Happy Birthday Charlotte!

Two years ago today at 4:47am, I woke up in labor. Shortly after, my water broke, green was not a great sign for our plans. We hopped in the car to head to the hospital, and you tried to come in the passenger seat of our Honda. After the longest 10 minute walk of my life, you were born perfectly and posterior in a triage bed at 6:23am. You were 7 lbs 8 oz and 21 inches long. Perfect in every way!

Being my fifth birth, you'd think it would be routine, second nature, same old scene. Of course it wasn't. There is nothing more miraculous than that moment when you bring another part of you into the world. Just when you think you can't possibly love anyone else with the same passion you already give, there they are, and somehow you love them just the same.

I can't wait to watch you grow into the beautiful woman I know you will be. Happy 2nd Birthday to my beautiful, sweet, silly, loving Charlotte Johannah!

Week Seven

Gearing up for week seven of this hell we call nursing school. Spring break is next week Woot!

Unfortunately, they are rewarding us with our second exam on Friday. I guess all the more reason to be thankful for Spring Break to start. I will be spending so much time in the library this week I may need to have my mail forwarded. I'll keep you posted.

I have no plans for break and the kids' break is different. Good and bad... I will get semi peace and quiet while I am home, but I will have to get up every morning and take them to school... so win-lose? I am taking Sophia to the Chris Tomlin concert on Friday. She still doesn't know, I am very excited to see her face when we get there. I imagine I will be spending the rest of my "break" getting my house in tip top shape to sell. Yep. More on that later.

I am doing well in my classes. I am enjoying school a lot more than I make it sound. Is it a lot? Sure. Is it mostly BS we will never even use? Probably. Do I sometimes want to punch myself in the face while reading chapter after chapter of the most dull stuff you can imagine? Definitely.

I am having a hard time finding myself though. I feel like I am living in two separate worlds. College life and home life. Balancing the two is a challenge. Actually having people I like and want to spend time with... well that's an insane thought to me. Yes, I said people I like. I know it's hard to believe. Sometimes I feel like I missed the window of college life though, and have too many responsibilities. The other part of me is happy. Like give-up-the-Prozac-if-I-wasn't-a-nursing-student happy. So, I guess I will have to let it ride and see where the journey takes me. In the end, I am here for my family and future women and babies I will care for. Eye on the prize.

February Update

No updates since school started? I wonder why?

Oh yeah, I don't have time to breathe, let alone blog!

Holy crap, nursing school, how you sucketh.

Seriously.

Like, the first week this lady came in to talk to us and was all "Look around, these are the only people who know what you're going through, make friends with each other." Yep, she was right. I can't possibly make anyone out there understand the hell I am in right now.

All that being said, I love it. In a way. Ok. in a lot of ways.

I know. I am crazy. If you have read any other entries of this blog you already know that so carry on.

I have met some awesome people and thankful that I get to share the next 2 years with them. That lady was right, it is great to have a support system who knows right where you are, and you can support them right back.

Thus far nothing has been too difficult. Haven't failed anything (knock on wood), so that is a plus. Definitely feeling like my 3.8 GPA is in jeopardy, but as long I keep my scholarship and graduate, I am trying not to worry about it. There is a TON of busy work that we have to do. The syllabuses (syllabi?) are bigger than some text books I have had, but I am learning to navigate them. There is a lot of group work, and as much as I super duper hate group work, I somehow lucked out majorly! I have the best group for both classes. Maybe everyone feels that way about their groups, but anyone who knows how much I don't like people knows that this is huge for me.

We had to volunteer at a food bank for our nutrition class. My group went to Gleaners Food Bank here in Indy. Wow. What a place! I am making plans to go back after the semester and volunteer with Sophia. It is amazing the work they do and how efficient and organized it is. If you are local and looking for a place to volunteer, I highly suggest contacting Gleaners.

The kids are all doing great. Sophia didn't end up needing surgery quite yet. ENT is watching her hearing and letting the hole ride with the option of fixing it sometime or never. As long as we can remember the ear plugs this summer I am cool with not shelling out the $$ for surgery. We've been in norovirus hell off and on since Christmas break. Mostly my little runt, Luci. She has a double ear infection right now, hoping that is the last we see of sickness this winter. Jacob's job is a little sketchy right now, but he is actively looking for something else. He's been with this company pretty much ever since we've been married, the unknown in scary, but exciting too. He has an interview next week and we are praying it all works out in the end. So far all of my "resolutions" are holding up. Sophia and I are the only ones who are still exclusively GF, but I think that's okay for now. There are still times that I cheat, but it is less and less and I am feeling a lot better. Sophia is still having a lot of headaches, but I have a feeling she cheats more than me when I am not looking. :) My new goal is to be 30 pounds lighter by the end of the year, so we shall see how that goes.

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. This year I gave up Facebook. The amount of time I spent on Facebook was a little embarrassing. So I have given it up for 40 days. I will admit it has already been hard and that is quite pathetic. Expect to see more from me here as I seek an online outlet until Easter.
(Also, I know this will automatically post to my FB account, so anyone who thinks I am cheating, I am not!)

I think that is all for now, Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Rik Smits GF Crackers

I mentioned in my last post about my new bible. Well, second to my actual Bible, but a really close second right now. Gluten Free on a Shoestring is saving my life right now. She has taken so much time to really get her recipes right and for that, I am much obliged. I am so excited about almost every single thing on her site and in her book, that I wish I could make them all at once and also have them turn out just as beautiful.

