Luke Andrew Is One Month Old

On April 19th Luke Andrew Norton was born. I have not been able to meet him yet although I look forward to when I do. It is amazing how much he looks like Christopher at that age but still really different. They both have the adorable blonde hair and blue-grey eyes.

Isn’t he adorable? He has now lost his newborn look.

And this is cute as ever, Christopher. He reminds me of a little hobbit in this picture. After I met him at the end of December it was hard to leave him. Hopefully I will be able to see him again soon and meet my newest nephew.

I love my two little nephews dearly, I look forward to being able to spend time with them, read to them, and when they get older cook with them.

 

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Happy 51st Birthday, Daddy!

Today my dad turned 51. To celebrate his birthday we started out by going to see The Avengers. The movie was awesome, much better than I expected, I definitively want to see it again. Even though we got to the theater early it was packed, none of us got good seats and we were spaced all across the theater. Once the movie got going though I hardly noticed, I was too busy laughing at some of the hilarious scenes and lines.

The rest of the afternoon I rested since I have not been feeling good, Caroline made my dad a birthday cake, my mom and Sarah went Shopping, and Hannah and my dad just went about their days as normal. This evening though we all had cake and ice cream. Caroline made an amazing gluten-free giant whoopie pie cake which we ate with vanilla bean ice cream. I was even able to have ice cream since I recently discovered I don’t have a problem with dairy. Hannah made herself some diet safe gluten, corn, soy, dairy, etc. free brownies and chocolate chip mint ice cream. I have not tried the brownies although the ice cream was so light it reminded me of snow ice cream.

 

I am so thankful for my dad. He has loved us and taught us so much. He is a wonderful example and I can’t imagine life without him around. <3

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My Obsession With Rings

Something about rings is special. I love the way they sit daintily on a finger. Whether the ring be a small ring with a gem, or a large statement ring, they all are so captivating to me. Whenever I am looking at jewelry, usually at JC Penny’s or Target, I will get at least one ring if I can afford one in my size. I only started collecting them recently and have not been able to buy jewelry in awhile which means my collection is still pretty small, although I thought I would share some pictures of each of my rings.


This was my first ring. My mom was going through her old rings a couple years ago and found this one which she never wore. I was the only one it fit, which meant it was mine. I love the size of it, it’s small but just big enough to be noticeable. The Celtic-like leaf pattern also makes for an interesting design.

My second ring, from Hobby Lobby, one of my favorite places. This one is really basic with an adjustable band and does not have any color in it although I love the look of the flower. It is a nice basic ring to go with anything.

I found this large statement ring at JC Penny’s, my favorite place to look for jewelry. They typically have good sales on something and they always have at least one ring I like. This ring contains a few of the colors I wear most, pink, purple, and blue. I love the mix of “pearls” and gems. It is sparkly, big, pretty, and colorful.

I found this lovely silver and peridot ring at Target. I love the texture on the silver, the size and shape of the peridot, and the fact that it is both green and my birthstone is also nice. The peridot will go with pretty much anything and looks classic.

When I saw this ring at JC Penny’s I knew I must buy it. When I saw that it was on sale for $5 I was thrilled.  I love all animals, if I can find jewelry with an animal on it, as long as it is my style, I typically love it. This ring is unusual and unique looking which I enjoy. When I wear it I typically feel like singing Owl City songs.

Last, but not least, is my newest ring. Ellie the elephant. Okay, I did not really name if but Ellie seems like the perfect name for an elephant, don’t you think? I also purchased this ring at JC Penny’s, on sale for $10. I love the more exotic look of this one. I will wear this with a lot of my outfits but my favorite thing to wear it with is a long skirt with a dark green leaf and pink lily bold print. I really enjoy the detail on this ring, the tiny eyes, gems, and the detail in the metal.

Do you have a jewelry obsession? What is your favorite ring?

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Life As An INFP

My dear friend, Michelle, and I have started a blog. Our new blog, Life As An INFP, is based off of the Myers Briggs personality types. On it we write about how being an INFP affects our lives, beliefs, dreams (which INFPs have a lot of), goals, and family. We also enjoy having Music Monday posts each week where at least one of us posts a favorite song of ours. I hope you check out the blog and enjoy it!

I know I have not been posting on here much as of late. I am going to make it a goal to post on here, Life As An INFP, and make vlogs pretty often though. I am currently working on ideas for several blog posts and vlogs and hope to start regularly updating within the next few weeks.

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Hungry For Change, A Must See!

Today I watched this amazing documentary, Hungry For Change. I was just thinking this morning how crazy it is that you see the message all over the place of what the perfect body is and that you should look like that. The foods that are promoted though are the foods that are bad for your body and will make you overweight. You have these people telling you to look one way but eat in a way that will slowly kill your body and make you overweight. That is a big problem.

Watch this documentary while it is still free online, it is only an hour and a half long and could really help you or someone you know.  It is free to watch online until March 31st, I suggest you see it very soon.

