Yeast Free: Day 1

I looked at the numbers on the scale one more time because that was the last time I would see numbers that big... ever again. You see, Candida yeast is in all of us. It is a fungus, a form of yeast, that live in your mouth and in your intestines. Candida is kept under control by the amount of good bacteria that live in our gut. So what happens when we don't have enough friendly bacteria? Yup. You guessed it. Candida yeast grows, like the fungus like it is, out of control, destroying everything in its path and making you (or me, in this case) feel miserable. Too much Candida can damage your body tissue, organs and destroy your immune system, not to mention release actual poison into your bloodstream.

So what's a girl to do? Attack. Yeast needs sugar to live. So cut off all yeast and sugar and the Candida dies. It's a slow & painful process to your body, but something that must be done. Many have described it like going through withdrawals from an addiction to drugs or alcohol. My doctor warned me it will get a lot worse before it gets before. But this is normal. This is the yeast cells dying inside. I am not looking forward to the "die-off" period but I am willing to go through it for the final results. I long for a day when I wake up with no headache, backache, bloating, fatigue, stomach ache, itchy skin, etc. etc. etc.

Day 1. You gotta start somewhere, right? Today I woke up feeling sore physically. The feeling of aching muscles is something I have become accustomed to. Mentally, I am ready. Let's do this. I have never been a soldier at war or even a very competitive person for that matter, but I am going into battle. Candida yeast is going DOWN! I think that's the only way to look at this. Every bite of sugar or yeast I put in my body, I am basically just giving yeast the weapons to destroy me...because that is exactly what it's doing.

My plan of attack:: Be prepared. I already have a menu prepared for the week. Here's what today looks like. (Don't worry. I won't blog about what I'm eating everyday.)

Breakfast today: Egg white omelet with spinach

Lunch: Grilled chicken breast and sliced raw cucumber

snack: green apples slices with almond butter

Dinner: Tuna steaks, brown rice and broccoli

I'm excited about the journey ahead and check back in about my progress toward the end of the week! Thanks for all of your support!

PS. Check out this site for more information about Candida yeast. I've been doing a lot of reading and found this site to be very helpful.

Am I ready?

As I sat down to write a new post that I thought was going to be on eating a yeast free diet, my kitty Charlie hopped into my lap as he always does at this time of night. Sometimes it's annoying to try to type with 7 pounds of fur laying across my arms but tonight I just listened to him purr. Sometimes I look at my animals and wonder if the only mom I'll ever be is to them. Will I have kids of my own? I wonder what they will be like. Will they look like me? Will they play sports like Buie? Will they have their mother's math skills? (Let's hope not)

There are so many questions when thinking about kids, like the big one: Are we even ready for kids? (I mean, who is really ever ready? Am I right?) Are we mentally prepared for the change? Quite possibly no. Are we financially ready? Um... how much do babies cost again? And the million dollar question: Am I PHYSICALLY ready for children? The answer my doctor so clearly gave me last week was NO. I am not physically ready for children. So why do we want what we can't have? Ever since then, I can't stop thinking about babies. In the last week I have found myself in these random places like BabiesRus and the toy section at Walmart.... of course it could very likely be that I am an aunt now and was just Christmas shopping for my niece and nephew. Speaking of nieces and nephews, I blame them, you know.... for this whole baby thing. It's all their fault. If they weren't so darn cute, I wouldn't want a baby. Sigh.

So.... originally I was going to write about starting a yeast free diet. Tomorrow I start the diet. Be looking for more about cutting yeast out of your diet.

Yeast Free. PLUS the already Gluten Free & Dairy Free. Shouldn't be too hard, right?

Don't I sound excited? I plan to blog about my progress along the way. Wish me luck!

One More Thing...

I have just one more thing to be thankful for...

I would be a bad fan if I didn't mention the win yesterday. GEAUX TIGERS!

photo by Jen Amato (edited on Instagram)

Thanksgiving Recap

What a day great of family, food and football. This Thanksgiving was spent at my in-laws in Rison, AR. After being away from Buie for almost a week, it was so great to get a big hug from him and many wet slobbery kisses from the dogs. I think they missed me just a little bit.

Wednesday evening we spent the evening playing with the dogs, taking pics and just enjoying each other's company. Jill quickly got reacquainted with her cousins Scooter and Conner.

Thursday we ate so much wonderful food. I love this picture of Buie and his mom, Mrs. Carole, who fixed a wonderful spread for us this Thanksgiving complete with gluten free ham, dressing, green beans, sweet potatoes, corn...and the list goes on.

And yes, I am thankful for this wonderful gluten free chocolate cake and the wonderful hands that prepared it.
The boys had a great time at their grandparents house this Thanksgiving!