We know I don't have time for that. Nor the kitchen skills. For now I will be taking it slowly, starting with the things we will miss the most, that are the hardest to replace. So far, every store bought GF cracker I have tried, with the exception of Glutino, has tasted like cardboard. Glutino was a decent replacement, but much too expensive to be a staple. Also, a really odd size for a saltine-like cracker. "Here is your palm sized peanut butter cracker dear." Um, no.

Today I tried Nicole's Ritz Schmitz crackers. I thought they would be perfect to replace our peanut butter cracker snacks. I was not wrong. I have not tried one with peanut butter yet, but oh. my. cracker. They are good. Just plain. Yum. Jacob saw the recipe on the counter and thought it said Rik Smits Crackers, thus it's new forever name here at the Bowling house. Cuz' I will definitely be making these again. and again.

They taste VERY similar to Ritz Crackers. Color me impressed. For the record, I can't cook worth beans, so it is definitely her recipe. That I followed. To a tee.

I know my crackers are not as pretty, and for that we will blame my camera phone. Not the uneven holes or anything else that could be my fault.

**Disclaimer: I was not compensated in any way for raving about Gluten Free on a Shoestring. I do not know Nicole Hann, nor have I ever corresponded with her. I just have a very strong opinion that her wisdom is freaking awesome!

New Years Resolutions 2013

I am not really a New Year's resolution kind of gal. I barely have time to shower every day, let alone sit around and think about things I am going to change and then give up on January 7th.

This year is a little different for our family. Technically, our life change just happens to fall at the beginning of the year, but we'll go with the whole resolution thing because then we'll be the winners when we're still going in December.

I have been in denial of my Celiac disease since last June. After fighting for a diagnosis, I then ignored it. Why? Because that's the kind of nut ball I am.

I did really well for about a week - sound familiar, resolution people?

Then I missed Fast Food and Pizza and told myself it was ok. If I choose to feel like crap, then it's different. It's my decision.

I have progressively gotten worse (Duh) and am now to the point that my whole body is completely out of whack. I will spare you the details of my psychotic thyroid or old lady ovaries, but suffice it to say I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Celiac runs in families. Being sure that Sophia already has symptoms, and the other children could at any time, our whole family is going gluten-free. Jacob is being a good sport about it, declaring that he will be eating as much gluten as possible while away from the house.

A friend loaned me 'Gluten Free on a Shoestring' and for the first time since my diagnosis, I felt like I could actually do this and not go broke. That I could feed a family of seven and not have to work 4 jobs. Seriously, I have never been so excited to make food from scratch. If you are GF and have not heard of this book, please, go to her blog now.

Armed with my newfound ambition and desire to not vomit my meals, I shopped completely GF for the first time yesterday. I was so happy with all of the things I was able to buy, and all of the like-normal things I am going to be able to cook for my family.

I am also really hoping to get back on a healthier path of eating with my new diet. I haven't gained much weight back, but I haven't lost any since before the holidays. And by holidays, I mean Halloween. Stupid mini candy bars.

Lastly, we are hoping to get on a solid path towards becoming debt free within the next couple of years. Of course, I would love it to be sooner, but we are trying to be realistic. We have looked into the Dave Ramsey program and are still considering the best tools to use. It is going to be hard. Having a large family in this economy wasn't easy to start with. I am confident that if we pull up our big girl and big boy pants high enough, we can put a good dent in our debt and learn to be more responsible with our money.

So there you have it. For someone who doesn't "do" resolutions, I just made three.

Fat Free, Debt Free and Gluten Free. See you in December, losers!

Merry Christmas!

Jacob, Kendra, Sophia, Simeon, Alice, Luci, and Charlie

Lots of Bowlings!

 And proof that we're not nearly as serious as above portrays...

Merry Christmas from the Bowlings!

Slacker...

So, I am a slacker... sue me. I promise you won't get much.

Can you believe the holidays are upon us? Holy crap.

I am not usually big on holidays. A grinch, some may call me. I am okay with that. I have tried to be better, so that my children will have good memories, but I just really get in a funk this time of year. Hopefully, this year I can come out of that funk and spread holly, jolly cheer and all that other nonsense.

I have so many weeks to update that I am not sure I should bother. School is going fine for all. I got accepted into clinicals for January, so I might actually be a nurse some day. At my routine physical, I found out I have an enlarged thyroid, a thyroid cyst, and abnormal hormone levels. (Reason for being a grinch, maybe?) and I have to see endocrine next week to see if I need surgery or not. Based on the rate my neck is growing, I would say I will. Sophia has to go back to the ENT in December to get her ear drum repaired, as her hearing is beginning to become impacted. She also has to go to the eye doctor for some possible glasses. Simeon and Jacob (and the girls) are doing doing great health-wise *knock on wood*

We are going to see 'Seussical' at Footlite sometime in the next couple of weeks and we will also be going to see my niece in 'A Christmas Carol' at the IRT soon. I am pretty excited.

We are hosting Thanksgiving, since we are unable to go to the beach this year. The kids are disappointed, but I could go either way. Vacation for 7 is really just a lot of work for mom, so I am okay with staying home and cooking a turkey instead.

I joined the YMCA and Weight Watchers, and have lost 15 pounds so far. With the recent addition of thyroid issues, my celiac is confirmed and I know I will have to get on this gluten-free diet and stick with it. I will probably be at goal a lot sooner since I won't be able to eat anything good.

Hoping to revive the blog... I know you're excited. Stay tuned for more...