Dr. Daaaaaaaan

so this should be interesting.  after months of pressure from various family members up here, I decided to give the “country doctor” they swear by a chance.  after all, the 1st 2 visits are free.  so to appease my family and so I could say I at least tried it, I went this past week. :)

it was the weirdest doctor’s visit I have ever been to.

but it was so cool all at the same time!!

so before I went, I thought the country doctor’s office was way out in some random field in the middle of nowhere.  I figured he was a crazy, little old man who squints are you through his glasses and talks in a tiny little voice.  at times I thought maybe he even threw “magical” herbal dust over you.

none of that was true, which, I was a little disappointed there was no magical herbal dust to dance in.

a “Country Doctor” is a naturopath doctor, they are all about healing the body naturally by changing diet and taking natural supplements that the body is deficient in.  here’s a definition I found of a naturopathic doctor:

“Naturopathic medicine is based on the belief that the human body has an innate healing ability. Naturopathic doctors (NDs) teach their patients to use diet, exercise, lifestyle changes and cutting edge natural therapies to enhance their bodies’ ability to ward off and combat disease.”

so I go and he does this series of crazy, freak you out tests where you lie down and put your arm straight up in the air and he lightly puts pressure on 1 side of your wrist and you match the pressure by lightly pressing back with your arm.  as he does that, he’s pushing on different areas of your body.  you can match his pressure just fine until he finds an area that needs attention – then it’s a lot harder to push back.  IT’S SO WEIRD!!!!!!!!!!!!

I became a little bit more a believer when, without me telling him, he was adamant I had a problem with milk when he pushed somewhere and my arm’s strength went down by a lot.  I developed a milk allergy when I was really young, like 3 or 4 probably.  and he totally knew it by doing this crazy test!!!!!!

long story short, I’m pretty healthy (SCORE!  BAM!) and the only area I need help with right now is digestion.  apparently, my body has a super whacked out sugar metabolism – which explains why I feel like my sugar levels drop suddenly.

so, for the next 90 days at least, I am supposed to cut out the following from my diet:
-oats (sad, but not too hard)
-wheat (seriously?!  shoot me now)
-corn (random, but not too hard)
-brown and white sugar (another killer) – I can have cane sugar, fruit sugar, and honey though!
-milk (no surprise – easy, I cut that out a long time ago) – I can still have soy milk, though!

meanwhile, I’m supposed to be taking these 2 supplements – Diaplex and Multizyme – that aid in breaking down sugar & carbs, digestion, and I really don’t know what else.

this is Day 3 of the 90.  the first morning I woke up and went to eat breakfast and was having a hard time figuring out what I could eat.  I suddenly had a wave of despair wash over me, feeling like I was going to starve for the next 90 days for sure.  thankfully, Cristine has had to do this before, too, and is brilliant when it comes to substitutions and alternatives.  her and Paul assured me I wouldn’t starve to death.  so after that initial freak out moment on the morning of Day 1, I was doing pretty good Day 1 & 2.  feeling healthier already.  determining to use this to change my eating habits to be healthier and to match it with working out (which will be a lot easier once my ankle heals and I can run again).  not doing too bad.

enter today, Day 3.  hello, killa.  come lunch time, I was seriously contemplating whether it would really be that bad if I went and splurged – got a hamburger and something sweet to eat.  the nectarine I tried to satisfy myself with just didn’t cut it.  I felt like all I could eat was fruits and veggies and I was starving.

thankfully, my intervention team (haha j/k) stepped in before I went off the deep end.  Cristine quick defrosted hamburger and cooked it up for me and I put veggies on it that everyone else had used to have fajitas with.

and now I sit here with a full belly, far from starving.  the world is OK once again.  for now.

did I mention I can still have vitamin water?  made with cane sugar.  BAM!  I win!

and I can eat all the meat I want – Dr. Dan said my body loves meat – it didn’t take a country doctor to tell me THAT.  ;)  show me the steak!!!

I weighed myself today.  I’m interested to see how this 90 days affects my body (inwardly, of course, but also outwardly – pretty sure I’m goin’ for the six-pack abs).