And I was so happy I remembered to take a few family pictures.
Brent and his brother, Tee. Aren't they handsome? ;)
Our little family that I am so thankful for. The cats are fending for themselves at home. ha. I hope y'all are having a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! Oh, and GEAUX TIGERS! :)

As I sit here Thanksgiving evening with my husband on one side and my dog and my apple computer in my lap, I realize I am truly blessed. I have a roof over my head, a belly full of food and a heart so full of memories with a family that loves me.

Feel the love.

This Thanksgiving we got the kids together and just watched them interact. Seriously, what did we do before our niece and nephew came along? They are the entertainment at holidays now. These photos were taken yesterday at my mom's house. Makaylan came to see Landon at Pop and Honey's house and he loved it.

Kisses were shared.

Hugs were shared.
Landon was all about sharing kisses...even those sloppy open mouthed kisses. And this one is priceless. Makaylan pinching Landon's sweet cheeks. hehe. Too cute!
I'm so thankful for these two and the joy they bring to our family. I can't wait to see them grow up together. I know how close I was (and still am) to my first cousins and it makes me so happy to know how close these cousins will be in the coming years.

30 day photo challenge:: Day 6

Day 6: something orange

Being in Minden this weekend I have had lots of quality time with my nephew Landon. I snapped this picture today when he was playing with a few orange toys that just so happened to have been some of my old toys when I was younger.

I don't think Fisher Price will ever go out of style...

and neither will this smile.

Thanksgiving Week

So many of my facebook friends have been listing things that they are thankful for each day in November. Well, it's no surprise that I'm slow to jump on any band wagon but lately I have been bursting with gratitude. I thought I would take this week of Thanksgiving to mention of few of the things I am most grateful for in this life.

I am thankful for my support system. Without my people I would be lost.

Who are my people? They are the people who are with me through anything.
They are the people who have always been there for me and I know always will be.
They are the people who made me who I am today.
I am thankful for you. You know who you are. ;)

Naked

After opening up a bit and sharing our tough news with you all, I have been overwhelmed with the texts, emails, sweet phones calls, hugs and prayers from you all. First of all, thank you for lifting up my sister in law, Nicole. She is doing great and is taking the advice of her doctor by taking it easy. She, Craig and Landon are down in Minden with me this weekend so she has plenty of hands to help her out.

I have been hesitant to share much more on this blog than news of our dogs, cats, our recent travels, or what event we attended recently, etc.. Rarely do I open my heart and share my fears, worries or health concerns. I have never really thought of myself as a private person in the past but in today's social media crazed world, a private thought or word is almost hard to come by. I think many people put way too much on Facebook and twitter exposing themselves too deeply. I have never wanted to be one of those people. My last post I put my toe in the water a little and opened up a bit. I felt vulnerable. Today at church many people came up today and told me they were praying for me because they read my blog post. I felt naked. I felt exposed. I wanted to run and hide and go put some clothes on! (Don't worry. I actually did have clothes on in church.)

So, did I learn anything from opening up? I guess I learned that a whole lot more people read my blog than I thought. ha. But the main thing I've learned is that it's okay to be vulnerable. It's okay to share yourself with others. You might just find out something about yourself in the process. You might also learn that there are a lot of people going through the exact same thing as you are. Let's help each other out and go through this life together because goodness knows we can't do it alone.

And because I miss my baby Conner so much... here's something to make you smile. Thank you for your love and support, friends.

tough week

This has definitely been a tough week for our family. My sister in law and brother found out some hard to swallow news about their pregnancy. She is 17 weeks along and just found out she has complete placenta previa. This basically means the placenta is in the wrong place and is blocking the birthing canal. There are many complications with placenta previa that COULD make this a scary thing including enough heaving bleeding to need blood transfusions. The baby could be born prematurely and Nicole will most likely have a C-section.

As of now, Nicole is not on complete bed rest but as been ordered to not pick up Landon at all and to take it easy. I am so thankful she is married to a patient and wonderful man. My brother, Craig, takes such good care of her. We are all praying for a safe and healthy pregnancy. I know that the Lord has his hand on this baby and He has a plan for that tiny little life. I know that you will also join me in prayer for Craig, Nicole, Landon and baby Walker as they figured out life with a few more kinks in it.

more not so great news....

Yesterday I traveled down to Ruston, LA for my second doctor's appointment with this new dr. I am trying out. (It's the same dr my mother goes to.) I've seen him once before when I came to do all of my 25 vials of blood work.

Thursday was results day. Yuck.

In a way I was dreading results day but I just wanting to get it over with. I have had several results days in the past 5 or 6 years of my life, some good and some not so good, but this one seemed different. This one seemed more hopeful.

