Spring Cleaning in Fall?

9-28-12

Hey Everyone!

  So sorry it has been so very long, I'll try not to make it a habit ;-) .  Life has been super busy as a newlywed. I'm working with Visiting Angels PDX as a Caregiver. My husband is finishing up school and job-hunting. I'm enrolled at PCC as a student and hope to start some PreReqs next term so that I can start their Medical Assisting Certificate program the following term. So far, it looks like I'll only need to take 3 classes before applying for the MAC program. I've applied for Financial Aid and it looks like I'll probably have most of it covered via a grant (Praise The Lord!). 

  After my wedding in March I was diagnosed with Small Intestine Bacteria Over-growth(SIBO). It is basically good bacteria over-growing into my small intestines because the natural nightly GI "flushing" stops working, leaving the good bacteria to over-grow it's purpose, therefore infecting my small intestine. The results and symptoms are very much like Crohn's Disease. My doctor and I believe that, since I tested positive for SIBO and the images taken a few years ago indicated Crohn's, my health stands at one of three doors: 1)I have Crohn's and SIBO(so once the SIBO is gone, I'll still have Crohn's)   2)I have Crohn's caused by SIBO(so the Crohn's would go away with the SIBO) -or-   3) I only have SIBO, which made it look like I had Crohn's(so once the SIBO is gone I'd be healthy and "normal" again w/o any symptoms of Crohn's or SIBO).  

  This may seem odd, overwhelming, or both but, for me it is welcome news. The big difference between SIBO and Crohn's is that, SIBO has a known cure, where Crohn's does not. At present I am taking the slow route to cure the SIBO, which entails a very restrictive, grain-free diet called SCD(Specific Carbohydrate Diet). This particular diet starves the bacteria over-growth in my intestines. I'll be on this diet for exactly one year past my last symptom. I still have occasional symptoms so I haven't been able to start the countdown, as of yet. At some point during this diet I will have to take a prescription that will give that GI "flushing" a kick in the pants to start doing it's job again. I have my three month check-up with my doc on Oct 1st, so we'll see how she thinks it's going then.

  Since starting this diet three months ago, I've learned a lot about cooking without certain things and what manufacturers seem to thing is necessary to put in so many different foods! I've decided recently that I want to keep everyone, on here and in my family, in the loop and give them easy access to things I can eat and simple recipes that I prepare. My goal in revamping this blog for that purpose is to make it easy for people to help me maintain this diet and to help educate those around me on it at the same time as I am learning.

  I hope this hasn't been too much of a bore, but I wanted to get everyone on the same page! Happy cooking and I'll be posting my first recipe soon!

God Bless,

Kittydid

Engaged!!!

9-28-11

  I'm engaged!!! It happened on August 18th and I'm soo excited to be marrying my best friend! I've started a website if you want to check out our story :-D

http://markandkatelynn.ourwedding.com/

Spring Has Sprung!

4-18-11

   Finally an update! Sorry for those of you that "follow" this blog. Life has been very crazy for me the last couple months, but I'll update y'all on what God's been doing in my life now. :-D

   I got my Nursing Assistant certification (NAC/CNA) in March. I got a job with an In-Home Caregiving agency after I finished my CNA schooling. I've really been enjoying my job and the different clients I've gotten to work with and the different skills I've been able to develope.

   As of March 3rd I started courting a wonderful young gentleman that I've known for a few years and happens to be a relative of some friends of mine.

   Mark and I had begun to hang out as friends back in November of last year. Then on March 3rd he talked to my Dad. Neither of us expected to like eachother...our friendship just seemed to blossom without either of us realizing it.  We find it rather amusing that everyone else around us saw what we didn't. :-P

   The first weekend in April I moved from Battle Ground, WA to Beaverton, OR to live with a family friend. It has been great getting to know her again. Our families lived together a couple of times before I was ever born and she used to babysit us occasionally when I was little. We've had so much fun hanging out and chatting about what has been going on in our lives and how God has been at work and continues to work in our lives.

  Lately God has been teaching me not to be so prideful and to trust Him in ALL areas of my life. These, as always, have been hard hitting lessons. It brings to mind a couple of verses:

Proverbs 3:5-6

  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

  "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

Snow, Snow, Snow!

