Category Archives: Boulder

Join the Club! 1 in 3 Of You Are A Part Of It And You Don’t Even Know It

. Boulder, Devil Soy, From Scratch Cooking, gluten free, Monsanto, Organic . , , ,

Today was a TOTAL eye opener. I went to a doctor specializing in functional medicine, meaning, he specializes in finding the root of the problem and fixing it; rather than throwing drugs at some symptoms and dealing with the side effects. I never knew this practice existed but then again, this is Boulder so it really should come as no surprise.

I went there for my “stomach issues.” My “loyal” readers (all 6 of you, shout out!) know that my “stomach issues” have plagued me for my entire life, but have picked up in ferocity in the past 11 years. I have had the gamut of tests run with tubes put in places they just DO NOT belong, scopes, and blood tests. At 27 I was put on medicine typically administered to geriatric patients (but they soon after pulled it off the market because it caused heart attacks, or strokes…or something, but it wasn’t good and so no more drugs. I didn’t like being on them in the first place.) I have been tested for Celiac (negative) and allergies (oh so positive) and have years of internet research and books* and felt that I had a good handle on my “stomach issues”. Which was “diagnosed” as IBS which is really just some bullshit label they give you so can kind of have some piece of mind because they can’t figure out what the huck the problem is.

That is until today. Today, after approximately 3 and a half minutes of talking with this brilliant, genius of a doctor and telling him my issues, he laid it out on the table. He said those two words that I have been dreading to hear all these years, with every bite of toast I take. “Gluten-Free”.

I started crying. (I am particularly weepy lately due to sleep deprivation.)

Whatever you do, PLEASE DO NOT TAKE MY CARBS FROM ME! I will beat you with that loaf of french bread.

“It is the best decision you will ever make.” the doctor said and went on to tell me that about a year ago, he himself thought he was pre-Alzheimers, about to sell his practice, couldn’t remember ANYTHING, had to take his wife along with him to remember what he went out for, etc. His wife went gluten-free due to her fibromylagia and he joined her. Within two weeks his brain function was back and his chronic back pain (of 35 years) was gone.

Ok, that’s great for you guys…but seriously, this is not it.

“You had the stomach flu in your household how many times in a 6 month time span?” he asks. 15

Most likely because myself and the boys are probably gluten-intolerant which  is weakening our immune systems and hence….puke. (an aside, I am currently recovering from a bout of stomach flu from last week.)

“People with gluten sensitivity often are run down.” brilliant, genius doctor says. And I just thought it was kids.

“A lot of gluten sensitive folk also have dairy sensitivity or allergy” brilliant, genius doctor says. My eyes welled up more, I grabbed another tissue as the realization s l o w l y started to seep into my thick skull.

Back in 2006 when I overhauled my diet to to the fine, restricted list it stands at today, I noticed that artificial sweetners and high fructose corn syrup were total gut bombs for me. And let me clarify “gut bomb”, we are talking fetal position, rocking on the floor type pain. The lovely chemical cocktails of processed “food” interestingly enough, are know to cause digestive issues in gluten sensitive folk….hmmmm. ( I learned this from a fantastic article from the Gluten Free Goddess, How To Go Gluten Free.)

Coffee and Black tea are gastric irritants particularly for gluten sensitive and “IBS” folk. I always said caffeine was never a good choice for me (those who know me know why!) so it’s a good thing coffee and tea crush my stomach.

COFFEE

and beer. OOOOOOOOH beer, how I love thee. Not always, but a stint as a server and bartender at a brewery back in the day gave me a great appreciation for it. But I have also had a love/hate relationship with it.  I never know if it’s going to love me or hate me (my belly that is.) I blamed it on hops and draft lines because sometimes my stomach can handle beer no problem, most times I can’t.  But never once did it cross my mind that it would be the wheat. I was already tested for Celiac, I had never heard of gluten sensitivity.

I was in total denial and up until I started writing this post, I still wasn’t convinced that this is the culprit of all of the above. But I know it is, I can no longer deny that I have to further restrict to include another food that is prevalent in almost every.damn.product known on earth. And one of which I CRAVE and enjoy at almost every.single.damn.meal. Wheat, we are officially broken up. I’m pissed at you and your wheat relatives and damn hybridization that hybridized so much over that past 50 years that you made your fool damn self toxic to most humans. (Source)

and while we’re at it, Monsanto can still suck it. They don’t really have anything to do with this, really, directly, this time…but they still are evil.

F Monsanto

*THE book that changed my life: The Unhealthy Truth by Robyn O’Brien. It is an EYE OPENING book about our food industry, Monsanto, our corrupt FDA and how all of it can be tied into allergies, asthma, ADD, ADHD, and autism. Also, artificial food coloring will promptly be removed from your children’s diet after reading this book….and it will make a WORLD of difference.

Selling Out Ain’t So Bad

. Boulder, i want to make this, kids . ,

It has been almost a year since we became sell-outs. Our 1965, 1,200 sq. ft., bi-level; nestled in the foothills of beautiful Boulder, CO was the first property Matt and I bought together. It was our first home complete with cherry trees in the front yard like we always talked about.

