Daily Checklist

Well, let me first say- thanks for all the nice comments on my last post. They made me feel really good :)

I've come up with this:

A little explanation. Sun Salutation- this is just a 5 minute or so yoga deal that I want to do everyday to help strengthen my joints and stretch me out a bit (I tend to be stiff a lot). The others are all self explanatory except the last one- I plan on spending at least 30 minutes a day of me time that ISN'T tv watching time. This could be reading, sewing, guitar, blogging, really anything fun I like to do that isn't TV.

I think this shall help. I am going to print this, laminate it, and keep it on my fridge and then that way I can just mark it off with a marker and erase it each day. Nice huh?

This weekend I'm going with the young women to Salt Lake City! Woohoo! That is going to be so fun. We are going to do temple square, the new mall, go out to eat, it's gonna be a blast. It's a reward for personal progress. Or something. I think we said that only those who met this goal could go, but it turns out anyone who wants to go is going :) haha. I am excited though cause I wasn't at girls camp so this will be a good opportunity to bond outside of church. I am a LITTLE worried though about how much walking we will probably do. Oh well.

Clay and I were SERIOUSLY serious about getting chickens. My sister, brother, and one of my friends have chickens and basically I just keep thinking- holy smokes why don't I have them?! Well...all of a sudden last night I was feeling so overwhelmed and like...all of a sudden I was thinking- ummm my life is so overwhelming as it is...why add chickens to the mix?!?! So Clay and I both decided that it was just too much to take on right now. I feel so relieved. We definitely will get chickens one day, but not today. We need to keep our responsibilities and stresses to a minimum.

If you couldn't tell...I don't know if I've mentioned it, but Clay is full on self-employed! He quit his job a while ago and now he's on his own! It's very nerve-wracking but also very awesome. He gets much more rest this way, which he still needs. He has started a home-based web development company called Claymore Design. You can see his website and what he can do if you click on the button on my sidebar. He is actually SUPER talented at this kind of stuff. It's pretty impressive. Also, incase you're wondering- he can do services for people all over the world. With most of his work he communicates by e-mail or phone. He's done websites for people in Michigan before. So, if you aren't in the area, but are interested in one of these services, use him! He has really good rates since he does it out of our home.

Alright, till next time.

My parents beach house website

So basically I just wanted to show my sibs the new website for my parents beach houses Clay did. He updated it and I think it looks so good!

http://www.arnoldbeachhaven.com/

And obviously, if anyone is planning on staying at the Oregon Coast for a vacation- they are great houses to stay in! We just had a family reunion at one of them and it was perfect. I wish I was still there!

Try try again

Okay...so this is like the third post I've tried to write lately...and all of them are so depressing I just never post them. Here is the truth:

I miss Oregon.

I am so stinking baby hungry it hurts.

I feel extremely bad for myself that I have Lyme.

I am watching too much TV...like HOURS of it.

I have like...7 mountainous zits on my chin. NOT an exaggeration. and NOT the only zits on my face.

I am on my period.

And seriously I could probably just go on and on and on with things to complain about since I'm just in that mood! I mean seriously- could I get any more pathetic? Probably. I guess at least I haven't started doing drugs or drinking :) And I haven't caved on my diet. So you know...THAT is success people.

Oh dear. Well, the truth is, I'm feeling like it's all going to be moving up here soon. I am going to start doing this thing...where I have a checklist of daily things. Basically a checklist of fruits/veggies, water, pills, scriptures, exercise, yoga, no-tv me time, and clean kitchen. I plan on making a fancy little thing to print off and put on my fridge so that it's motivating and I can like physically CHECK OFF these things. I'm a type of person that feel so accomplished with lists. I'll post it when I make it.

I think it will help balance out my life. I hope.