Results: (the four MAIN issues)

severe vitamin D Deficiency

low adrenal function

low thyroid

too much yeast in my system

Not exactly the results I was hoping for by any stretch of the imagination but it's totally doable. There are thousands of people struggling with way worse. So what does this mean for me right now? Well, babies are NOT in our immediate future which is very saddening to us. I mean when your doctor tells you that having a baby would be the WORST thing you could do to your body right now, then I figure I should probably take his advice. So please don't expect babies from me and if you ask about babies - why we don't have any or when we are having them, expect tears to start flowing soon thereafter. You have been warned.

The other thing you can expect from me: crabbiness. lots of crabbiness. I mean, not only can I not have gluten but I for real can't eat yeast. I threw around this idea a few months ago and did some research on a yeast free diet and it almost seemed laughable. I guess I am the one laughing now. No dairy. No yeast. No sugar. No coffee. NO FUN! = CRABBINESS. Lots and lots of crabbiness.

More expectations: Needles. I am already used to needles. So used to them I could probably find my veins faster than any of the new nurses could. You can always tell who the NEW nurses are by how shaky their hands are. Drives me insane. I have to get more IV injections with vitamin D, vitamin C, magnesium and lots of other good stuff flowing straight into my veins. I call it liquid gold. It's the good stuff. I would take an IV any day over pills.

So does my diagnosis suck? Yes. But is it doable. Of course.

Does Nicole wish she had a normal pregnancy? Of course. She probably wishes she could pick up her kid too for the next 5 or 6 months. We Walker/Buie women are tough. But we still might need some prayers. ;)

30 day photo challenge:: Day 5

Day 5:: Water

I took this picture a few days ago with the photo challenge in mind. Unfortunately it's taken me several days (or a WEEK) to post it. Don't hate me. I've been doing my ACTUAL photography job, which surprisingly this photo was taken for...so technically this might be cheating but oh well. :)

This adorable little family is actually my handsome brother, my beautiful sister in law and the cutest little nephew ever. Oh, and you can't see him, but my other nephew is hidden in his momma's belly in this pic. That's right folks I'm gonna be another aunt to another wonderful nephew!

So what do this picture have to do with water? Not a whole lot, other than the fact that there is an adorable family standing in front of a waterfall posing for their Christmas card pics. :)

Hope y'all are having a great Wednesday!

30 day photo challenge:: Day 4

Day 4: High Angle

So you may have noticed that I'm a tad behind on my photo challenge. Oopsie. With the gorgeous color the leaves are right now, this high angle challenge was an easy one for me. Every time I look up these days and see these colors I feel guilty for not just sitting and staring at them a little longer. There won't be too many more days left with these colors. The trees are already looking sparse, and are preparing for winter.

New Do.

Ahhh. Like a breath of fall fresh air. That's how my new hair cut feels. There's not a whole lot to say about this new do that can't be summed up with a few pics snapped with my trusty iPhone. What do ya think?

Before: It was getting a little too long. When I didn't spend quite a long time fixing it everyday, it just ending up looking... well, nappy. Nappy has been the word of choice for the last week. Alicia, my stylist & best friend, cut off between 4 and 5 inches! Yeah! It felt so great to get that weight off my shoulders. Literally off my shoulders.

After: My hair is anything but nappy. It feels SO much lighter because she thinned it a LOT. And you may have noticed the color is different. We went for a auburn autumn inspired color and I love it!

Happy Hair Day to you all! As silly as hair may seem (after all, they are just dead cells), it can make all the difference in the way you feel about yourself. So if you haven't treated yourself to a hair cut (or color) lately then go for it. You deserve it! :)

Let's talk about hair...

I know there are a million other things in life more important than hair but when you aren't happy with yours then hair is the only thing on your mind. I look at myself in the mornings and sigh. I've been waiting to get my hair done for a week or two now. You'd think I wouldn't have a problem getting my hair done since my hair stylist is my one of best friends from college. :) What can I say, she's good at what she does. She's worth the wait. But I will say that I have waiting too long. It's gone far to many inches. My eyebrows look like Sasquatch.

I am currently rocking the ever popular ombre look that I had my heart set on after seeing this pic on Pinterest. But lately I've been itching to cut my hair a few inches. I'm not sure why, other than I'm lazy, and I wear my hair in a ponytail 99% of the time. I have found if I have less of it, I am more likely to fix it.

So, my appointment is first thing in the morning and this is what I'm thinking...

Last fall, I went a little bit more red and loved it so I'm thinking I will go just a tad bit more red. We shall see! Hopefully I will have a before and after pics to show y'all later on this week. What about y'all? Do you go darker in the fall?

