Tasting Life Abundant

Oatmeal cake, a classic recipe my mom would make when I was growing up. I have adapted it to suit my family's diet; it is gluten free, lower sugar, and I use pecans on top instead of cornflakes. It is so comforting and cozy to eat; the spices are warming and fragrant, and the texture is soft and moist. It is one of my favorite treats, and I'm so thankful to be able to enjoy it again with my family! A nice bowl of oatmeal, with molasses, chia seeds, cinnamon, cashew butter, butter, coconut oil, hemp hearts and soaked/sprouted pecans. I wasn't able to eat oatmeal for years, due to the pain and bloating it caused. But I'm thrilled to say that I have eaten it many times now with zero digestive issues. It's crazy and wonderful and my brain is still getting used to the idea of it being safe and normal, but every time I eat it, my brain gets a little more comfortable with it. I'm not scared, but I can hear my brain saying, "wait...I thought this w...

{This is going W E L L}  Brian gave me this mug for Christmas, and it's my favorite.❤  All the work I've been doing to retrain my brain and heal my body has been going very well, and I am so excited and optimistic about the future!  I mentioned previously that I would be starting the Dynamic Neural Retraining System, (DNRS), which works with neuroplasticity based techniques to heal an impaired limbic system, which is essentially a brain injury that results from trauma and causes your brain to process and store information as if you are in a constant state of "fight or flight", or emergency response.  Trauma is relative to every individual, and there are different types of trauma; obvious things like death, war, victim of a crime, major accidents, and those sort of things are Traumas with a capital 'T'. Things like illness, chronic stress, unstable family life, negative relationships, and many others, are  traumas with a little 't'; on ...

"Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert." (Isaiah 43:18-19) That was the Scripture I chose for 2019. I am so thankful to come to a new year and truly feel that God has been changing me, and doing a "new thing" in my life. I made a lot of progress in the last year. It feels good to see growth and healing happening. I feel optimistic and motivated and excited for what lies ahead. This verse has been coming to my mind often lately: "So be truly glad, there is wonderful joy ahead..." (1 Peter 1:6) Recently, in my devotional reading time, I came to this verse, and I have chosen it for my 2020 verse: "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work."  (2 Corinthians 9:...

 I had a doctor appointment yesterday,  and I've been treating SIBO again for the last three weeks.  Treating SIBO again was not fun, but I didn't have any die off symptoms, and after the usual "mourning period" I always go through, it wasn't really all that hard.  I've done elimination diets/special diets so many times now that I know that I will always be able to eat something and that I will get through it, but I still have what I call the mourning period where, usually one or two days into the diet, I feel really discouraged and disappointed and cry about not being to eat freely. It usually lasts a day or two now. And then I feel guilty because at least I have access to healthy, whole foods and a variety of options that people in many countries do not have. And then I let it go and move forward and it goes alot better. But it seems no matter how many times I go through a special diet as treatment,  there is always this little mourning period, so now I ju...

I've been having s ome emotions lately that have been hard to sit with. They have to do with my miscarriages, and not knowing what to do with the feelings that are still there surrounding all of them.  It's not something I talk about really, except with my husband, because I don't ever want to make any of my friends feel bad about having babies. It's not about other people's babies, it's about mine. And I am truly happy for my family and friends when they announce pregnancies and newborns and get their babies baptized, and when they talk about how they're growing and so on.  It's just that, even in that joy, there's also pain.  They coexist. It's like nothing I've ever felt before... How do you mourn for someone you don't even know? Someone that feels more like a some thing;  an idea, a thought, rather than an actual some one . How do you find closure when that part of you doesn't get to experience moving on? And y...

This is my current protocol of supplements we are using to support my body in healing my gut, hormones, and overall health. I am posting this partly to document my progress, and also to share what is working for me,  and to maybe give people ideas to ask their doctor about. Do not just start taking any supplement without working with a trained practitioner. There are too many personal and varying factors to navigate the world of supplements and vitamins alone. Do yourself a favor and get professional, knowledgeable help to give you the best chance at complete recovery and fastest results. I saw my Naturopath last week, and we went over my symptoms and adjusted my supplements and added in a couple new things. This protein shake is one of the new additions to my treatment plan. OptiCleanse GHI is a protein powder supplement that we are using to support healing my gut, specifically leaky gut, and also support liver detox. It tastes quite good actually, which I was...