The local coffee shop in this small town is super cute and trendy inside and has some cool people working at it. it's one of the only real places to hang out in this town. However, they haven't quite figured out how to make coffee drinks. This has resulted in us normally just ordering Americanos. Today, I thought i'd go super easy and ask for a decaf coffee. To which the kid, looking confused, asked, "So like...did you want that brewed or...?" ...or what?! instant?? warmed up in the microwave?? what other ways are there?? I was just as confused as to what he was asking. So i said, "um..." Thankfully, the other girl working with him knows I normally get Americanos so she asked if that's what i wanted. so I said yes - i went with the Americano to avoid any confusion of what i wanted when i originally ordered a "decaf coffee". :) just another comedic event in this small town in Wyoming. and i can't complain because the internet has been down at our house almost all day and so i need to come here to get my work done on the internet. ;)

I always wanted have a dirt bike and a truck. And put the dirt bike in the back of the truck. And like...go get gas.

Maybe that can be my next adventure. Or like when I have health insurance. Because I would ride my bike. A lot. And I would go over jumps. And probably hurt myself eventually.

But it would rock. :)

Quote of the week, maybe even month

"God doesn't reveal His will through puking. Check the Bible. It's not biblical." - Paul Braddy

The irony of it all

So 2 days after I ordered a subscription to Runner's World magazine (gearing up to start running again now that it's warmer out), I rolled my ankle. Humorously ironic to me. A week and a 1/2 later I still can't run on it. Meanwhile, the beautiful weather continues on and I can only sit outside and read :P wait. Let's shift the attitude... at least I can sit outside and read. ;) and I can walk (for the most part).

It's not the end of the world. Far from it. Just a minor frustration. Excited for it to be all healed up.

On a much more exciting note, I'm headed to Costa Rica with a missions team July 6-14! STOKED! More details to come.

I guess running is on hold...

I was super stoked for the high 60 degree weather we had forecasted for last weekend. And the 70 degree week we have ahead of us (75 on a couple days!!). I was so stoked to get to start running outside again (because running like a hamster on the treadmill and getting nowhere just doesn't cut it for me anymore).

So Friday afternoon I got all geared up and excited for a run. Life was goin good. We were just walking past the house next to ours and I went to step down to the street so there'd be more room to run. The gutters on our street are like...really wide. I don't know how to explain it. But as I stepped down, I looked sideways at the dog who was barking behind the fence. And I heard a "pop!". And I hit the ground.

I never even got to run. Not even for a second. Oh sad.

Looks like running is out of the picture for at least a couple more days. At least til the swelling is gone ;)

it’s easy to ask, hard to trust

I’ve been challenged to the core, once again.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ll be worrying about something or battling something and I go before God in prayer.  so far so good, right?  I mean, that’s what He wants us to do, right?

the problem is – I can’t tell you how many times I say “amen” and then walk away still worrying about the same issue, still believing the lies that are battling in my head. still replaying possible scenarios and wondering “what if…?”

I didn’t realize I even did this, but then I was struck by this fact this past week.  Paul and I were meeting together about the internship and talking about plans for the next Sunday gathering.  I was struggling with anxiousness and fear because I was supposed to be leading a couple songs.  I kept playing possible scenarios thru my head (hardly ever a good idea).  but at the end of the meeting,after praying, Paul said, “Now you have to walk away from this conversation, from this time of prayer, in faith.  You have to walk away trusting God – knowing that you have brought this before Him and He is faithful and He is strong.  Now you have to trust Him and stop worrying.”

James 1:6-7
^“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.”

I am so sickly guilty of doing this!  it’s easy for me to go to God and ask – it’s so much harder for me to trust after I ask.

this realization has brought me so much peace and freedom the last few days.  a few weeks ago, when Paul had asked me to lead a couple songs for our time of corporate worship (that was yesterday), I freaked.  haha :) the next day I threw up because I was so stressed out about it. so  I expected myself to be an emotional, tense mess last week leading up to this time.  I get so fearful of doing what God is asking me to do (especially in the area of leading worship).  I pray and I pray and I pray for strength.  I ask others to pray for me.  but I still dread that moment of getting up in front of everyone.

this last week was different.  once my eyes were opened to this chronic problem I’ve had of asking God and walking away not trusting Him, everything changed.