30 day photo challenge:: Day 3

Day 3: Clouds

I haven't particularly liked the clouds the sky has been throwing our way the past few days so instead of taking a new photo for day 3 of my photo challenge, I found 3 of my favorite cloud photos on instagram.

The first one was taken near my home in Benton coming home from Little Rock one day last month. The sky was just gorgeous. The second one is a bit more dated. You might recognize the historical landmark in the picture. It was taken at the St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square in New Orleans, Louisiana. Buie and I went there back in July for my birthday and our 3rd anniversary celebration. The third cloud pic I snapped about 2 weeks ago from the passenger seat while headed to a photo shoot in Jasper, Arkansas.

What's the weather been like in your neck of the woods?

30 day photo challenge:: Day 2 continued...

So...yesterday I was a slacker and well...you saw the post. Just to prove that I actually do shower (occasionally) and put on real clothes, here is my "what I wore" post. I'm continuing my Day 2 post for another day because...well, I can. :)

If you'd like to join me and my friend, Tricia, in a little photo challenge, hop on the band wagon and join the fun!

I pretty much live in dresses/tunics with leggings and boots in the Fall. This is just a simple black knit dress from Ann Taylor Loft with leggings, brown boots (yes I mix black and brown - I'm a rebel like that!) and the statement necklace is again from my favorite store - A.T. Loft. I am trying to remember where I snagged these boots last year and I have no clue...but they were a great purchase. I wore them all fall & winter long last year! Along with my cowboy boots...which are currently missing. :( Seriously. I have no clue where they are. This might just be cause for an emergency shopping trip. Anyone game?

Thursday Ramblings...

My mom has been in Thailand for like EVER! You know that saying you never know what you are missing until it's gone...well, I've wanted to pick up the phone like 20 times in the past week to talk to her and I can't. But thank goodness for the app "Hey Tell" because we discovered that it works even though we are oceans a part. My mom and I might have a difference of opinions and we might drive each other nuttso (love you, mom!) but when it is advice that I need, my mom is usually first on my list to call (unless of course it's has anything to do with money, then the phone gets handed to dad). Come home soon, momma! There are some things that momma understands that husbands just don't get...am I right, ladies?

Being a work from home photographer, on days that I don't have a shoot scheduled it can get kind of lonely just sitting in my home office editing ALL. DAY. LONG. Before this year, if you would have asked me I might would have told you that I was an introvert I know, right. Me? an introvert? It sounds crazy. But before I went full time into photography this past February, I was around people all day long. It was nice just to come home and not talk anymore. To fill the bath tub up with hot suds and just soak...sometimes for an hour. Heck, sometimes I wouldn't even talk to Buie that much when I first arrived home. I just needed some ME time.

Now all I have is ME time and too much of it. When Buie gets home, I literally throw myself into his arms and hug him, thankful that there is another human being present in this house. I found myself making small talk with the mail lady the other day, until I realized she probably had a route to get to and a schedule to keep. I definitely need people in my life. I am a social being... maybe not as much as my dear mother is...but to some extent we ALL need some sort of social interaction. I have just realized in the past couple of weeks that I need more than I have been getting.

source: etsy found on Pinterest

So what's the solution?:: Step away from the computer. Stop talking to the animals and go see people. I have made it a goal to have lunch, coffee or dinner with someone different each week. So watch out! If I haven't seen you in a while, you may be getting an email. It's time for me to catch up with my old friends... I mean, after all, being social is pretty much what I majored in in college. ;)

30 day photo challenge:: Day 2

Day 2: What I wore. Sock Monkey Slippers! Well, I didn't actually where these slippers all day. This is actually what I was wearing though when I remembered to take my day 2 pic. Yeah, it's only day 2 and I'm already forgetting. How am I doing huh? But at least I was wearing some cute slippers so show off, right? ;)

30 day photo challenge:: Day 1

Day 1:: a self portrait.

Right out of the gate I was not looking forward to this one. I haven't been feeling very pretty lately. My hair needs to be cut & colored, eye brows needs to be waxed and lately I have pretty much been living in my yoga pants. You all have day (or weeks) like this, too, right? Ok. just checking.

When I saw my neighbor's gorgeous red tree today I knew instantly that it must be in the background because this tree makes me happy. The past two and a half years we have lived in this house, each year Fall comes around this tree turns the most amazing color of red I have ever seen. I swear I could just stare at it forever.

30 day photo challenge

I've been in a rut here lately. With all of the editing I've been doing for my photography business, I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed. I haven't taken any pictures for fun...for me. In order to keep my creative juices flowing I'm taking Tricia Nae's 30 day photo challenge in hopes to shake these blues away. You should do it too!