10 thing you might not know about me!

I thought since the last blog post was about something a little more serious in my life I would take the chance to type up a fun one. Kind of like a get to know me blog. Here goes!


1) I am a gum chewer. I have been since I was a kid, but once a teenager I was addicted. I HAD to have a piece of gum in my mouth to chew at all times. Well other than when I was eating and sleeping of course.

2) I am terrified of a lot of things. Most thing that have a very slim chance of happening. For example being a small boat out on the water and a big huge hump back whale or really any whale for that matter swims up beside it. Just thinking about it makes me anxious!

3) I am claustrophobic. Small, tight places make me panic like my life is going to end. It also makes me uncomfortable seeing scenes on the television where someone is crawling through a tunnel in the ground, but a small tunnel. AAAHHHHHHHHH!!!

4) I love walking bare foot in dirt, sand etc. But most of all dirt. I tend to be bare foot while gardening too just so I can feel the cool, damp, soft dirt on my feet. Now this makes me wish Winter was over!

5) I have always wanted to live on a big piece of private land, build a small house, have a small live stock and a nice big garden to live off of over the warmer months AND be as electronic free as possible. Just getting back to the basics. You know out houses, no electricity, wood burning stove to cook and keep warm with. That sort of thing. Which reminds me I use to watch all those reality shows that were based on modern people/families going in pioneer life. It excites me!

6) I don't shave OR rarely do. So yes I have hairy under arms, my legs are growing a forest and so on. I will shave for certain times of the year. Say I am going to be in a wedding, I will shave my under arm hairs and legs etc. But for the most part I am O NATURAL ;) Rawr!

7) I love being active. Going to the gym, being outside hiking and just in general doing something active outside I enjoy. It's my thing. However that's mostly in the warmer months. The freezing cold keeps me drawn inside like most people.

8) I won't buy plastic wrap or tin foil, unless I need it for something specific like camping. We use tinfoil while camping, but other than that I will not buy or use it. It's so horrible for the environment! 

9) I have had 5 knee surgeries so far in my life and I am sure I will need more as well as a knee replacement according to my specialist. It's no fun, but I think that's why I am drawn to being active. I want to cherish and make the best of what I have until I don't anymore. I think the surgery where I couldn't walk for 8 weeks was what made me realize my legs mean a lot to me.

10) Gardening!! I love having one, being in one and just watching things grow. I had my very first veggie garden when I was 13.

So there you have it. 10 things you might not known about me!

Getting back to ME

   A lot of people that know me, know that I struggle really bad with depression especially during the colder months. So I am looking into some more natural forms to help me combat this until the warmer more brighter months like summer. Oh lovely summer how I miss you!

I have done a bit of research and talked to my health care provider about taking a natural supplement called 5HTP, which has been found to really help with anxiety and depression. There are some side effects, but what medication or supplement doesn't come with the possibility of side effects. I personally had to weigh the pros and cons to each side and make a choice with what I wanted to do. So I am now taking 100mg of 5HTP. So far it has been 5 days and I have noticed a big different so far. One thing I have noticed other than my mood being a lot more positive with some motivation on my side is that my need to eat food to help me feel better isn't there anymore. Yes, I was one to eat to fill a void and try to help me feel better, which has not helped and I have gained 10lbs in the last 5 months. I almost have to make myself consume a meal or a snack. The last few days I have had to force myself to eat actually. Well I lie, by 2pm in the afternoon is when I had bad hunger pains, but all morning I had zero hunger pains or want to eat. But don't you worry I wont be starving myself, I plan to get on a good healthy eating habits roll so my body is being given the best to help with depression. 

Another good thing I am making sure I take is vitamin D, fish oils, multi vitamin and a complex B vitamin which are all suppose to aid in mental health. And last but not least is exercise! I am one of those crazy nut cases that actually enjoys going to a gym and working out for 1-2 hours daily. If I could fit in being a gym addict now that I am a busy Mother I would. Some Mom's have a glass of wine and GASP some Mothers will do some *cough* illegal activity *cough* to get through their day. Neither of those are for me personally, but give me a gym membership and I will use it to my full advantage. Now give me a treadmill and stationary bike at home and I wont touch it, go figure. Something about getting out of the home, being by myself and working hard on weight machines gives me a natural high. Maybe it's adrenaline and serotonin combined, but whatever it may be it helps my mood. 

So lets mark 2014 the year to really kick depression in the butt and out the door! Anyone with me? Do you suffer from depression? How do you help it. Did you find anti-depressants to help a lot or do you find a combination of anti depressants and natural forms to really help. Please share with me your secrets to kick your depression in the butt.

Photo is not mine personally, but it's beautiful so I thought I would share. Nature is another natural antidepressant.

Autumn or fall which ever!

  Lets talk about the up coming season that is upon us, shall we? But let me first say that I can not believe just how fast summer went by. Sadly Canada doesn't have enough warm weather and I think we have more cold weather than we do warm. So one day when Dustin and I retire we plan to have a place in Florida to go to to escape the cold winters we have here.
 Anyways, what is so nice about the Fall? Nature that is! All the trees change to lovely colours and I just love to see it all. The leaves then fall to the ground, for hours and hours of time spent playing in raked up piles for kids. They also make for a good picture prop with little ones or even family pictures. You sometimes witness those bat, ghost, which or pumpkin bags that you sometimes see sitting on peoples front lawns for Halloween and those lovely leaves are used to stuff them. How about all the gords or pumpkins that are ready to be picked and carved or used as food. What great memories can be made from taking your child to go pick their own pumpkin to carve for Halloween And try to find your way out of a corn maze. This is one thing I am really looking forward to this year. We did it with Dagney last year, but he was still so young that he slept most of the time and Dustin and I just picked out our own pumpkin. We did carve it with him, but this year is going to be even better.
 Lets not forget about all the yummy food around this time. Pumpkin pies, apples pies, yummy warm drinks that get sold at Cafe's or for the modern person, Starbucks. Thanksgiving dinner with Turkey, stuffing, and all your normal veggies on the side. This year I plan on making a Dagney friendly feast. Poor guy has to be careful of what he can and can't have with his allergies, but I will make it so he can enjoy it just as much as anyone else does. And lets face it Thanksgiving is my all time favourite holiday of the year. You get to prepare and eat a yummy meal, think about what you are thankful for and just enjoy each others company without having that burden or feeling like you are obligated to spend money or contribute to consumerism. It's the one holiday I think that you don't need to spend vey much money and you don't have to buy people things they probably don't need or get things you probably don't need. I feel so stress free through out the Thanksgiving holiday compared to one I use to celebrate, Christmas. It's so nice.
 How about the weather too? It's not freezing out like the winter months and it's not so hot and humid like our summer months. It's cool enough you need to wear pants, a sweater and maybe a jacket, but not so hot that you feel like walking around naked. You are comfortable. It does rain more, but thats the magic nature and weather have together. They are preparing the grass, trees and plants to feed enough before the ground freezes. I guess it's some sort of survival method, but it's neat.
 What about Halloween? I use to LOVE figuring out what I was going to be and dress up as. I always tried to figure out something that wasn't going to be popular and went with that. One year I was Bunnicula, which is a character from a childhood book of mine. In other words it s bunny vampire/dracula who sucks the juice out of veggies. I actually thought about dressing Dagney up as that this year. Dagney will be able to go around to the houses and grab up some candy and chocolate. He wont be able to enjoy the normal goodies everyone else gets when "trick or treating", because again his allergies, but I plan on making some things he can enjoy too. Should be a fun fall, Halloween & Thanksgiving!

Here is a video from last years Halloween.