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November 20, 2011

The App that changed my life

Okay, maybe the iPhone that changed my life (but not really).  Sprint finally decided to get an iPhone and since having it a month now, it never leaves my side.  I had a Droid before and felt like I could do without it.  But the iPhone is my little comapndre.  My sister Adrea started using an app called My Fitness Pal, and I decided to use it too.  I've been using it 5 weeks and have lost 5 pounds which is right on target.  I started counting my calories, and when I exercise I add that to it, which gives me more calories to eat during a day, so I started working out too.  I now have a good schedule down, I start my day off with a healthy smoothie, work out, do my work, and all the while keeping track of how much I eat and staying within my limit.

Having a schedule has made all the difference.  I decided that when I turned 25 in September, it would be a good year.  24 was not a good year, and it was filled with debilitating head aches, the worst I've ever had.  Moving to Indiana has been great, the first month wasn't perfect, but ever since I've gotten my schedule down and have been keeping myself busy everyday, I feel 100% better.  And the headaches?  Well, those have been taking care of too, miraculously. Recently I've been hearing about a lot of people going off gluten, a few for headaches.  I went to see my doctor, and he suggested I go off of gluten and sugar.  I haven't been great about the sugar part, but I started going of gluten right away.  I went off completely, tried to avoid it just as if I had celiac's.  It worked, I haven't had a single headache until this weekend.  I went to Sushi on Friday night and found out later that sushi actually does have gluten, as does the tea I drank.  I also had a little bit of soy sauce which I know is a no-no, but I thought a little wouldn't hurt.  The next day we had Indian food for lunch, went to the children's museum and there I started to get a headache, I could tell it would be bad.  The headaches build up very slowly, and there's really nothing to do to stop them.  So when I got home, I just sat on the couch for hours until it was time to go to bed, with a wet rag over my forehead.  I slept about 13 hours that night, and I'm feeling almost all the way better today (but not enough to start my new Zelda game which I've been waiting weeks for).

I've learned my lesson, no gluten, none at all.  I'm going to have to be more proactive about asking waiters if there's any gluten in my meals.  It's been hard going off of gluten, anyone can understand that, but it's worth it as long as you substitue.  I'm going to try baking some things, like gluten free cupcakes and such.  Also, I've found Udi's bread the best brand of bread, can't even tell the difference.   And, I'll be spending thanksgiving with another family who has someone off of gluten, which makes me feel much better about it.  My mother in law sent me a box full of gluten free baking mixes and it was the nicest thing, it meant a lot to me because it has been a difficult thing to do, feeling like you can eat anything, but really you can still eat anything you like, you just have to put a little more work into it.

I'll be trying this recipe for cupcakes, and this recipe for donuts (that I miss so much).
I have apps that help me stay gluten free and apps that help with everything else.  So, in short, the iPhone is bomb.

November 9, 2011

Fall Party

Remember how I said we have been hitting up the fall festivities in major way this October?  Well, it continues, I like to call it Fall Core.  This time, with a two day trip to Brown County, the cutest little place you ever did see.  With seas of yellow and orange leaves and a little town that comes right out of a picture book, Brown County is the perfect place for a Fall Party.

We, meaning my sister and Seth and I, have been planning the Fall Party for a while, we maybe got a little ahead of ourselves, movies! Water park! Hikes! Board games!  Well, we only had time for the hikes, one trip to a Water Park, and one movie: Fantastic Mr. Fox, which was inspiration for the whole trip.  Seth and I even made Mrs. Bean's Famous Nutmeg Ginger Apple snaps, the PERFECT fall treat, and so good too.  I did start to get a pretty bad headache the first night which was a bummer, and we didn't get around to the board games, but all in all I'd say it was a success.  And I look forward to Fall Party 2012.

And now, your dose of pictures, followed by an amazing video by Seth, which I have watched about 10 times already.

Brown County State Park:

Brown County State Park Nature Center:

Downtown Brown County:

Video by Seth:

November 8, 2011

Fall Festival

I recently got a diana lens for my digital slr camera.  I like lomography but I don't like spending money on film when I'm not sure how they'll turn out.  I took these a while ago when Seth and I went to a fair in our town.  It's a fun little lens.