A Post.... FINALLY!!!

Hello everyone. I know, it has been a long time! What can I say. Life just gets crazy sometimes and it is hard to find time to breathe! So Chris is doing well. He had surgery on his knee about a month ago. He had a frayed ACL and a torn pica. He is doing well now and is in a lot less pain. He is on his last semester of school this fall. He is scheduled to graduate in December and he cannot wait to move on. I am still working and going to school. Still trying to loose weight. I have lost about 10 lbs. but I have come to a stand still. I have an appointment with an internist this month so maybe he will be able to help me. I have started bleeding again. I go to the hospital today for some cultures and tests. They have moved my infusion date up to see if we can get the bleeding to stop. I sure hope that it works. After feeling so good for a little while it really sucks to feel crappy again. In other news I am really enjoying being an aunt. Connor is such a cutie. I fall in love with him more and more every day. It is great to have a little one around to satisfy those baby cravings! Here are a few pictures of our latest happenings.

My 28th B-day in June. We ate at the Bombay House (Indian Food, YUM!) Shelby made me a yummy and beautiful orange cake!

My little Connor is such a cutie!




Chris worked on my birthday so Mom and Shelby took me out!

Weight Loss & Health Update

Well, I am down 10 lbs. Only 40 more to go! ha ha ha..... Really though, I am doing very well. The Remicaide Infusions are really working and I am down to one infusion every 8 weeks. FINALLY! I am taking an aerobics class at BYU this summer so I will be working out 4 times a week and I am going to try doing a couple more on my own outside of class. I would love to loose another 10-20 lbs. this summer. Wish me luck.... Here are some pictures of my progress....

The first is me currently, then me at my very heaviest about 2 months ago, me before my last 30 lb. weight gain, and then me in 2005..... Starting to look a little bit more like myself!

A New Way to Think About Losing Weight
(I really liked this and had to share!)

I have to keep telling myself that. It's not. A diet is something you do for a short period of time in order to get a result that doesn't last, and you end up worse off than before. No, no...this is not a diet.It is a way of life. A life change. Something different. I think we are often too hard on ourselves. I think we get disappointed in ourselves. We get frustrated because after a lot of hard work, the scale doesn't move, or the inches don't come off.So we go to what we know best. Food. Then more guilt, more frustration, more disappointment.But I've come to realize something. If this isn't a diet...and it is a way of life, then it's ok. It's ok to have a bad week on the scale, because it's not the end of the world. Next week will come...and then the next. If this is about life change, then I must look at this as a marathon and not a sprint.I didn't get fat overnight. No, I got fat after years and years of neglect and overeating, lack of exercise, being tired, and a miriad of other excuses. Therefore I can't expect to lose this weight over night. And I won't lose it next week and I won't lose it next month.But I will lose it. Why?? Because I'm not on a DIET!!. I'm changing my life. I'm changing my lifestyle. I know that while I may have a bad week on the scale or even a bad month, next year, I will not be the same person I was. I will be healthier. I don't know what that means on the scale, but I don't think it matters either. If this is my way of life, then I will be healthier. I know it.So if I mess up and have a donut or a piece of cake or a slice of pizza now and then, it's ok. I'm not going to drown myself in guilt, nor am I going to drown myself in food. I'm just going to enjoy life. That might mean eating great for a month and then eating not so great for a day or two. But I'm going to enjoy life knowing that I'm making decisions that will make me a happier, healthier person in the future.I'm not going to look in the mirror and get disappointed that I don't look the way I want to now. It will come. But it will take a while. And you know...that's ok. I'm changing. When the changes come and are visible...then great, but it's ok if I don't see them yet. I just know that everyday I'm going to make better decisions.Remember...THIS IS NOT A DIET! This is a life change. A new way to live your life. Enjoy it.

UPDATE

I know this is blog #3 for the day, but it has been a long time and I didn't want to through everything into one post. So here is the latest greatest in our small family.

