"It's the return of the oh wait..."

Hello all!
**alternate intro could also read: Hi Mom and the three other people who read this!

It's been over a year since I last sat down and wrote on this blog, so many wonderful things have come and gone in that time. I am older, maybe a tiny bit wiser and currently recovering from jet lag so why not start working on the blog again?

Truly the reason I opened this baby back up today is in response to how unsatisfied I am with our current social networks. You know the drill, it's the wee hours of the morning and you can't sleep so you grab your phone...you scroll through looking for interesting material .....but you never find any! Has Facebook always been this BORING?  I have been noticing lately that I have been having a major aversive response to Facebook, It makes me grouchy and irritated with humanity  ....why am I purposefully putting this into my life? And, okay..I am a current gal, I have Instagram and twitter....so I opened those up to look for some great distraction, something inspiring, something about people I care about, or books, or world change...??? Nothing. Both Instagram and twitter are better but still seem to really lack ...something. Come on genius code people, get with it...We want something new! Give us unbiased news! Give us something inspirational! Give it to us in a beautiful format! Am I alone in this? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Rufio!

It's MAY....May!
I had my birthday, It's May and I'm 27 years old.

Whoa.

This birthday was a lot different than any other, this year I was a married gal and had a super rad dude make it extra special....He attempted to make me a gluten free pancake breakfast, but was distracted suddenly by a bill and left everything to go and sort it out....which of course left me to make my own breakfast. He did ended up helping with so it was not a total loss and as the old saying goes, it's the thought that counts....

Then I was off for a massage, that super rad husband scheduled as a surprise, had an epic picnic at the botanic gardens and then an even more epic allergy attack, a chance encounter with a few angry/sugar crazed bees and topped the night off with a baseball game (during which my mom became violently ill at and we all had to leave in the 7th inning) but was still a really great time.

Those who know me super well know that I have cried on my birthday every year since my 11th birthday...when I just KNEW it was all down hill from there, and not being able to count my age on my hands totally sealed that deal. I didn't cry this year, maybe because it was an awesome day or because ....to be honest, I have a pretty super life or maybe because I am chosing to cherish these last few years before the BIG 3-0. . .

I have been studying the stages of life in one of my counseling classes and aside from being incredibly depressing and giving me copious amounts of anxiety about all of my loved ones and my own imminent death, I learned that by the time most human beings embrace their life and live in the "now"....they have missed a GIANT portion of their life. I don't want that, this is it...not the past, not the future but now....I can dig it.

P.s. School is almost out and all the teachers have become even more crazy than the kids. Spring fever, I feel ya!

Say goodbye to WHAT?

Most of my family and friends know that I have been struggling with some health issues since, like .....October.
I have had pain, a low grade fever and upon a CT scan they found two cysts in my spleen....big ones. Being that your spleen is actually really important (who knew) the surgeon did not want to remove it being that I am "so young" and encouraged me to seek another route. After months of research and additional Dr's visits the ideal of seeing a Gastroenterologist came up, EUREKA!

Just from the ONE CONVERSATION and some information from the Dr's office I already have a lead, they recommend EVERYONE with spleen abnormalities entertain the idea of a gluten allergy. Gluten, delicious wonderful gluten, is apparently crazy hard on your spleen, and often leads to spleen abnormalities along with a slew of other symptoms, to my dismay, I happen to have......

Sooooooooo it looks like I will do a 30 day trial, a "so long to gluten" test and see if I have improved symptoms. Naturally, I have spent the majority of the morning goggling what I can and cannot eat. All of my most faves are OUT but MOST wine, chocolate and Haribo products are in the clear, so I think I will not die immediately.

Manic Monday

Today started off fabulously, I woke up refreshed, enjoyed my newly designated space to get ready, made a killer latte and left for work with plenty of time to spare. The commute was flawless, no traffic, perfect weather...freaking great Monday. When I got to work the kids were all cheerful, I was cheerful and we were cheerfully chit chatting about how lovely our weekends were. My phone rang around 8:10, the husband informed me that our alarm service had called and that our front door had opened....when it most certainly should not have been open. There goes that perfect Monday, we decided that one of us needed to go home and see what was going on....and to make sure that our fur-babies were all safe and sound. It was my turn to be elected, so I abandoned my teammates and ran out the door to defend my home and my animals...(I am envisioning a Joan of Arc, version of myself here.) 