Cheery trees on the left, highly allergic, yet beautiful Aspens on the right

I loved that house and pictured our kids growing up and making memories there. And then we had that kid (G) and that vision quickly changed. My once, dream house, was now giving me (and our dog) anxiety.  Both my husband and I worked from home and only one of us had an office (that was also a shared guest bedroom), we tip toed around at nap time (because old houses are LOUD and have no insulation and are OLD!) Our high energy dog was starting to exhibit some new, nervous habits, and let’s face it Boulder is not cheap and neither is a home that is approaching 50 years old (in need of a new roof, hot water heater, siding, washer/dryer etc.)

Also, with talks of possibly having another child (which came to fruition 10 months later) AND a half hearted, totally-in-the-dark, “Our neighbors house is on the market, you sure you don’t want to move?” comment and link to Realtor.com from our some of our closest friends (which will here on out be referred to as our CF (Colorado Family), since in a few weeks we will be Colorado orphans*), we headed for the ‘burbs, I couldn’t believe I finally agreed to do it. I have nothing against “the burbs,” I had a very nice and very safe childhood in the City of Tomorrow, Today! But I moved to Colorado 6 years ago with the sole intention of living in Boulder and no where else. How very close-minded of me.

For 8 years of my life, this was our exit to get off the highway ;)

Our current living situation could not be any more perfect.  We have plenty of room in our new house, we live around the corner from our CF (LESS THAN 400 METERS! That is LESS THAN one lap around a track!) our new neighbors are SUPER awesome…like, let’s spend holidays together, awesome.  However, there is one problem with the house.  And this may have something to do with the fact that I was 7 months pregnant when we moved in, was put on bed rest shortly after, had said baby (B!), recovered from major surgery, and then trained for a half marathon shortly after that….I haven’t spent a lot of time decorating and our house is desperately lacking decor….we have made our old furniture work and bought new living room furniture…but a lot of rooms are half filled with furniture and most walls are missing decor/pictures/art/ANYTHING! And my OCD-ness does not like this one bit.

  “WHAT THE HELL? WHO CARES about your empty, non-decorated house?  What does this have to do with PINTEREST?!?!” You ask?

Well, we have some fun nooks and crannies in this new house you see.  One area in particular is by our guest bedroom and from day one I have been eyeing it for an aquarium.  But ooooh, aquariums are like taking care of another child (at least, the size of aquarium I have in mind for this little nook) and let’s be honest, I have reached my Kelly-max for kids (2!  Just 2!  Two hands, two kids, cut off, no more!)

I would be great for an aquarium or a coyote-hiding fort!

The first day that I really sat down and started exploring Pinterest, I came across tension rod forts. And as I go back to look for the pin, I apparently didn’t even pin it. But I know I immediately clicked on it, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS! and then went to Amazon to by some tension rods. Here’s a tip for ya. If you are buying tension rods from Amazon.com, they probably come in two packs….I learned this the hard way (we now have Fort Bragg sprouting up around our house.) I also “just happened” to have an extra set of black-out curtains that I also ordered from Amazon (whoops! That’s what you get for Amazon-ing at 4am!) and in less time that it took G to realize I was gone, we had this:

I will protect you from coyotes, monstahs and Coco Man (G’s new “friend”)

and then shortly thereafter, filled with important boy things:

Even forts need decor

We have also had forts in G’s room and our room and our laundry room has a PERFECT spot for one (but I just redecorated and want it to stay classy.  Yes, I have a classy laundry room.)  We, not just G, but the entire family, including Huli (our dog) play in the fort every night before bed.  It’s almost part of our bedtime ritual now and has offered hours of fun and I’m sure will offer hours more. And I love watching G’s imagination take off, coming up with whatever crazy scenario his little mind dreams up (and they are crazy!) I can’t wait until B is old enough and they can play in there together. I knew this house would offer us more room that we desperately needed with our growing family, but I had no idea when we bought it how many fun adventures were waiting inside for us.

Raising a child in Boulder has so many perks, the schools, hiking trails and parks, Pearl Street, CU…there is always something going on in Boulder, it’s a great town and I still love visiting.  I was so, so sad to move away.  I thought I would miss it desperately.

G and I would hike Chautauqua three times a week!

Our playground

But something strange happened when we “sold out.” We became a happier family. And I realized that just because Boulder may be really “cool”, it may not be the perfect place for us right now.  We never had any sort of relationship with our neighbors and our lives are so much richer with the people that now surround us. We may not be in walking distance to the adventures that await us in the mountains of Boulder, but we now create our own adventures right here in the comfort of our house in the ‘burbs.

How about you?  Have you ever “sold out” and do you regret it or are you glad you did it?

*Matt’s parents are currently residents of Colorado, but will be leaving us in less than a month for sunny AZ, thus, leaving us as Colorado Orphans. :(