68% of Americans are overweight or obese. This is not the way it should be. The food we eat is high in calories but low in nutrition so we feel as if we need to eat more to get the nutrition but it does not work. A diet with healthy fruits, vegetables, healthy meats,  and healthy grains is lower in calories but very high in nutrition, which is what we need.

Food is made addictive. Highly processed sugar, corn syrup, MSG, these things and more are added to most of the processed foods you eat. They are added not to make the product  better but to make you addicted to it. They want you to crave it and feel as if you need it so that way you will keep buying their food.

Watch the documentary now at http://www.hungryforchange.tv/

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Currently…

It is currently 3:30 am, which is actually not late for me considering I have been sick. When I have been sick for a long time, especially when my asthma is bad, my sleeping schedule gets mixed up so I am awake at night and sleep in the day. Now that my health is improving thanks to this dairy-free diet  and taking hydrogen peroxide treatments daily I thought I would stay up all night so I will sleep well tomorrow night.

Tonight to keep myself awake I am currently:

Slowly drinking 6 shots of espresso which I am keeping warm in a wonderful “bubba” cup.  It is like in the picture below although chocolate brown instead of blue, I would like it more if it was pink with green polka dots instead.

I’m writing texts to friends and saving them. I’m planning on sending them in a couple hours, once they are awake.

 

Making plans of things to do for people.

 

Getting dairy-free and gluten-free recipe ideas.

 

Have had this song stuck in my head for the last few hours, it is a new favorite.

 

Getting ready to go shopping in a few hours.

 

Contemplating if life was more like in Star Trek. If so all medical stuff would be free and there would be more healthy people, although I don’t know how doctors would be paid… We could also easily go from one state to another to visit friends and the trip would only take a minute to get there.

 

And watching Stargate SG1, season 7, episode 21.

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Being There For A Friend

When a friend is in pain you want to be there for them. You especially want to be there for them when you know they are always there for you and you care about them dearly.

When they are hurting or in pain you are as well. It is even more difficult when you can not be there with them to talk, laugh, cry, or just sit. You know you can still talk, text, and be there for support but you are not with them.

I do not like it when anyone is in pain, especially those I love. This means I try to show them how much I really care for them hoping it can help in some small way. I hope them just knowing I am there for them no matter what will help. It never feels like enough though, I just want to give them a hug and say or do something that will help although can’t since they are to far away.

To all my dear friends, thank you so much for being here for me. I hope that I can always be there for you and that you can count on me for anything! <3

 

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Going Dairy-Free

Today I decided I’m going  completely dairy-free. I’m already gluten-free which has fixed my hypoglycemia problems. I hope this will help with my asthma and autoimmune problems.

For many months my asthma has been pretty bad,  I get sick with a virus each week. I finally decided I should see if dairy could also be a food allergy I have. Since It’s common for asthmatics and people with celiac disease to have dairy allergies I thought I would start there.

Thankfully since we are used to dealing with so many food allergies it should be easy to make the change. I will, and already do, miss cheese though. Recently a sweet friend gave me these *amazingly* wonderful cookies which I’m very happy to know are dairy-free. Soon I hope to make a copycat recipe for them.

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Happy Sweet 16th Caroline!

Today is my dear sister, Caroline’s, birthday! She has been looking forward to her 16th birthday for awhile and it’s finally here. It’s hard to believe that my “little” sister is 16. The Lord has taught her much and I can see how He uses her, especially to help others.

The two of us have always been very alike with those little differences which make life interesting. I can remember when Caroline and I were little and would pretend to be spies, aliens, or pilgrims and Indians.  I also remember dreaming of our weddings someday, she always liked the sound of a double wedding and would get quite upset that I did not want to go along with it. We also had fun trying to mess with each other and scare the other, still do.

Then there are also the times when my health started getting bad. When everyone else was sick she would take care of us. Now that she also gets sick more we take turns caring for the other, but she can’t know how grateful I am. She truly cares about others and wants to help.

Caroline, I love you! I hope you have a wonderful birthday and a wonderful year being 16. <3

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Trying To Get Well

My health has been slowly improving lately. My hypoglycemia is under control by my gluten-free diet and I can now have sugar again. I now have a way to get rid of bronchitis which has been very helpful. My immune system is also, slowly, getting under control. I’m not getting as many colds and viruses, although I do still have them often.

Yesterday I got sick again. Not to bad, just slowly got worse. We will be busy the rest of the week and due to not really feeling up to doing anything today I’m resting and trying to take care of myself.

In the picture above you can see I have a lot of natural remedies, which are:
Water that was simmered with figs, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, I also have the figs on a saucer (helps the throat)
Cold water
Water with honey and elderberry syrup (immune system)
Honey, water, and lemon (for my throat)
Pineapple juice (throat and immune system)
HeadON (headache)
Stinging Nettles (allergies)
Peace And Calming essential oil (to help me relax and rest)

While I rest  today I’m mainly just trying to sleep while watching StarGate SG1. I also hope to practice drawing with my new watercolor pencils later on if I feel up to it. All the remedies seem to be helping some, thankfully. Hopefully I will be all better by Caroline’s birthday tomorrow and for the rest of the week.

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