This is a review of the past year, month by month, so that I can remember all that we’ve done and been through. There will be individual blog posts coming to go more in depth on some of the events that happened.
January
- J left on January 1 for a five week trip
- C and I saw a ballet performance of Sleeping Beauty put on at the local university. She loved it and it led to signing her up for ballet lessons in the fall.
- I made some healthy changes in the house by switching from dryer sheets to dryer balls, and by switching from plastic to glass storage containers in the kitchen.
- I finished a crocheted blanket that I had been working on for C.
- C and I took a trip to St Augustine, FL
February
- J got promoted and returned from his trip
- C ran out of the pull-ups that she wore at night and we didn’t buy any more.
- Found out that my Vitamin D levels were very low. Ideal levels are 60-70, mine was 17. I started taking high dose supplement.
- I met with an allergist who did skin prick testing for food items. When I was tested in Hawaii and my body was going haywire, the results showed I was allergic to almost every food tested for. This time, I showed no allergies to any food tested for. My body was healing.
- J, C, and I took a trip to Atlanta. We stayed in a hotel downtown and went to the Georgia Aquarium, Coca-Cola Museum, IKEA, and applied for C’s first passport
- I got a bad sinus and ear infection
- J left at the end of the month for a one week trip
March
- I got sick again at the beginning of the month, ended up in the ER at one point
- C and I took a two week trip to Antigua, Guatemala at the end of the month to visit J’s parents who were staying there for the winter. J joined us in Guatemala for one week to be there for Easter.
- C and I both got sick at the end of the month
April
- We started some seedlings and planned a backyard garden
- I got another bad sinus infection
- We spent a lot of time outside playing and riding bikes
- I met with a naturopathic doctor in Atlanta. I finally got some explanations and answers. A slew of tests were run and I started on some supplements.
- J was gone for 10 days at the end of the month.
May
- J was gone for a two week trip
- C and I took a trip to New York City where J met up with us at the end of his trip.
- I got sick again with another sinus infection
- I had a follow-up appointment with my naturopathic doctor to go over test results. She ran blood tests for mold allergies and found that I’m highly allergic to 8 of the 11 molds she tested for. I had positive evidence of mold exposure in my body (thank you, Hawaii). I left with entire bag of prescriptions and supplements to remove mold from my sinuses and help my body balance and function properly again.
- I had an endoscopy (throat scope) procedure done at the hospital to look for answers to my throat swelling reaction to dairy. Turns out, I have an extremely narrow esophagus. The average adult has a diameter of 15-20mm but mine was only 6mm. That explained SO much throughout my entire life! The doctor did a throat stretching procedure that increased the diameter to about 9mm.
- I had a CT scan done on my sinuses.
- We finally discovered the trigger to C’s eczema. I had kept this off of the blog and social media with my Photoshop skills but I will be opening up about it in a separate post.
June
- J was gone for 13 days this month
- C took part in a week-long gymnastics camp
- C and I took a week-long trip to Pennsylvania to visit my family
- C got her first official haircut at her aunt’s hair salon
- We started harvesting vegetables from our garden
- It was a rainy month so we spent a lot of time inside doing crafty things.
- I got sick again.
July
- J, C, Dulce, and I went camping at Stone Mountain, GA for the 4th of July which was a fun time but ridiculously hot and humid.
- We started Whole30
- Dulce had her 7th birthday!
- We took C to the movie theater for the first time to see The Secret Life of Pets
- C start survival swimming lessons, going for 10 min a day, four days a week, for six weeks
- We saw Beauty and Beast on stage at the local university
- I had another throat stretching procedure done that got the diameter of my esophagus up to 12mm.
- Partway through Whole30, I started getting new ill health symptoms and at that point discovered the Medical Medium. I started following his dietary and supplement recommendations and I started feeling better one week later and have continued to improve ever since.
August
- J was gone 17 days this month
- C went bowling for the first time
- C went to the dentist for the first time
- I was awarded a gold medal for hula hooping at our squadron olympic games
- C started PreK and ballet lessons
- J and C took a trip to Seattle to visit his family
September
- I met up with my best friend in Las Vegas for a Coldplay concert and some relaxation
- J’s mother came for a visit and was here for C’s birthday
- C turned 4 years old and had a Paw Patrol themed party.
- We had a strong storm knock down branches and cause damage to our backyard fence
- We participated in a neighborhood yard sale and got rid of a lot of unnecessary things and clutter
October
- J, C, and I took a camping trip to Helen, GA for Oktoberfest
- C and I ran in a local 1 mile race
- C dressed up as Elena of Avalor for Halloween
- I carved pumpkins with C for the first time
- J was gone for 14 days this month
- My mom came to visit
November
- Both of J’s parents came to visit
- J and I spent two nights in Savannah, GA where I ran the Rock N Roll Half Marathon on Nov 5
- J, his parents, and C took a weekend trip to St Augustine, FL
- I ran a 5k race on the military base
- We spent Thanksgiving week in Orlando with J’s family and relatives. We took C to Disney for the first time, going to the Magic Kingdom twice and Hollywood Studios once.
- We put up our Christmas tree after Thanksgiving
December
- J was gone for the entire month, returning on Christmas Eve
- C went on her first horse ride at a friend’s birthday party
- C and I spent my 39th birthday at Disney World
- We attended multiple Christmas programs and parties
- We saw Moana and Sing in the movie theater
- We decorated for Christmas, and we baked and decorated cookies
- We had a peaceful Christmas at home, thankful that our little family was together this year
- We spent two nights in Atlanta staying with friends to ring in the New Year.
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“appreciate this moment. stop and look around you. be thankful for all you have
and where you are because this time, next year, nothing will be the same.”
~r.h.Sin