I cannot begin to try to put words to the peace and freedom I felt leading up to this Sunday.  I prayed a lot this past week about this Sunday.  I knew I had others praying for me.  and this time around, by God’s grace, I chose to trust that He is faithful and He is strong.  I chose, by God’s grace, to not go down the path of worry.  to not go down the path of negative thoughts.  to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ.  every time I started going down the path of worry, God’s grace allowed me to realize it and He gave me the strength to cut it out – to remember that all the stuff I was worried about had been taken to Him and laid before His feet and I could walk in peace, trusting that He is good and He can use anything that happens for His glory.

we must walk in faith, trusting God is good no matter what.  He’s got our back.

ask.  and then walk away trusting.

FaceTime Fun

I am so thankful for FaceTime – the video calling feature on the iPhone.  it makes the couple thousand miles between me and my family feel a lot less far away.  here are some highlights from my time with them last night…

 

then everyone started getting goofy…

and Ben attacked Claire while she was trying to show me her cartwheels…

and Claire gave Lucy the phone so Lucy could hold it while Claire jumped off the bed…and Lucy decided to play her role as the older sister and turn the camera on herself instead of Claire… :)

and my beautiful Mama, AKA Nana, who keeps them all under control…

needless to say, every round of FaceTime with the fam is guaranteed to be entertaining :) oh how I love them!!

Things I’ve Learned Out West

when you think of being in a culture completely foreign to you, you normally think of another country.  I do, anyway.

not anymore.

welcome to the West.

I can talk sports.  I can talk music.  I can talk about Jesus.  I can even carry on conversations about boats and alternative energy to a certain extent.

throw me out West into cowboy-culture and I am totally lost.

it’s led to some comical situations.  so, drum roll please…….

Things I’ve Learned Out West – A Comical Approach
-Never make a big deal when a cowboy is wearing a cowboy hat. Do not excitedly exclaim, “Aw you’re wearing your cowboy hat!  That’s so cool!!”  … and especially don’t follow it with “You look like a real cowboy!”  Act cool.  Nonchalant.  A calm, “nice hat” is about as far as you want to go with that one.  (Hi Pastor Scott!! :) )

-Rocky Mountain Oysters are not from the sea.  At all.  When asked if I liked oysters, I said, “Yeah!”  When asked if I’d had Rocky Mountain oysters, I said, “No – but I’d try them!”  To which I was disgusted to find out they’re bull calf testicles.  Why in the world anyone would EVER think to even eat those things is way beyond my comprehension.  Why in the world anyone would ever think to CONTINUE making those things after the initial test is even farther beyond my comprehension.

-Cows are not just "cows”.  A cow is a female.  A bull is a male.  and a steer is a…castrated male.  So out here, when someone’s talking about a cow – they are actually talking about a legit female cow.  not just a cow in general.  When I found out what a steer actually is, I suddenly felt the urge to go pet the steers hanging out in the chutes waiting to be roped.  Which leads to…

-Never pet the steers in the chutes when you’re working the chutes for the ropers.  It’s just not cool.

-Never hoot and holler when you go to a roping.  Cowboys don’t tend to show emotion and apparently they highly frown upon people hootin’ and hollerin’ and holding signs at their ropings.  I don’t know.  We just thought it would be encouraging.  We left the signs at home and I only accidentally let a “YEAH!!!!” escape out of my mouth a couple times.

-When people ask if you “ride”, they aren’t just asking if you’ve ridden a nearly-deceased horse on a trail at some youth camp sometime during your life.  a girl asked me this past weekend at the coffee shop if I “ride”, to which I answered, “Not really – I mean, I have for fun but that’s it.”  - thinking that was an honest and safe answer.  then she followed that question up with “Do you ride English or Western?” …uh… to which I responded, “Um…I have no idea, whatever the safest and easiest is…?”  Apparently I’ve ridden Western.  now I can tell people “Yeah, I ride Western…you know, just on occasion…and like…you know, at slow paces…”

 

so, needless to say, I have a lot of learnin’ to do out here.  I feel SO out of place.  I’m just thankful that the people here are so nice and I’ve found that as long as I’m honest about not having a clue as to what they’re talking about, they’re more than willing to explain things to me.  :)

I have a dream that one day I’ll come across someone out here that loves surfing and I can talk about the Hobgoods, Hamilton, Slater, Machado, etc. and all the sick breaks they surf.

until then, cows it is.