2-26-11

  Much has happened since the end of December so I guess I'll just do my best to fill in where I left off :-)  January 8th my sister's best friend got married and I was unemployed. The lady I'd been taking care of was moved to a foster home in Oregon and I started my search for a job the following week. With the little experience I do have and just a high school diploma, I didn't have much to recommend myself in the field I've felt called to serve in. My parents came up and visited me for a few days and while they were here and I was browsing the local newspaper, I was reminded of a Certified Nursing Assistant training school in Vancouver.
  I had been planning on taking the CNA course throught the local community college, but would have had to wait until April to sign up for the class. I called the school on Friday and found out that they had a class starting the following Monday that still had room in it! I was so excited to hear such news that immediately got in my car and drove over to the school to sign up and complete the paperwork. Over the next 3 weeks my schedule consisted primarily of classes and studying. Classes finished and then we had 2 weeks until the exam date. I did alot of relaxing and just enjoying my free time at that point and did some review and practice for the exam the week of the exam.

  The day of the exam I got up early and was headed out the door when I saw my neighbor/landlord headed across the yard with a yellow primrose and a "you'll do great" card for me. :-) It was such a wonderful start to what I knew would be a fairly long and nerve wracking day. I got to the school early and sat in the parking lot while I prayed and read my Bible in preparation for what was bound to happen that day. We all went inside and talked alot about the weather and what we'd been up to the last couple weeks, while we waited for the last few stragglers to arrive for the test. We began the written exam promptly at 8am and were all relieved to finish early and quickly learn that the entire group had passed the written portion! I said my "Praise the Lord" and texted the few people that knew I was taking the exam that morning, and then went off to breakfast with a couple of the girls from the group while we waited for our Practical Examination time slot to arrive. Although the meal helped to distract us for a while we were back at the school an hour and a half before our scheduled time and sat there talking about what to expect and reviewing the things we weren't as confident on. When the partner I'd practiced with during the three weeks of classes came out and learned she'd failed for one misstep that she'd never missed during practice before, we all started reviewing and cramming again. Another 45 minutes later, my exam partner and I were called in for our examination. I was to be tested second, so I hopped into the bed to act as patient and began praying for my partner as she did each skill, knowing that she suffered from test anxiety. When her turn was through I got all ready and said a quick prayer thanking the Lord I was given 5 simple skills that I'd not had any problem with before! I went through my skills doing extra things here and there just to make sure that I didn't miss anything and came out of the room still nervous about my results, but knowing that I'd done my best and left the rest up to God. When the evaluater came out of the room with our results we both started praising the Lord and breathed a sigh of relief. We'd passed and now we just had to go out and find a job.
  That night my Dad and Sister arrived in BG to spend the weekend with me for my birthday! My mom was already here because she'd moved up with me the last week of my classes because she started taking the next group's CNA class. Her test is next week, but I think she will do just fine. :-D So Dad and Hannah came up for three days to celebrate my 21st birthday with my mother and I. We had such a great time just being together and enjoying good conversation. The went back to Tilly on Sunday afternoon and then the following week I applied at a couple places. On Thursday a place I'd sent my resume to, after I first became unemployed, called me and after asking a few questions to bring the resume up to date set up a date and time for an interview! I'm so excited and yet a little nervous as this will be my first ever interview! But I'm leaving it in God's hands, if it's His will for me to get the job, then I'll get it...and regardless of whether or not I get the job I know He will provide something :-D
  It has been great having my Mom living here with me and I'm pretty sure it will get kinda lonely around here again when she leaves. It has been nice to have someone around the house to talk to and just be there.
  I guess that just about brings my life happenings up to date for now :-) Sorry to anyone that actually reads this, for taking so long on updating ya'll :-D
Blessings!

Holiday greetings, a new year is coming!

