St. George Island, Florida

In random order, may I present to you some pictures taken on our trip to St. George Island in Florida to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday. Without further adieu, here they are!

Both sunrises and sunstets were beautiful on the island.

Charlie really enjoyed fishing; so did Grandpa. 

The quantity of butterflies on the island was immense. It was kind of weird. 

This was the neighbor's deck. 

There were so many pelicans! They are such graceful birds! 

The pink and blue sky with the purple coulds was stunning. 

This was the back of the roadside store we got oysters and seafood from. 

Needle-nose fish are just a few of the creatures we encountered. We got up close and personal with sting rays (Kurt got stung and one whole day of his was used up dealing with that darn "sting"), jelly fish, and all kinds of other sea creatures. 

This pompano made for a nice little treat for supper. 

The sky was really like this! It was surreal! 

Grandma enjoyed her little birthday celebration.

The shoreline was full of shells. Where we go to the beach in SC doesn't have many shells so this was a treat for us to get to rummage through lots of different types of seashells.

Seaoats create a barrier between the shore and the houses. The sea turtles nest here. 

I'm not fond of seagulls... 

 Seeing a sundog never gets old!

This is an old trestle bridge in Albany, GA. We stopped there on our way.

Does it get much more peaceful than this?

Lastly, no trip is complete without a flower shot!

If you've made it this far, I hope you've enjoyed the pics! They were some of my favorite from the trip. I only wish my children wouldn't run from me every time I have the camera out! I'd love to have more pictures of them!

Sarah:)C:\Users\Rolf\Downloads\pinterest-8cee8 (1).html

It's No Secret

I'm overweight. Like, big time overweight. Like, more than 100 pounds overweight. I've been thin (6-8), and I've been this size (22-24). I've lost and gained at least a few hundred pounds in this lifetime. This size is no fun at all. Nothing is easy or fun about being this size. Things that are easy for normal weight people are hard for people of my size. I've tried about every diet known to mankind and I'm pretty sick of being this overweight. People might wonder how in the heck I've let myself go like this. I wish I could tell you all of the reasons why, but that would end up being a novel instead of a blog post!

I just got home from the beach and saw a picture of myself and was literally shocked, with my mouth wide open, about just how big I've really gotten. It's not just unhealthy, but it's unsightly. :(

Because of this, I've decided to try the 90 Day Weight Loss Challenge sponsored by Creative Bioscience. I will be using the 30 Day Diet for three months. There were several products for me to choose from including a raspberry ketone product and African mango product that I've heard a lot about but haven't yet tried.  The 30 Day Diet includes both of these ingredients and much more to promote weight loss. Creative Bioscience has an "A-" rating with the Better Business Bureau and that's very important to me!

I'll keep you updated on my progress once every few weeks. :)

This is even my good side! I can't bear to show you the front view! Hopefully that will change soon!

Sarah:)

P.S. This post is somewhat humiliating to me. I'm counting on people not to make nasty comments because if you've ever been this overweight, you'll realize that the last thing is a comment about what you already know. So, thank you in advance!

How Many TImes?

Ugh! How many times have I said, "It's been so long since I've blogged!". Too many times! But, I have to say it again. Apparently I'm a consistent blogger: consistently inconsistent!

Here are a few shots I've taken the in the last few days.

Hopefully I'll see you back here in a few days, rather than a few months!

Sarah:)

Back to School 2012

The boys are off to school! Charlie is in 6th grade and Ryan is in 4th.

Welcome new school year!

Sarah:)

Project Pinterest: Fluffy Pancakes

Ahhhh! What's better than fluffy pancakes? In my opinion, not a lot! I've made lots of pancake recipes, but this is one of the best. They really are fluffy!

The pin came from Allrecipes.com. Click on the link for the super easy and quick recipe!

What have you been pinning and making?

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Sarah:)

What's Up, Buttercup?

Yep, it's been a long time since I've been on this little blog of mine. If I look through the few years I've blogged here, there is a just a hint of a pattern: blog a lot, blog a little, don't blog, blog a little, blog a lot. Repeat, repeat, repeat!

I love lists. Here's a list of what we've been up to and just random stuff I'd like to share.

1. Charlie turned 11 and Ryan turned 9! They had a fun party at Celebrations.

2. Kurt and I celebrated our 13th anniversary. Let me tell you what, marriage is hard work!

3. The boys and I started the Couch to 5K program. We're only on day two. It's going to be tough. I know I've got to do something with my health though. I even took a 'before' photo that I'll share closer to when the 'after' is accomplished...look for it in a year or so!