The sad thing is, my life could be so much worse. I feel awful. My brother-in-law went to Africa a while back and I saw a bunch of pictures and he talked about how like...poor and hard working CHILDREN are over there...carrying these huge bundles on their backs. Ugh. I have a freaking house, cars, bikes, computers, phones, clothes, FOOD, water, a doctor to treat my illness, and the list goes on. My life is really luxurious if you think about it. So anyway...time to stop having a pity party. Time to start enjoying my wonderful life.

Oregon Coast July 2012

We had an Arnold Family Reunion, which basically just meant my parents, siblings, and their kids! My grandparents came too, which was awesome. Activities consisted of Sand Castle contests (which I don't have copies of the pictures), watching movies, bayfront, fireworks, and LOTS LOTS LOTS of hangin on the beach. So fun. Thank you so much mom for planning and prepping everything! It was perfect.

This is on our way to Oregon. It was quite beautiful! The picture of Clay with something orange in his mouth is him whining about me bringing baby carrots for snacks! 

This was one of the first days out there. Ummm isn't Maddie the cutest in her fleece getup!? Tanner made a HUGE T in the sand. Him and Clay had fun exploring some spots. 

I think you will start to see a common theme here...MADDIE! She is so stinking cute, I just couldn't stop taking pictures of her. She was basically the star of the show. Everyone was obsessed with her. Even Clay said on the way home something like..."I have to admit, she is pretty cute" and he is SO NOT vocal about these types of things. 

Really most of the time was spent on the beach! Both Clay and I got burnt! It was such beautiful weather. Couldn't have asked for better. 

Hot dogs and smores one night. Yum. Note ANNA in the bottom left picture. All those Leslie girls are growing up so fast. 

Clay brought the Frisbee disks and him and some of the guys put together a Frisbee golf course. Basically they just dug these holes and stuck sticks by them so we could see where they were...then they drew squares by them so we knew where to throw from. It was WAY FUN actually! 

My parents have an elevator in their house and I think it's genius. I absolutely love it. 

I bought a sweet Jambo sweater thing from my favorite hippi store on the bayfront. I LOVE IT! It's so warm and cozy. And cute! 

My mom is such a good grandma. She was always doing stuff like playing cards with the kids. So cute. 

One day me, Amy, Lizzie, and Rebecca went to the bayfront while the kids were having a tea party with my mom. It was super fun! We looked at some shops, got some ice cream (not pictured), sat and talked. Ummm bottom right corner picture. Me, Jake, Rebecca. See how we look kinda sleepy like we just woke up? Well it's basically cause we probably had. It was about 10am I think...and me, Lizzie, Jake, Rebecca, and Amy all decided to go get ice cream :) All the kids were crabbing with my dad. I love my siblings! I did miss Megan a lot that morning though (only sibling that couldn't come...8 mo pregnant)

This was on the way home...another beautiful drive! 

Ummm basically I'm really sad to be home. I wish I could go sit on the beach and look at the ocean every day of my life. 

I think I consumed more sugar in that week than I had the entire past year. Literally that's probably the truth! But I don't regret it. It was really yummy stuff. We went to the chocolate shop like...a lot. There's this amazing candy shop and I really think it's like...the best. It's pretty hard to stop going back multiple times. 

I haven't had any sweets for 3 days now and I'm not even tempted. It's great. I've been praying that I will be strong and not too tempted or anything. I think that has helped! 

Well, tonight I'm going to Zumba and I'm excited. I'm pretty nervous though to tell you the truth. I haven't worked out in over 2 weeks. For me, that means I basically am out of shape. So I'll be huffin and puffin! But I've gotta get back into it. 

Alrighty- till next time. OH- by the way. It's OFFICIAL OFFICIAL. I am a CPA! Certified Public Accountant. From now on, you can just call me Danielle Phillipp, CPA. Just joking. But really, I'm a CPA. I've got a wallet sized card to prove it and everything :) 

We are home

Well, we had a blast. We were on the Oregon Coast (my home) for a week, then headed to Seattle for an appointment. Both went great!

