I have finally accepted that at the end of every winter my garage will forever look like varying degrees of this:
No, we are not growing “medicine” but there is definitely some major magic going on inside that creepy looking thing! Danny rigged this puppy up and I must say it’s doing it’s job!
This is what you see when you peek inside!
I can taste my homemade Spaghetti sauce already! Happy almost spring everyone!
When last we met (don’t remind me how long it’s been), we were gardening up a storm. And when I say we I mean Danny and the kids with an occasional appearance from me! My job starts after things are out of the ground. This year will be my fifth year of serious canning and I have definitely caught the bug! I love it. I love everything about it…well maybe not the cleanup, but who likes that? I am beyond excited because this year Dan the man has planned an amazing garden (read: 1/6 of an acre plot) and I cannot wait to get canning! Our garage is currently filled a ton of starts and they have already started to sprout – yay!
The kids are doing well, crazy and funny as ever. Parker is in the 2nd grade and Kaden is in 1st. Our plans took a sudden turn in sept. right before the public school year started (and I mean literally the week before). Because we had so much success and were loving homeschooling, the plan was to continue with all of the kids. In May of last year Danny and I took a cruise to Alaska for our 10th wedding anniversary (woot!) and while we were gone I started having these random back pain attacks – waking up from a dead sleep in horrible pain – not fun. Long story short, things continued to get worse pain wise and before I knew it I was waking up unable to move in the mornings. It got to where I couldn’t hardly move at all no matter what time of day, all of my joints just ached. After a bazillion Dr. appointments a ton of blood work and a CT, I was diagnosed with a form of arthritis called ankylosing spondylitis (yeah…say that three times fast). Basically it is an arthritis that affects the spine and rib spine connections (and apparently all other joints) and it STINKS!
When looking it up online later here is what I found:
I’m sorry, but even I was cracking up laughing!
Apparently it can eventually cause the spine to completely fuse into one solid piece of bone ie: bamboo spine. I was having a ton of pain in my sternum and chest so I have to admit it was actually nice to learn what was causing it – inflammation in the joints that connect the ribs to the sternum and spine.
Needless to say, it took a long time to work through everything and I didn’t want the kids to be stuck in the house(or on my bed) waiting for me to be able to move, so we enrolled them in school. Now 10 months later, I am having a lot more good days than before and with the help of 2 crazy expensive medications, hoping to continue the trend! I give myself weekly Enbrel injections (not as bad as it sounds) and last month my Dr. added Celebrex to the mix (made a HUGE difference). Things aren’t perfect (like they ever were) and I am still in pain a lot of the time but it’s so much better than it was and I am noticing as the weather gets better- so does the pain. Rain = not my body’s friend. And yes, I still live in the pacific NW…hmmmm.
So there is a short update (a first of a few I’m sure) for any who thought I had fallen off the face of the earth. I’m still here. Alive and kicking -with an improved but considerable amount of pain
It’s all the rage these days. You’ve never heard of this phenomenon? You are missing out my friend because it is hours and hours of side splitting fun. Just ask my kids. ahem.
This picture KILLS me! Don’t worry, Gunner was loving it!
We harvested carrots the other day and had an awesome salad with plenty to save for later too! Danny has done such a great job with the garden this year and I’m really proud of him (even if I do refer to it as his girlfriend). He could spend hours out there! The kids LOVE gardening and are super excited that we now get to start eating what we’ve been growing. Excuse Brin’s homelessness, this is her “Dad woke me up so I could help pick carrots” look.
Seriously.
Blythe “folding arms” for prayer. The kids LOVE to say “time for prayer” because she immediately goes to this position. It. Is. Adorable.
Tayberry Raspberry Lemon Jam
If you would have asked me 10 years ago if I would be a big “canner” I would have told you probably not! But I cannot get enough of it! I started a few years ago and I just fell in love. I remember my Mom canning when I was younger but I never really got into it then. There is something so calming in the process. And lets face it people. The calmer the better around here! I guess there are worse things I could be addicted to. And I certainly don’t hear complaints from friends and family while enjoying the spoils!
Spiced strawberry butter.
I truly cannot believe that 10 years has gone by since I married the best guy ever. 10 years!!! I realized the other day that with the exception of a quick snapshot at Christmas time last year, we have not had a family picture taken since Brinlee was a baby…ahem. So I begged Marge to stop acting like she was SO busy with running a household, taking care of the girls and bringing home a preemie and just take my family picture already!!! Can’t tell you how glad I am that she did it! Thanks marge, we love your guts.
I don’t even know where to start! I guess I will be playing a lot of catch up. What else is new? For now, we are here…and alive. And here is the proof! And after this little project I remembered why I hardly ever take portraits of my own kids! Thank heavens for Ciera who was there to help and keep me from having a nervous breakdown and throwing them all in the lake! Ciera also took the photos of the girls and I…which I’m not gonna lie… I absolutely adore! Thanks Marge!
