Namaste

I went to my first Yoga class yesterday. It was a great way to start my winter break from work. I was able to release all the stress and all the craziness of work and start off my break relaxed and ready to have fun. I can't wait to go to another class when I return from Michigan in a few weeks.

Big News

I'm engaged! It happened a week ago but I've been way too busy to write. We are looking at a date in January of 2011. It's a little over a year away, but the planning has already begun. I went with my mom to visit a site I liked and we've tentatively booked it. We also went to a bridal show where I booked my photographer. I actually know her from back in high school. I also have purchased the invitations. I have so many things left to plan, but I'm glad to have some of the big things done. I'm super tired from such a busy weekend driving all over the state of Michigan, so that's all for now.

Welcome Back to Myself

So, I'm back. I stopped posting because no one was reading. However, two people have visited since then. And I guess people won't keep visiting if I don't keep posting so I'm off and running again. I'm trying to think of what has happened in my life since then. Meijer added a new gluten-free dry food section. Pretty nice. A lot cheaper than the health food shoppe. This weekend I am working on paperwork for our parent ed night at work and cleaning my place because it's a big giant mess. Went to see Mike Birbiglia last night. Pretty funny. Last weekend was my birthday. I went on a shopping spree at Somerset with my mom. Got lots of great clothes and the Lacoste shoes I've been wanting but couldn't find in stores anywhere. I'm thinking about getting a degree in nutrition. It's only been a recent thought so I'm still just thinking. I'm really intrigued by health and nutrition and cooking. I need to get back to exercising now that my ankle has healed. Oh I officially lost 10 pounds last week since going gluten-free. I would say that it's been months since I've had a gluten incident, but I somehow accidentally ingested some last week with dire consequences. So now my few months has gone down to a few days. I still can't believe the difference in how I feel since I stopped eating gluten. It will probably never cease to amaze me. I went the the Johnny Appleseed Festival here in Fort Wayne a few weeks ago. That was fun. I had a caramel covered apple, chocolate covered maple cream, and corn on the cob. I went the the IU v UofM game in Ann Arbor. That was a blast. I'd love to go back to the big house. So, I guess life is good. Work is good. Fort Wayne isn't terrible.

Rollercoaster

Over the past week I had lost my great hopes that Fort Wayne would be a great place to live. I had hit up countless grocery stores looking for some delicious gluten-free goodies, especially some Tinkyada pasta. Not one store carried anything other than this one brand that tastes so bad I'd rather go without pasta than eat that. Last Wednesday I went to a place called The Fresh Market, which of course I figured must have gluten-free offerings. Come to find out it was just an over priced hole in the wall. After stopping in I broke down and cried, thinking what am I doing here in this city that doesn't have even a single store for us allergy ridden freaks?!?! Needless to say, I wiped away my tears and vowed to leave no stone unturned in my search to find something edible. Then yesterday I found a place called The Health Shoppe. I was amazed and relieved as I walked down aisle after aisle of choice after choice. Then today I went down to the Barr Street Farmer's Market and bought tomatoes, sweet plums, and sweet corn. Things are looking up.

Delicious. Fresh. Local. =)

Yesterday the retirement home around the corner from my new house was hosting a farmers' market. I stopped up there before going grocery stopping so I could grab some fresh local vegetables. I bought sweet corn, tomatoes, green beans, and some kind of hot pepper. The look delicious and I'm pretty excited to eat them. I ate some tomato in the salad I made for lunch. It was pretty good. I'm going to try to make it to one of the markets downtown tonight and to another one tomorrow. We shall see.

A New Day

Today was my first day at my new school. I've been so excited while being equally nervous. I feel like those two emotions have been having a huge battle inside of me for months now. Finally the battle has ended and excited has won. Just being there has given me a peace of mind and the confidence that I have made the right decision. I feel comfort, contentment, and joy.

Crossing the Finish Line

Today was my last day at my now previous place of employment. I am so excited to finish that chapter of my life. All the wonderful gifts and encouraging words from all the parents and my co-workers really spoke volumes to me. However, I am also sad to be leaving behind some outstanding people. I am also sad to be leaving behind all my little ones. I am used to them leaving me when they grow too old to learn from my environment, but leaving them is something I've never done before. So it is with sadness and joy that I turn the page to the next chapter.

First Things First

So here I am, writing my first blog post. I've got so much to say about my crazy hectic life right now that I'm not sure where to start. I guess I can start with the biggest thing... I'm moving to a new city, to a new state. It's not that far away but it's still enough to be exciting, intriguing, and a little bit scary. I'm leaving the beautiful, eco-centered, peace-loving, natural food eating city of Ann Arbor for the industrial wasteland of Fort Wayne. Hopefully I'll be proven wrong on my description of my new city. I've already committed myself to exploring every nook and cranny of FW until I find the beautiful, eco-centered, peace-loving, natural food eating people that live there. I mean, I'll be living there, and I can't be the only one. I've already searched the internet high and low for celiac friendly restaurants and I've actually found a few. I'm pretty excited about checking them out. I'll be moving into my new place on Sunday. It seems like a nice neighborhood. We'll just have to wait and find out. It's gotta be better than this cave of an apartment I live in right now.

On to other things... as you might have noticed earlier in my ramblings, I keep myself gluten-free. I have been since the beginning of April. It's been a hard rocky road these last few months trying to adjust and I'm sure there will be more hard times to come. I do have to say that the benefits have outweighed the negatives. Sometimes I just want to fall on the floor and wail my arms around and scream and cry, but I compose myself... most of the time. All the wonderful goodies I can no longer eat aren't even the worst of my problems now. The biggest change it has had on my life is the social aspect. Hanging out with friends means choosing places with gluten-free options or gluten-free drinks (thank goodness for Woodchuck). That doesn't seem like a hard task until you really look at all the things that contain gluten. It has really opened my eyes to all the crap that is put into food that should never ever ever be there. Why in the world would someone add gluten to potatoes? Yeah, umm, I'd like a heap of potatoes and make sure you sprinkle some wheat on there please. I mean, come on. All natural all chicken chicken... no, that can't taste good. Inject it with gluten; that'll make it taste better. How does that make sense? But I digress... no more gluten-free rants from me, for today at least. As I stated earlier, the positives outweigh the negatives. I've lost 7 pounds without even trying. That's always a nice bonus. I feel soooo much better. My mood, my physical activity, my alertness have all gone up up and up. To me that is better than all the chocolate cake and cheese burgers in the world.

Another new and exciting thing in my life... my new job!!! That has to be the thing I am most excited about. I feel like I'm really moving up, really getting somewhere. I'm a teacher, a Montessori teacher. The school I will be teaching at is amazing. It is beautiful and so are the people. Immediately when I walked in the building for the first time, I knew this place was different. The people are so warm and friendly and they genuinely care. I am beyond excited to start the new school year in just a few days. I can't wait to get to know all the people I will be working with.

Well, that's all for today. I have much more to say, but it'll have to wait.