So I'll upload some pictures later and talk about Oregon then...but for now I'll update you on my Seattle trip.

Just a pre-update update....the past two months I've been on herbs only, no antibiotics. I've still felt really good, but my joints have been consistently stiff...every day. Also, there was the fact that it took me at least a week to recover from walking in DC, and my running thing...and my hair has been falling out a bit more and I've had a rash on my chest/shoulders/upper back. So all of these things I thought maybe I could explain away...but I still talked to our doctor about it.

She looked at the rash and said, "That's a bartonella rash". Bartonella is a co-infection of Lyme. We knew Clay definitely had it, but didn't really think I had it. Lyme has the same symptoms as Bartonella...so you could miss it. She looked at my past few treatment plans and realized that my LAST treatment plan (two appts ago) was treating only Lyme, and I was feeling pretty good. But this last treatment plan I was taking herbs that treat Lyme AND Bartonella, and I was having these issues. So basically it means that the herbs were working- and fighting the bartonella. BUT- now realizing that I have bartonella in me (and she says that she can see it is very little...based on my symptoms), I am back on antibiotics specifically trying to fight off that bartonella. She doesn't think it will take too long, so that is good. And we still feel like I'm pretty much rid of Lyme. So that's great! I know I don't explain all this very well...so sorry if it's confusing. It all makes sense in my head.

Clay is KINDA the same situation. She thinks he has about a year left....which would make his treatment about 3 years...and in the beginning she said 3-5 years, so I suppose that's great. We pretty much also feel like his Lyme is almost gone and that bartonella is really the one sticking around that we need to focus more on.

Overall, we are feeling really great about the appointment and feel like we are really narrowing down on this thing. Yeah, it's disappointing I'm back on antibiotics again...but I had a feeling something wasn't quite right with me still...and it all makes a lot of sense now and I'm glad I am going to be able to get rid of this last dealio! Oh- and the other great news is, our antibiotics we are on this time aren't very expensive!!! YAY! One of them was only like $10.

And...we are definitely waiting to have babies until Clay is done with treatment as well. So, not for a year or so. Just thought I'd put that information out there.

OH- and one more thing. I made a pact with a couple of my sisters to not have any sugar until Thanksgiving. I am also adding gluten to that. And no treats. So basically my goal is to not have any treats (with either sugar or natural sugar), or gluten, at ALL. Until Thanksgiving. No cheats. Why you ask? Well...basically here it is. Like I just pointed out, we can't have babies until Clay and I are better. EVERY form of sugar (even fruit), feeds this danged Lyme Disease. So...I've kinda decided that these natural treats I do...they are still feeding it. Even if it's a little bit. Or way less, it's still happening. I don't want to be fighting this thing my whole life. I want to have healthy babies. I want to have enough control over my bodily desires and taste buds, to forego a temporary pleasure in order to get what is really the most important piece of my life. I'm not here to have treats. I'm here to have a family. So...yeah. I will have a piece of Clay's birthday cake on August 15th, and I will have something on Thanksgiving. Then I'll not have anything until Christmas. Then probably nothing until my birthday. You get the picture. And you may think, why not once a week? Can't you just have one every once in a while? Well, quite frankly- NO. First off, I am not a person that can moderate my sweets. I basically can eat an entire tray of cookies in one sitting, no sweat. So...that doesn't really work. Second, it just makes it harder. If it's in my body, I want it more. Then of course the most important reason is...I don't need it...and Lyme does in order to survive. So I'd rather just starve it completely instead of giving it a weekly meal. You know? I'm pretty confident this will stick. I will still eat fruit (it has more good than bad) and my homemade larabars (walnuts, dates, cocoa). But that's the extent of my sweets. Feel bad for me all you want but honestly I just feel more powerful. I have control over my body. I love my babies. And I want to get them here soon, with strong healthy bodies.

Alright- till next time.