4. On a whim, I bought a new camera! I sold my 'old' camera online with money in hand less than 24 hours after I posted it. I think it was meant to be! I haven't spent a lot of time with it yet, but will as soon as it cools down and I can get outside without sweating like a hog.

5. This post has gotten more than 42,000 pageviews. It's so weird to me because posts that I think are good get like 10 pageviews, then posts like that get at least a thousand a day. Weird!

6. I am so over summer. Swim team is over and so is our routine. It's too hot to play outside and the pool has lots its thrill for the boys. Only three weeks until school starts and this momma can't wait!

7. This sermon/article on the Chic-Fil-A deal is great. I encourage you to read it.

8. I'm hooked on Bubble Safari on Facebook. The reason I started this blog years ago was to get myself to quit playing useless games, namely, Farmville. Perhaps it's time to start blogging more again so I can get out of the torture of trying to pass level after level in BS. Yes, there's a reason that game's initials are BS!

9. I'm going through an identity crisis right about now. I think I'll write about that later though.

10. Middle school is right around the corner. Not literally. Nervous, anxious, and excited is how I'm feeling about this transition. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:6-7

See you soon!

Sarah:)

Project Pinterest: Blueberry Sauce

Blueberry season rocks! Too bad it's only for such a short time though. I'm forced to think outside the box so I can use all the berries I buy. I thought I'd try some blueberry sauce for a change of pace. I found the recipe on The Royal Cook's blog. It's super easy and yummy too!

Blueberry Sauce

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/3 cup water

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Mix the sugar and cornstarch in a 2-quart saucepan. Add the water. Add the blueberries and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for one minute while stirring constantly. 

I put the cooked sauce in canning jars and then dished us up some vanilla yogurt topped with the sauce and it was awesome. It was just pure blueberry flavor. Next I'll try it on pancakes!

Here are the guidelines for Project Pinterest:

1. Decide which pin on Pinterest you’d like to recreate.

2. Create it!

3. Flop or success, create a blog post about your re-do and include the original pin’s url.

4. Add the Project Pinterest button to your post so others can join in too!

5. Link up and check out other bloggers’ posts!

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Sarah:)

Swim Team - Wordless Wednesday

 

Sarah:)

Three-Ingredient Italian Crock Pot Beef

Let me tell you about the yummiest crock pot beef I've ever had in my life! My mom has made this before and we all just love it. I'm not a big meat eater, but this just knocks my socks off! Try it once and I know you'll be hooked!

1 packet Italian dressing

1 bottle/can beer (Any kind will do! We're not big drinkers so we still had some left over from Christmas when family came!)

1 jar pepperoncinis with juice

 2-3 pound rump roast

Mix the dressing packet, beer, and jar of pepperoncinis. My mom leaves the pepperoncinis whole, I just use the juice and about five sliced up. Either is fine. Place the roast in the crockpot and pour the mix over it. Set your crockpot on low for about 8 hours. The meat will start to pull apart. Separate beef with two forks. Serve on a bun or just as is. It's delicious! 

Sarah:)

Project Pinterest: Easy Microwave Carmels!

Well hello! Seems like it's been forever and two days since I've blogged. I battled a serious illness and am just taking time to recover. Finally, life seems back to normal and I couldn't be happier!

On to Project Pinterest! From now on PP will start on the 10th of the month and the linky will be up until the end of the month. Feel free to link up as many Project Pinterest posts as you'd like to!

I pinned this microwave caramel recipe a while ago. I loved that it was so easy and that I had everything I needed to make it in my pantry!

I'm a bit dumbfounded because I cannot find my pictures of it now. I have no idea what happened to them and I'm hesitant to make it again because it was darn near impossible to not eat every last bite!

Please go over and visit Eat Cake for Dinner blog and see the recipe and pictures!


Here are the guidelines for Project Pinterest:

1. Decide which pin on Pinterest you’d like to recreate.

2. Create it!

3. Flop or success, create a blog post about your re-do and include the original pin’s url.

4. Add the Project Pinterest button to your post so others can join in too!

5. Link up and check out other bloggers’ posts!

<center><a href="randomthoughtsfromamomsperspective.blogspot.com"><img border="0" src="http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/srolf11/PP.jpg" /></a></center>

Sarah:)

My Battle with Serotonin Syndrome

Just a little to know before you read the story. I’ve been taking an antidepressant for 18 years. I thought that it might be time to switch it up and try different one since the previous one (Prozac) had seemed to peter out just a bit. No biggie, right?

