I started blogging a while ago, roughly three years ago. Life has been interesting, fun, and sometimes cruel. I've been through a journey and am back with new perspective and valuable life experience. So much has happened in the last three years, I'll bring some of it up when necessary, but honestly, its pretty simple:
I was a single mom for a while. While my daughter's father paid support, I was solely responsible for everything else. It was hard. I had to get better at couponing and getting deals. Life can be unpredictable, you can be in the most amazing situation and then some life happens and you find yourself alone. Coupons kept food on the table and allowed us to live fairly well. It was strict, every trip was planned, and sometimes I would spend four or five hours planning.
I have easily saved (at best estimate) five thousand dollars using coupons. I have no real way to gauge it, but the savings are amazing. I aim for 35-95% savings.
My oldest daughter started having massive stomach issues. She had always had stomach problems, but after her biological father decided to come back in to the picture with his new wife (a story for a later date), she got sick. Very, very, very sick. As in, missed 20 days in the last semester of school. She missed 28 days total - some of them I made her go. I regret the days I sent her off to school crying with stomach pain. By the second semester, I would wake up and find her curled up on the couch because she hadn't slept all night and her face streaked with tears. Those days, I would tell her to go back to bed. Whatever she was learning in school, she would have problems learning. You can not learn when you are sick. When her mind is on having horrible stomach cramps, who cares what the spelling words are?
Tests.... Tests.... Tests...
She had testing for a million things, peptic ulcer being one of them. She had a celiac test. She was treated for the ulcer and things did get better. She spent spring break at her father's house in Mississippi (we're in Dallas) and came home sick (and very dirty). We became frequent visitors at her doctors office. At one point, her doctor pointed us to the direction of a very new and young GI in the area. We promptly made an appointment. My sweet daughter had vials of blood drawn. It was sad to watch. Her blood test came back positive for celiac and the endoscopy came soon. The day she was discharged from the endoscopy we were instructed to have her eat gluten free indefinitely. Her GI said that she had a sneaking suspicion celiac was the cause and the endoscopy would give us a final answer. She gave me pictures of Zoe's intestines and I googled the words underneath the pictures. I knew she had celiac.
That began an obsession, one that I am happy to share. I am happy to share the way we're doing it on a budget and how we're getting healthier in the process. I love deal sharing - I'm in Dallas, so sometimes there are regional things that I stumble on and am delighted when I find a new restaurant with a gluten free option. Being gluten free simply isn't good enough for me... I want gluten free to celiac standards. I love my child. Knowing what gluten does to her intestines is enough to make me very conscious of her food.
Our family went gluten free in solidarity with her. That made things easier for several reasons. I didn't have to decontaminate often and how horrible is it to fix something gluten-y and then make her eat something else. She is part of the family. My family is not complete without her, if she's gluten free for medical reasons, we're gluten free because we're a family. Its really that simple.
I went gluten free with no real expectations. Within a few days, I started feeling better. The deep dull ache in my stomach started to go away. I had been having stomach aches every day for as long as I could remember. Sometimes it would be worse than others, but still, it went away! I can remember being 18? 19? and looking pregnant because I was bloated. I worked out. In fact, my stomach was the issue that would always confuse me - I ate healthy (somewhat) and exercised. Why was my stomach so puffy? The puff disappeared. The bloating was directly caused by the gluten. I feel better and have lost a bit of weight as well. Since May, I've lost close to 20lbs. I actually have the energy to exercise and the more I exercise, the better I feel. Its amazing!
So, I'd like to dedicate my blog to eating gluten free, eating healthier, serious deal scoring, and some awesome life moments sprinkled in. This is my life and I'm ready to share it with you. I hope that in some of my words, some of the recipes, some of whatever I write, you can identify and if it helps you get on with your day, so be it.
Oh, I'm exhausted. I've been Christmas shopping a little today with my Kohl's card and I'm beat!
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