Matthew's Puzzle and a mom putting it all together

Gevalia and Safeway Make Get Togethers Easy

June 14, 2013 By Maryann

Thank you to Gevalia and Safeway for sponsoring this post. Visit the Safeway website for more information about Gevalia and Like Gevalia on Facebook.

I live on a pretty small street. As a matter of fact there are only 8 houses on the street and that comprises our whole neighborhood. But we have some great neighbors. I think they are super, and I love hanging out with them. The problem is is they are always so busy it is really hard to get us all together. So I decided to have a little midweek get together. It was so nice to hang out with my favorite ladies and just talk about everything.

To make the event easy and delicious I opted to grab some prepared desserts from Safeway’s bakery section. I selected some house made macarons, and a fabulous lemon bunt cake. I adore lemon in the warmer weather as it just tastes perfect and light, and it goes really well with Gevalia coffee which I also picked up at Safeway. I selected the Gevalia Columbia K-cups because they are a medium roast which is perfect for dessert but also great at breakfast the next morning. I love using the Gevalia K-cups with our Keurig since it makes the perfect brew every single time and my guests can decide if they want a small cup or a big one (the way I like it). (*Kraft Foods is not affiliated with Keurig, Inc. KEURIG and K-CUP are registered trademarks of Keurig, Inc.)

Since I have been struggling with vertigo for a while I also decided to try a few heat and serve appetizers. I figured it would make life a little easier for me since I am feeling so dizzy all the time. I was really pleased by the large selection of heat and serve items in the frozen food section. We noshed on chicken taquitos and mini Florentine quiches. No, none of it was gluten free, but I just felt like it wasn’t something I felt like dealing with that night. We ended up having a small group, but that was fine with me. I got to hang out with some of my favorite ladies, drink Gevalia and munch on some delicious food. Overall it was a perfect night.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Wordless Wednesday The Frog That Came To Dinner

June 12, 2013 By Maryann

We have a small storm water management pond across the road from us. Every year it gets filled up with tadpoles that soon turn into tiny little frogs. I love these frogs so much. They are so small yet they make the biggest, deepest noises. There are so many of them in the pond that you can hear them through our front door after dark. They make a steady drone that is just summertime to me. So this past Sunday the little guy below kept trying to get in the house. I wanted to keep him so badly, but we let him go.

Pure Health Naturally Product Review

June 11, 2013 By Maryann

Disclosure: I received these products at no cost to provide a review. All opinions are my own.

If you have been reading my blog for any period of time then you already know I prefer natural supplements over pharmaceuticals whenever possible. I think they work with the whole body and I simply prefer to use them whenever I can. Pure Health Naturally send me a few of their products to test out.

The first supplement I decided to try is Thyroid 5 which is chock full of things like Bladderwrack, Selenium, L-Tyrosine & Kelp. It is a nice item which can help support the thyroid. I take 2 capsules daily.

Pure Health Naturally also sent along Sleep Sweetly which has lemon balm, GABA and L-Glycine. I am hoping to pass this one on to my husband who can not see to sleep through the night no matter what we do.

I wish I had had the Pure Health Naturally Natural Defense with me when I went to Autism One last month. Ever time I hop on a plane I end up with a cold and this trip was no different. I would have loved to have used this product before I took my flight. I could have used its support.

I also received a bottle of Water Trim and one of Appetite Suppress. I am hoping they will help me naturally deal with my excessive appetite especially since I’m trying to diet right now.

Lastly I tried out Pure Health Naturally Nature’s Green & Lean tea. It is a blend of green tea, green coffee bean and spices such as cinnamon, ginger and anise. I love the warm flavors the spices impart. It is a delicious brew.

Vertigo

June 10, 2013 By Maryann

Many moons ago I went on a trip to the Bahamas. It was lovely and my friends and I did a ton of great stuff. Of course we flew down, then we took several boat rides and one Booze Cruise where we ended up snorkeling. Problem is my body did’t really like all that stuff and I developed a horrendous case of vertigo.

When I say horrendous, I mean majorly bad, bedridden for 2 weeks, can’t even cook for myself, kind of vertigo. And once you get vertigo you are more susceptible to getting it again. So that is what has happened to me. I keep getting bouts of vertigo. Sometimes they are brought on by a particular event such as a plane or boat ride, other times they seem to be connected to an illness, but once I learned about the vertigo exercises/maneuvers I have been able to mitigate the symptoms and return to a normal like.

Every time except this time.

Right now I’m suffering from a pretty bad case of vertigo. It seems to have started about a month ago, with occasional, short lived bouts that didn’t require any maneuvers to correct the problem. Then about 2 weeks ago it started to get worse. Of course that was when I had to go to Chicago for the Autism One conference. Having been on the plane I suspected that was the problem, but I also caught a cold. I tried the Epley maneuver several times but nothing helped. I took over the counter Dramamine just to see if I could get it under control, but all that did was make me tired.

When I got home from the trip I was a mess. I slept almost constantly for 2 whole days. Finally I went to see my doctor and she said she had no idea why I was feeling so dizzy. I did not appear to have the typical vertigo. She has now recommended I go to see a neurologist that specializes in vertigo.

As I wait for that appointment I decided to try our acupuncturist. He provided me with a little improvement but feels that I will need an additional treatment to get it back to normal. I surely hope he knows what he is doing because this is getting to be crazy. It is impacting my life and the life of my family. My husband has had to take over a ton of the work because I just can’t do it. I can barely keep up with normal activities.

And I’m scared of what the neurologist might say. I hate that I often go to the worst place, but I do. So now I just wait for all my appointments and pray someone can fix me up right fast.