Weekly Updates

Happy Friday y'all! How was your week? I currently have a load of laundry washing and just finished washing a few dishes. Even though I stay pretty busy, I have been making a conscious effort on slowing down in my life instead of being so stressed & chaotic. I have also realized that I have to stay away from people who are so obsessed with being chaotic, busy and rushed because they cause my anxiety to worsen. That's the life that they have chosen for themselves, but it's not the life that I want. Okay, enough about that- on to this week's updates!

Here is what went down this week:

|| Visited my Mom last Friday & brought pizza and lasagna for dinner
|| Scheduled hair Appointment for next Wednesday
|| Ordered costume for upcoming Fall Party!
|| Ordered Fall Booties. I am so excited to get them in!
|| Additional client work/hours
|| Applied for some VA work with an awesome company
|| Lots of yard-work! I love working with the hubby, picking up sticks + pine-cones when the weather is so nice in the Fall!
|| Finished the concrete- I ordered top soil which they delivered yesterday and later we will order gravel and plant crepe myrtle trees
|| Cleaned Pantry, Fridge and Freezer (now I need to go food shopping this weekend!)
|| Cleaned Bathroom/organized cabinet
|| I also won a huge gluten free giveaway from Canyon Bakehouse! I actually buy their products, but it was nice to win some that I haven't tried yet.

Another big thing is that I started writing a new book about Health. After going through the past couple of years dealing with GI issues, weight gain, anxiety, etc., I figured that I needed to write a book on everything that has helped me heal. I have prayed for God to show me the things that I am doing that has harmed my body and he has shown me several things lately that has helped me lose some additional weight (6 lbs) and feel better! It's a huge epidemic in the world right now and I want to be able to help other people live a healthy, fulfilling life and not be overweight and sick all of the time.

Honestly, the research part for this book has been so much fun! I always love learning about new ways to live a healthier lifestyle. I have been doing some guinea pig testing (on myself) for the book including an 8 day detox replacing coffee with green tea. That was definitely one of the hardest parts!

That's pretty much it for this week. I am headed outside to go for my daily walk and prayer and then I am going to sit down and figure out a weekend getaway that I can plan soon. I would love something that is full of fun fall-like things- pumpkins, apples, mountains! I want to enjoy this Fall season to the fullest!

What are some things going on with you this week?

Finding the Silver Lining//

Hello y'all! Sorry for disappearing- usually when I don't blog, it's because there is just so much going on in my life. I hope that changes soon, because I really love coming here to write. Remember when I wrote about how I had been sick? If you haven't seen the blog post, you can check it out here.

The good news is that for the past week, I have been feeling much better! Not all of my symptoms are completely gone, but the really serious ones have not come back after 7 days- so I am claiming the healing! I still do not know exactly what was wrong with me, but it was something extremely serious and I know that because of  the prayers from friends and family- that God heard our prayers and healed my body. I could feel whatever it was, constantly eating away at my insides and losing weight rapidly- definitely not a good feeling. But I never stopped praying and never stopped believing that God was going to heal me. When the enemy tried to sneak in with words like stomach cancer and pancreatic cancer, I refused to claim it- I prayed and declared healing over my body. Jesus said, "For truly if you have faith as a grain of a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Remove from here to yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible unto you."

To be honest, I didn't realize how much my health truly meant to me, until it was being taken away. It is extremely devastating to be in my thirties and having to deal with health issues. It has been a huge wake-up call for me to make some changes in my life. I am still unable to eat gluten or soy without having reactions like my throat closing up, so I have had to eliminate them altogether. Dairy and sugar still aggravate me as well so I am looking into changing over completely to stevia and possibly coconut milk, hopefully that will help.

So, you know how I always find the silver lining in every trial? Well, the silver lining to this trial is that now do I not only appreciate being in good health, but also that I finally lost the weight that I have been trying to get off for the last couple of years. I have lost 17 pounds in a 2 month time frame- there is no way that I could have done that without being sick. I was not planning on giving up my pasta and cheese anytime soon- I can't help it, I'm a major foodie! So if there is something to be thankful for through this trial, that would be it! On top of all of that, my faith has become even stronger, if that is even possible. I truly believe that with faith and prayer, that anything is possible!!

I just want to say thank you to the ones who checked on me and prayed for me- the support means so much to me. It's such a blessing to have my health back and I beyond grateful. To celebrate, the hubby and I are going to Seaside tomorrow to take a much needed break! Plus, we are going to celebrate his birthday since we didn't get to celebrate last Monday. Speaking of, I need to go & pack a beach bag- we are leaving early tomorrow morning!

I did some research on Seaside, FL and they have lots of cute little shops and foodie trucks. The Truman Show was also filmed in this little town as well as the Food Network. I am so excited to sample from all of the different foodie trucks!