Naturally, no one else realized that I was in a state of emergency, and decided to lolly-gag and meander lazily down the freaking highway....clearly, PANIC MODE HAD SET IN. As if my morning couldn't get any more exciting the car directly next to me at the stop light started to smoke....the driver hopped out and called the police...meanwhile I am stuck right next to a smoking car and unable to get away from it, compliments of a red light, busy intersection and a hefty median....As I am watching the car it burst into flames, which totally engulf the entire vehicle! "Whaaaaat is happening this morning??!!" was pretty much as far as my thought process would go.  Thankfully, the police came and blocked off the intersection so that all of us trapped next to this giant burning car could get away, finally!

Once back on the road, I decided that the speed limit could be damned and that I was going to get home and see what else was going wrong. As I pulled up I saw two very confused house keepers and heard the alarm blaring....apparently they had switched our day and had forgotten to tell us about it...which seems like a major oversight to me. All in all the morning was a series of near disasters, but I will take a near miss over the real schabang any day of the week...even on a Monday.

Foreign exchange

A few weekends ago the hubs and I had the unique opportunity to open our home to one of the most awesome people we have met, who just happens to be 15 and from Germany. My brother signed up to host a German foreign exchange student, which is of course, awesome. However due to a schedule conflict with my brother because he a highschool baller.....Jerrett and I ended up getting to host Tassilo for the weekend. What an amazing adventure, not only did we have such a cool oppurtunity to hang out with someone from an entirely different country, we got to have them in our house and expose them to how we do everyday americana.

Being a tourist in your own town, I have heard people say this before but never really gathered the full meaning, this paticular weekend however it really clicked. No matter where you live, there is charm and kitsch to be found, so go out and explore what we have! We had such a blast!

Tomorrow Tassilo will go back to Germany, and we are all sad to see him go...but also so excited to have a new and very unique friend, who just happens to live a very far way, away.

Clearly, hats are a common theme!

"Self Care"

SOOOOOOOO, 

I have been seeing a counselor lately to help me learn some coping skills for dealing with stress and anxiety. After a few Scarlet O'Hara acts, I decided it was time to look for some professional advice. A big point of interest was, "where is all your stress coming from" ....well...life..obviously! However, upon introspection I realized that my life wasn't really all that stressful, I have a very happy marriage, a great home, our fiances are coming together....but my JOB is stressful. Oh, well that makes sense I thought to myself, I do have an odd job, dealing with lots of intense behavior on the daily....I guess my job IS pretty SUPER stressful.

 My counselor, God bless her, told me that those of us with stressful jobs have to work extra hard on, what she called "self care". Apparently, self care is super rad...for example getting massages qualifies as self care as well as bubble baths, working out, yoga, reading etc... The things in life most of us don't have time for is apparently just what the doctor ordered.  So I have been putting to practice what she recommended!

I have read two books in the last week The Fault in our Stars, and Looking for Alaska both by John Green and both amazing. I am happily on a third book right now entitled Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn ..oh yeah, I also joined a book club, which is where the latest book came from. I am 100 pages into it this book and thoroughly enjoying it. 

However there is more to self care than reading, I had been avoiding the gym since my latest stink with bronchitis...but this past Monday I decided it was time to bit the bullet and head back...and it was amazing! It's ridiculous that something that feels so uncomfortable can make you feel so much better....got to love endorphins. Apparently, taking care of yourself actually makes you feel better. Who knew? I have to say I am for sure on a self care kick right now, next time I post it will probably be from a spa...in India...or someplace really exotic and relaxing. 

Feral creatures

Life has gotten busy these last few weeks and updating my blog isn't the only thing that I have neglected. Our house looks like a refugee camp....laundry EVERYWHERE, seriously everywhere. Jerrett uses our guest bedroom as an office (which will be changing shortly because craigslist and I have plans for a great guest room/ small SMALL home office) anyway I don't go in that room if I don't have to.

The other day the closet door was open and I noticed something strange.....the entire closet was full from the floor and up as high as my neck with dirty clothes. Apparently my dear husband had become  "overwhelmed" with the weight of his chore ....and instead of talking to me about it, he began piling it away in the guest room closet.

It's not all his fault (but it is a lot his fault), I could be doing more but with school, work and life it is really really hard to keep everything running smoothly! Sorry mom that I ever asked "does my room need to look clean or really be clean?"

This weekend I am taking my house BACK from the black, we are going to the Laundromat with giant bags of dirty laundry and are going to knock it out in one go. My hope is that if we tackle the huge pile, then the maintenance will seem much more doable. Here's hoping.....