#1: Health

I have successfully completed infuzion #3 and all is still going well. After 10 years of this crazy disease my bowel is finally calming down. Most doctors are surprised I still have my colon! So I should consider myself lucky, right? I have lost 6 lbs. but I have a long road. I am taking the weight loss in 5 lb. increments so I can stay positive. My really big goal is to eventually loose 50 lbs. Yep, that is how much prednisone weight I put on. (sob) I have been off the roids' for 3 weeks now. Still having hot flashes like no other and quite a bit of swelling. Overall things are looking up.

Chris just found out he has a torn meniscus and a possible bone spur. It looks like he will probably be having surgery in June. Fortunately it should be same day and he should only be down for a couple of weeks. It has really started bothering him since becoming a surgical technician since he is on his feet all day.

#2: Housing

Chris and I had found a great new apartment so to save a little cash we decided to move out early and live with my grandparents until our move in date of May 1st. Well, the woman we were going to rent from went postal! (PHSYCO! More on that later...) We both decided that it would be best to run and never look back..... so we are currently homeless since about April 5th..... Still working on finding a place and not having the greatest luck!

Those are probably the most exciting happenings for us at the moment. More to come later!

Another Hobby

This is one of my latest hobbies and I absolutely LOVE doing it. I am hoping to sell my jewelry eventually. Maybe when there is less stress in my life. I would love to do custom wedding jewelry also. We shall see. These are a mere fraction of the items I have made. I will post more once I take photos!!!

I love the smell of flowers....

This is a very small image portfolio.... For those of you who may not know, I tried running a flower arranging business last year. Needless to say, in Utah County it is tough to make money doing anything! These are just a few of my designs. I did another wedding in December of 07' but I cannot find those photos. I am posting these for a member of the family that is getting married. This is what I do/did... If you like it I would love to help you out. Congrats on the engagement!!!

Prednisone...

I am going to try to be more diligent in posting on this blog. Life has just been crazy lately. For those of you who do not know, I have been dealing with a very nasty ulcerative colitis flare up that started in July 07' and has not stopped since. I had 3 trips to the ER between July and August including one bout with kidney stones. My old doctor had retired so I was left trying to find a new one and everyone was booked out until about March so I had to receive treatment here in Provo. After wasting 7 months with a doctor who had no idea what he was doing I finally decided to move on. I have started seeing a doctor at a women’s clinic up at Saint Marks Hospital. We have been fighting with my insurance for about 8 weeks trying to get preapproval for Remicaide infusions. I would go in for a 3 hour IV infusion once every two months. This would be much better than taking 12-20 pills everyday. Also, this drug usually puts UC sufferers in remission and you can be pregnant and breast-feed while using the treatment. It is just really expensive. I have been on some form of prednisone for about 3 months now. I am posting a picture of my prednisone riddled self. It is embarrassing. I have the typical huge moon face associated with steroids. I also have an additional 20 lbs. (I have cried multiple times over that) So I look at this picture and I do not see me..... I hope I can get back to my old self. I have weaned down to 10 mg. of prednisone and hope to soon be off. Then I should start looking a little more normal in about a month. At least my face and the swelling..... I have many other things to write about but I will save some of that for later posts. Just an update on my health.

Chris is also doing well. He is working full time as a surgical technician at IHC. He and I are both going to school part time. We are diligently searching for a new place to live. Some place that will accommodate out kitties and our overabundance of loot! Hope to hear from you all!!!!

Crystal

Makeup!

So, lately I have really gotten back into my makeup kick. I have been having a lot of fun with it. Here are some pictures of my eye art for today. I love glitter. I read about a contest at Sephora.com called pimpin' your lashes. You put on fake lashes and decorate them. You can win a trip to Paris for you and a friend and $1000 in free cosmetics. I am going to enter. That way I have an excuse for wearing really crazy eye shadow everyday!

Glitter and Glam

Who can go wrong with Curls and Sparkles? NO ONE!!!