12-28-10

Well, I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas with their family and friends! I sure had a great weekend with my family! I arrived at my parent's house the 23rd to find my Dad had already arrived with my Grandma and they were nicely settled in. On my way through Portland I'd run several errands for my parents and had three pies :-D Friday morning we all slept in and had a fun day of baking, running errands in town, and opening a few gifts. My parents got me an OSU blanket and a cute holiday mug, a framed picture of the family taken on Thanksgiving Day, a picture album for scrapbooking, a calendar, and a winterized emergency kit for my car! My sister got me a really cool "sister" mug that has a slot in the handle to but a sweet little spoon that came with it...so handy!

My brother came over mid-day to say "hi" and get some help wrapping his "secret sant" gift. Saturday we got up and finished the baking and cooking and setting things up for the games we wanted to play later. My sister finished stuffing the stockings and I picked out some games from a game show I'd seen on tv, Minute To Win It. Late afternoon my eldest brother and his family arrived and we spent some time talking with them while we finished up a couple last minute things. My other brother showed up and before long everything was ready and waiting for my Sister-in-law and nephews to come and get the party started :-P We had lots of fun talking and exchanging gifts, seeing people reactions to their gifts and the joy in the kiddos faces as they saw all the gifts they got and the cool games and books that Grandma had gotten them this year...I think the best part of it all though was just being with family.

Sunday we went to church and I got to play the piano and hear two wonderful messages from Pastor Whittles that were just what I needed to hear. The one that hit me the hardest was on trusting God and what that really means. It is a lesson we all learn and are tested on continually. Something I feel the Lord taking me through once again. I do trust Him, but right now I'm having some difficulty trying to figure out where God is heading my life...what does He want me to do next? where does He want me? I don't want to make a decision based on what I want and make all the excuses to make it LOOK like what I THINK God wants me to do. I want to do what He wants me to do regardless of whether it is what I'd prefer or not.

"It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Christmas..."

12-6-10
  Hello all! Hope all is well with you and that you are enjoying this joyous time of year! We had a couple inches of snow just before Thanksgiving! It was gorgeous. I love snow! It is all gone now, but with such early signs of winter, I'm hoping for a White Christmas :-D.
  Well, things have been fairly normal around here. The latest "news" is that my wonderful client's knee has gotten worse so we are back to the level of care she was at when I first came to work here over 8 months ago. Last night was about the hardest night so far...I got up about every hour so help her...needless to say we will BOTH be taking naps this afternoon :-P
  She is such a trooper, but I know that all of this is especially hard on her. She doesn't like being an "inconvenience" to anyone....even when I tell her that it isn't any, and remind her that this is what she pays me to do. I love being here and being able to help as much as I can. I feel rather useless when I'm just sitting around doing nothing, so I like being useful!    My Annual Christmas letter is almost done! I'm just waiting on one little detail before I mail them off. I'm hoping to finish off my Christmas wrapping today and then I just have one last present to buy. I'm having a bit of a hard time finding it, but I know I'm bound to find it somewhere :-D  This coming weekend is Tillamook's Nutcracker and I'm hoping to be able to make it to that. I have several friends in it and hope to be able to go with my family. Maybe I'll get a group of people together and we can do something before the showing! That would be lots of fun!

  Well, I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas celebrating our Savior's birth with your loved ones and friends! God Bless!

A Time of Thanks Giving

Such a time God has given to us and wonderful blessings he has bestowed upon us! Sometimes we may not see even the little things, we are so blinded, but sometimes we see Him shinning in our lives, it is immistakable.

This past weekend I was able to "spead myself thin" and visit two places :D I had such a grand time! I played games with friends in Tilly on Friday night until almost 2am on Saturday morning and then we went shooting at 11am. Then my sister and I headed to Salem to meet some more friends and did a little shopping before going out to dinner and then dancing. We had such a lovely day together! After dancing we drove to Sweet Home and stayed at their house and I finally got to meet my dear little niece, Suzy, in person! She will be 2months old in a week or so! Such a cutie she is, so happy too!
This weekend, which will start today and stretch all the way until Sunday next, I don't have many plans...I hope to go finish up some college registration stuff tomorrow or Monday and have my last dental appointment on Monday. Then I'll head over to Tilly for the rest of my time off and Thanksgiving dinner with the family...oh, and I guess some Black Friday shopping and Christmas tree cutting on Saturday :D....I guess I do have a few plans :P
Happy Thanks Giving everyone!!! God Bless!