Peoples' stories

I have just re-realized something that I had forgotten, and that I think I need to keep in mind much more than I do.

We all have our stories, we all have our struggles, we all have our baggage. I often forget, when I am meeting new people, that they, just like me, have struggled in their lives. I am not the only one with "problems". I am not the only one with scars.

No matter how much another person seems to have it all together, they dont. No one does. That would make that person perfect, right? And since none of us can be, it cant be true. We all have so much more in common than I remember until I meet someone new who shows me those scars and reminds me... I need to remember this when I see someone who I envy for one reason or another, or someone who is so angry at the world that they seem unapproachable or rough or whatever...

I just wanted to write it down, as a reminder to myself and anyone else who might need to be reminded of it too.

Update to food allergy post

Good news! My acupuncturist CAN desensitize people to gluten if they do not actually have Celiac disease!!!!

I am free to eat real bread again! YEA!!!!

(H, you have to go see her!)

Bucket List

I am starting my own bucket list. Who wants to join in the fun?!

Travel the world
Read the Bible again ... the whole thing ... with my Orthodox perspective
Read something by Ayn Rand
Learn the truth about more of our history
Swim in the Mediterranean
Learn how to forgive more
Visit a monastery in a few other countries
See great art up close
Hike ... anywhere
Get through a year with no injuries or illnesses
Learn some form of "alternative medicine"
Make really great art
Teach someone something meaningful
Make a difference to someone who needs it

.....
to be continued as I think of more stuff :)

who wants to be debt free?

I have heard of a thousand different ways (and/or) to pay off debt early, but my parents have found something new and innovative, and quite frankly pretty amazing! I am a skeptic when it comes to stuff like this and I have seen it in action!

What would any of us do with the money we use to pay our mortgages, car payments, credit card payments, school loans, whatever?!?!?!?! I don't have a mortgage yet, but when I do, I plan on giving the bank as LITTLE interest as possible! I ran pretend numbers for when I graduate including a car payment, a mortgage and my school loans (my only debt at this time) ~ if my numbers are even close to accurate, it will be a total of over $300K in original debt (not counting interest!!!) I will have all of it paid off after 5 years and will keep $190K that I would otherwise had to have paid in interest. And after 5 years I will have those payments to do with whatever I please ... like send Ian to Yale (or whatever school he wants to go to.) How cool is that???

I am way excited about it!!

food allergies!!!!!

Thanks to my friend Amy who told me I should blog about the cool stuff I have found lately...

I grew up around a LOT of kids who had food allergies that limited them to the same diet as their goats and horses. Yikes! I always felt really sorry for them.

Recently, after Ian was born, I started having stomach aches every time I ate. Ian started getting really colicky at around 6 weeks. I was in my chiropractor/acupuncturist's office and told them about his colic. The acupuncturist told me that food allergies are often the cause of colic (I had no idea.) So, she did this very different, completely non-invasive, non-painful allergy test for Ian and I and guess what!! He is allergic to almost the whole planet and I am allergic to all of that plus the rest of the planet! My son and I are those kids that I felt sorry for!

BUT GET THIS!!!! She can desensitize our bodies to almost anything (just not gluten). So the poultry and eggs, dairy products, vitamin B, sugar, rice, corn, and soy that we are allergic to will soon all be edible for us again. HOW COOL IS THAT?!

I LOVE alternative medicine! What allergist ever offered to cure you of allergies or cure your kid's colic?!

Network chiropractic coming soon! ....