Home Improvements

We've been doing some things around the house. Here is one of the main things. Cameron put up a back splash in our kitchen and under cabinet lighting. It was the first time he tried it and it turned out wonderful! I'm very proud of him! Here are some pictures of it.

update

i started a new way of eating last monday. it's from the book "Eating For Your IBS." It's really taken a mind shift for me. You are to eat soluble fibers at every meal which is pastas, white breads, crackers, potatoes, etc... Since I want to loose weight I've been eating whole grains and none of the above! Other things...no sodas or anything with Sucralose. So basically I can drink water and vitamin water (which is really good thankfully!). I need to eat and drink lots of Peppermint (it's soothing to the gi track). No chips, but I can have baked lays and pretzels. Never eat a salad first. The insoluble fiber can trigger my IBS so I am to eat them at the end of the meal on a full stomach. Veggies have to always be cooked. Chocolate in very small doses. I can however eat sugar. It is a soother! Main suggestions are marshmallows, twizlers and jelly beans. there are tons more. oh no red meat or pork. only chicken, turkey, tofu and seafood (which i wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole!). i have to stay away from fried foods, egg yolks and dairy. i went cold turkey with this and will slowly try things again to see how i do. i've done pretty good. the first two days were hard. my ibs seemed to get worse, but then i started to feel better. i also have to take benefiber every morning. it's pretty crazy, but i'm willing to give it a go to help control my ibs.

i have realized that it is only bad in stressful situations. so in those situations i need to make sure to eat "safely" as it's called. and the main thing is to walk out my faith! i know God has healed me of this. now i just have to stop letting the enemy tell me different.

with the book are a bunch of recipes to make "safe" foods that taste good. i make a peppermint fudge cake last night. it has applesauce, unbleached flour, canola oil, vanilla and peppermint extract, sugar and unsweetened coco powder. no eggs and no dairy. i brought it into the office today and thankfully everyone loves it. i am so happy cuz i love to bake. now i get to figure out ways to switch our ingredients to make it healthier for everyone's gi tracks. i think it's pretty cool. it can be my thins. :)

thankfully i love soy products. just had a tofu veggie lasanga for lunch and it was really good. last night i had 2 glasses of caffeine free coke. i did fine. i think that will be my treat every so often, cuz i really do love me so coke-a-cola! i'm gonna try the tofu cheesecake next. we'll see how it turns out. :) i'm not so sure about that one.

k, i'm gonna go. my lunch break is over. :)

Pictures...

I love this photo. Cameron took this photo while we were trying to get eveyone to smile at the same time. Our true selfs. We are at the National Air and Space Smithsonian in Washington, DC.



Cameron and me at the Natural History Smithsonian.



Picture of me at the Natural History Smithsonian with a big lion above me and Chandler peaking out from behind me.


The girls at our first course two cake class. Making flowers.

Hello!

Hi everyone. I haven't blogged in awhile. Been busy. Been lazy. You know how it goes. :)

Well, the clomid did not work this time around. We are taking this month off and not focusing on baby making. It was starting to consume my every thought after 2 years of trying and taking a toll on me emotionally. This time to step back and get some perceptive has been really good. We want to pray about this whole thing and hear from God on what steps we should take towards getting pregnant.

I've started working out again. FINALLY! It has been about 2 months. I stopped after I had my surgery. But I've taken a few pilates classes and am LOVING them! I can already feel a difference. Love it! Love it! Love it! And they say you should be in good shape while you are trying to get pregnant. So it's a good thing all around.

Cameron and I took a mini-vacation down to Celebration , FL. We stayed in the hotel in their downtown. The neighborhood is very similar to the one we live in, but their downtown is very quaint and relaxing. The whole pace was much slower and very relaxing. We'll definitely go back again. Any locals should definitely check it out.

I'm going to DC next Sunday(16th) - Wednesday(19th) with Camerons family. The enemy is of course trying to pull me back into the whole stomach thing again, but he can just shut it! I have been set free and this will be another opportunity to walk in faith. But please do pray for me! :)

Our cake class is over. We are going to take level 2 in August. It was a lot of fun. I think I'm going to take a beading class this month. I've wanted to learn how to do that, so I can make necklaces and bracelets.

Okay, I'd better run. Below are some photos of recent activities...


We went bowling with friends last Saturday. On my last game i bowled a 144! So I had to take a picture for proof.


Our final cake class cakes. Mine is on the left, Tia's is in the middle and Dana's is on the right.


My clown cake from the third class.

a few pictures

Tia's cake is on the left (she loves owen wilson). Mine is on the right (i love Cameron Edward Strang). We have fun in cake class.


Tias birthday. We went to GatorLand with a bunch of friends to celebrate!


Here are some of the gators. Icky!



Birthday dinner at Cafe Tu Tu Tango!

can anyone see this?

for some reason i can't see my blog on any computers????

baker barker bakke bakery

so for awhile now i've wanted to open a bakery...one day that is. today cara mentioned that she wants to open one one day too. so if we open one together it will be called "The Baker Barker Bakke Bakery" which comes from "cara's maiden name, the nick name i use to call her, my maiden name and then bakery cuz it'll be a bakery." we are just so clever! :)

anyway, tonight i start my cake decorating classes. yippy!

have a great weekend!

maya

here we go

WARNING: Girly details below.

i went in yesterday morning for an ultrasound. they needed to check the size of my eggs and the clomid did it's job! the doctor was very happy with my results. my lining is a little thin so i am taking some estrogen for 3 days which will help build that up. tonight i have to give myself a shot of hcg which will release the egg. (i think) then on friday i start to take progesteron which i do until i find out if i'm pregnant. this will help promote the pregnancy i'm told.

lots of steps, but this is nothing compared to the other ways of getting pregnant.

i have actually been feeling overwhelmed with all the steps of getting pregnant with help, but i became very encouraged yesterday when i was told that everything looks good and was working like it should. God has been my strength through this. Amazing. i don't know...it's hard to describe it if you haven't been through it.

so, i'll talk to you all soon.

love ya!