about lunchtime Saturday, we headed south 90 minutes to Alpharetta, GA, the home of one of the American Girl stores. We nearly took the girls at the beginning of January. I had the hotel booked and everything but decided against it last minute. I’m so glad we were able to bundle all this together!

The girls had an amazing time. Lexi was beside herself driving up to it. She had her hands over her mouth and I said, "Lexi, where are we?” She just said, “I can’t even say it,” through her hands. Cutest thing ever.

The store was an absolute mad house even given the size. This is only about a third of the store.

Photo Feb 18, 3 00 37 PM

What I loved though is that every single outfit they had was on display on a girl. No more looking at catalogs and the Internet! We tried to get into the doll salon to have their hair fixed and the bistro but they were booked solid. The girls ended up with two really cute outfits.

I had the girls pick out the outfits online before we went so we wouldn’t be there too long. Emma is so indecisive. Well, they were done in less than 20 minutes and that included a potty break. We got done and had plans to explore the mall. We spotted a carousel and a sign for the Cheesecake Factory but we were all so ready to go home we hit the road right away. Well, with Starbucks in hand. So yes, we drove 90 minutes for a 20 minute excursion. Whatever. The kids were satisfied and Scott and I in a mall are dangerous anyway. One day we might get back to Atlanta to visit the Coke Museum and Aquarium.

When we got home at 8pm, we couldn’t believe that we had been home at lunch time just the day before. It certainly was a whirlwind 30 hours. As hoped though, very productive and full of great memories.

How This Weekend Changed Our Lives

February 19, 2012 by Amy 11 Comments

This weekend in Northern Georgia

Let me be as dramatic as I possibly can and say this weekend was life-changing. I do mean that in the most practical sense and it could be life-changing temporarily or perhaps, long-term.

The thing about life-changing events is it requires a story. And unfortunately, this story is not one I’ve even begun to tell here. Which means this post is gonna be a long one. If you or a loved one suffer from allergies or stomach “issues”, you’re going to want to stay tuned. Well, I’d love for you to stay-tuned anyway because you know, life-changing and all that. Click Read More below to continue….

Marriage, Fashion and Healing

February 13, 2012 by Amy 4 Comments

I couldn’t call this simply a weekend recap. So much stuff this weekend! If my last few weekends have been quiet and around-the-house type weekends, the last 3 days have been quite the opposite. Each day we had something pretty big and I can’t wait to tell you! Hang on, because this is a long one!!

MarriedLife Live

Friday night Scott and I attended the MarriedLife Live event at our church. It was less conference and more a night out for married couples in the church. We had a live band, dessert and coffee and we did hear from our family pastor. He talked about seasons of marriage and how some bad seasons tear couples apart and others are drawn together. To avoid the former, we should store up in the good times, just as Joseph did in Egypt, knowing a famine was coming. I felt like this was especially appropriate for us as the last year or two has generally been a good season for our marriage but I know the adoption will test us. Right now is the time to build up our marriage, not only when we’re trying to salvage it.

We also did an exercise where each of us had to fill out what we wanted each other to do and say at four times during the day: morning, saying goodbye for the day, saying hello and going to bed. I have to say it was eye-opening. We rarely do anything like that and really appreciated knowing what Scott expects and desires.

Be Red Hot

Saturday morning I attended the Be Red Hot Women’s conference at Dani’s church to support her as she led a break-out session. I was completely blessed by the main speaker Branda Polk. The conference was a diving board off the verse about not being lukewarm but either hot or cold. We want to be red hot in our faith.

One thing she hit on that I hope she doesn’t mind that I share is the thought that the Bible says we ought to do all things unto God. But how do my menial tasks mean anything to Him? Isn’t it only big people doing big things for God that He treasures? She likened it to our children picking dandelions and giving it to us as a gift of love. Practically, they are giving us a weed but because it is done unto us in love, it is a treasure. Isn’t that an awesome thought?

Dani rocked her fashion session. She started out speaking to the heart of the matter. Does God even want us to spend time on how we look? Yes! He cares about all things and the way we present ourselves on the outside can say something about what He’s done on the inside. It also says something about how we feel about the people around us. I know Scott always notices when I dress up more for work than I do him. That’s sending a message, true or not, that I care more for what they think than what he thinks. However, if our vanity and pride are keeping us occupied and unable to give like He requires, it’s a problem!

(top right photo, credit to Sherry Smith)

She also went over the top trends for the year, how she builds her closet and took time to dress up a few folks with accessories she had bought. I even got to help on stage for a hot second to share her Sneaky Jacket Trick. She did a fabulous job and I think everyone was ready for a full day conference just with Dani. I know if there is anything I know about styling, it is all from her instruction over the past 14 years we’ve been friends. Those blue shoes I have on in that pic are results of an email from Dani…"buy these and this is what you wear with it” (that yellow shirt is my one of my Old Navy shirts)!

Testimony

Fast forward through Saturday family time, Sunday church, dinner and nap and we headed to my parents’ and sister’s church to hear my sister give her testimony. One day I want to take the time and give you all the intricate details about what happened but the gist of it is this.

Heather has had a sleeping disorder her whole life. Without medication, she always wanted to sleep. Like, she would go to bed at 7 on a Friday night, get up at 1 the next afternoon and then could take a nap at 4. She finally was diagnosed at 20 and got some pills ($600 a month!) that would keep her awake all day. However, my mom would have to call her every single morning over and over and OVER to get her to answer the phone long enough for her to take the pills so she would wake up an hour or two later. It was exhausting and frustrating.

During the past few years, she had also started playing World of Warcraft video game and found herself addicted. Addicted to a video game? Yep! I remember having the girls’ family birthday here at the house the year before last and she came in with her laptop, hooked it up and was playing through the birthday party. She was playing every chance she got.

Well, her church did a 40 day fast last January and God called her to fast her video game. She did and as she described it, went through physical withdrawals. Towards the end of the 40 days, God was calling me to do the Daniel Fast (I mention Heather’s healing vaguely in the post). I had two different dreams about her just days before I started and I knew that I was to fast and pray for Heather. Heather had given me her laptop so she wouldn’t play it and I prayed over her laptop during the fast. Yes, I laid hands on a laptop! I can’t tell you the power I felt when I touched it. My heart broke and my spirit was completely burdened.

Three days before the end of her 40 days and Heather woke up on her own at 5:30am. The next day she woke up again. The next day was the end of the fast and God told Heather not to take her pills anymore. That same day, as I closed my fast, God told me that Heather was free from her video game if she chose to be. He wouldn’t force her, but if she wanted to walk away, she was free. It’s been 352 days now and she hasn’t take a pill and she is free from her addiction to the game. God be praised! It’s been amazing to watch her flourish in the last year and I’m so thankful for God’s healing and Heather’s decision to obey.

So, wow! Gold star if you read all that! My heart is so full from the weekend. God is awesome and my church, family and friends are more than I could ask.

Merry Christmas 2011 – Alleluia

December 25, 2011 by Amy Leave a Comment

Alleluia – used to express praise, joy or thanks.

Alleluia

Close your eyes, lift your hands and say thank you.

Alleluia

My soul quakes and my flesh feels the waves of thanksgiving. We celebrate him abiding in flesh as a babe but today He abides in me. In His church. In the body, not a body.

I hope that’s truth for you. That this Christmas when you stretch your hands out with alleluias, you feel Christ abiding.

Merry Christmas to you and yours.