Wrong!

I went to my GP and told her I’d like to switch to a different antidepressant and she was quick to prescribe Viibryd, a brand new SSRI on the market. Immediately, I was concerned because even though it has been FDA approved, I tend to like to stick to the older, more well known drugs. I should have listened to my gut. I didn’t though and it put me in a world of hurt about 10 days later.

So…here’s my Viibryd saga.

May 17th - I discontinued Prozac as instructed by my doc and started Viibryd at 10mg. I had a few minimal bouts of diarrhea. Nothing to write home about, but enough to notice.

May 24th - Upped Viibryd to 20 mg to eventually titrate up to 40 mg.

May 26th - Friday morning I took Imitrex for an oncoming migraine and continued on with the 20 mg Viibryd.

May 27th - Saturday morning I took another Imitrex for migraine management. That night I experienced extreme cold for about four hours. This was a bone-crushing cold that six blankets and an inside temp of 80 couldn’t warm me up. It was so bizarre. Generally with my flares of ankylosing spondylitis, I do get a little cold and then a fever, but then I have pain with it. This was nowhere near any degree of cold I’ve ever felt before, but I didn’t have any pain so I didn’t think this was going to be a run of the mill type flare for me.

After about four hours of the extreme cold, the fever came on without any mercy.  I was sweating through my clothes and sheets and begging for mercy from whoever it was that could hear me. I really felt like I was going crazy! My breathe felt like fire on my face. I felt like I was cooking from the inside out. Had I been in control of anything at the time, I would’ve know I needed to go be seen. During this fever from hell I had extreme diarrhea (AKA fountain butt) and felt extremely nauseous, but couldn’t throw up. Every sip of water I took or every move I made meant I had to run straight to the bathroom. This could pretty much be the worst night of my life!

I must’ve been in and out of sleep because I don’t remember the sun rising.

May 28th – I was grateful to wake up Sunday and be pretty much fever free, but the diarrhea was not stopping and I wasn’t able to keep anything, not even a sip of water, in my body. I figured I had a bad bout with a stomach virus at this point. The cold/fever/incoherent thing really threw me for a loop though because I’ve never had anything like it.

May 29th - Monday morning I went to urgent care because I hadn’t been able to keep a single drop of water down since Saturday night. When I arrived at urgent care, my blood pressure was 160/140 (it’s normally about 125/80)! My resting pulse was 122! It was insane! They had trouble finding a good vain, but when they did, the started the fluids and nausea meds and I felt so much better. I was able to drink a sip of water and thought I’d be ok.

Once I got home the diarrhea started back in full force. This continued on and on and on. I was so weak!

The urgent care doc and nurses were great. He said all of my blood work came back normal and that his conclusion was that it was serotonin syndrome due to the new and increased dose of Viibryd interacting with the Imitrex (a triptan). The crazy high blood pressure, pulse, hyper/hypothermia, nausea, and diarrhea were due to too much serotonin in my brain. Crazy! And to think I was never warned by my doc or pharmacist that this could be an issue, a life-threatening one, at that!

May 31st – When I woke up I knew I couldn’t go on like this anymore; I didn’t even have enough energy to keep my eyes open! My body desperately needed hydration. I went to my doc who prescribed the Viibryd (and did NOT tell me about any possible interactions with the triptan I took). They stuck me 10 times (two times in the foot) to find a vain that didn’t “blow” to get the IV fluids in me. Once I got the fluids in me I felt so much better again.

June 2nd – One week had gone by and I was finally starting to feel like I was going to make it! I finally was able to eat a little something (pretzels) and not be repulsed by it or have it come out the other end.

June 3rd – I woke up and felt like I was a new person! I had wanted a way to kick-start a diet, but losing about 15 pounds by being sicker than a dog is not what I expected!

The moral of this story I guess is to really make sure to 1) follow your gut instinct and 2) make sure to check with your doctor or pharmacist about potential drug interactions. What really gets me is that I am normally very good about following my gut and double-checking with the doc or pharmacist about any possible reactions. I know that from now on, I’ll make sure to do both of these things!

Thanks for listening!

Sarah:)

80 Questions

I found this on the Jump Starting Me blog and realized I haven’t done one of these in a long time.

1. Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed?  Closed! How creepy to sleep with them open!
2. Do you take the shampoos and conditioner bottles from hotel?  Yes! I love those little bottles. It’s like Christmas to me!
3. Do you sleep with your sheets tucked in or out?  Not tucked in. I’ll go to great lengths to make sure they are not tucked in. If claustrophobic if they’re tucked in.
4. Have you ever stolen a street sign before?  Not stolen, but taken from a Public Works warehouse.
5. Do you like to use post-it notes? Yes! I love the colorful cubes.
6. Do you cut out coupons but then never use them? I go through phases with coupons. Currently, I’m not couponing.
7. Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of a bees? Bees.
8. Do you have freckles?  Yep.
9. Do you always smile for pictures? No!
10. What is your biggest pet peeve?  Bad/slow drivers.
11. Do you ever count your steps when you walk?  Yes. It’s quite annoying!
12. Have you ever peed in the woods?  Yes.
13. What about pooped in the woods?  I can’t recall a specific incidence, but I know it’s happened when I was young and hiking.
14. Do you ever dance, even if there is no music playing?  Yes! I want to be a real dancer when I grow up!
15. Do you chew your pens and pencils? Yep.
16. What size is your bed? Queen.  I want a king though!
17. Is it ok for guys to wear pink?  Why wouldn’t it be?
18. Do you still watch cartoons? No, unless it’s with the boys. 
19. What's your least favorite movie?  There are too many to list! Worst ever has to be “Weekend with Bernie”.
20. What do you drink with dinner?  Water. 
21. What do you dip a chicken nugget in?  Nothing.
22. What is your favorite food? Pizza! 
23. What movies could you watch over and over again and never get sick of them?  Crash. A Simple Plan. Both are actually really deep and really make you think about the condition of humanity.
24. Last person you kissed/kissed you?  Kurt. In my mind, maybe Zac Efron!  
25. Were you ever a girl scout?  Yes through 8th grade.
26. Would you ever strip or pose nude in a magazine?  Yeah, um, no?! Not in this body anyway!
27. When was the last time  you wrote a letter to someone on paper?  I can’t even remember! 
28. Can you change the oil on a car? No. 
29. Ever gotten a speeding ticket?  Yes…see #10!
30. Ran out of gas?  No, I don’t think so.
31. Favorite kind of sandwich?  Any sandwich that I don’t make! 
32. Best thing to eat for breakfast? Waffles, pancakes, toast, bacon, sausage, hash browns!
33. What is your usual bedtime?  I go to bed at 10 but fall asleep around midnight. 
34. Are you lazy? No! Yes! No! Yes! Sometimes I am, sometimes I’m not!
35. When you were a kid what did you dress up as for Halloween?  Raggedy Ann. Dice (with a friend)…and I don’t remember what else.
36. How many languages can you speak?  One. I could get by in a Spanish speaking country because I understand it when it’s spoken to me, but can’t speak it all that well.
37. Do you have any magazine subscriptions?  Yes. I’ve been taking advantage of Groupon-like sites and getting some great deals. I currently get Reader’s Digest, Taste of Home, Men’s Health and just bought one for some parenting magazine. 
38. Which are better Legos or Lincoln Logs?  Legos.
39. Are you stubborn? Yes! I don’t care for it either! 
40. Ever watch soap operas?  I used to watch Days of Our Lives off and on since I was young. I feel like I can skip it a few years and hop right back in to it!
41. Afraid of heights?  Yes! But, the older I get the less afraid I am.
42. Sing in the car?  Absolutely! I can’t not sing in the car!
43. Dance in the shower?  No. Don’t want to fall!
44. Dance in the car? Yes!
45. Every used a gun?  My friend is a cop and I got to hold her gun once. That’s about it. 
46. Last time you got your portrait taken by a photographer?  My wedding day…almost 13 years ago!
47. Do you think musicals are cheesy?  Yeah, pretty much. My first real experience on Broadway was the musical “Tommy”. I pretty much hated it because of the cheese factor. I LOVE music though!
48. Is Christmas stressful?  Nope. I don’t make it stressful. It’s not about gifts and parties, it’s about celebrating Jesus’ birth! 
49. Ever eat a pierogi?  Nope. I don’t even know what one is. 
50. Favorite type of fruit pie?  Blueberry!
51. Take a vitamin daily?  No, I should, but I don't. 
52. Wear slippers?  Never!
53. Wear a bath robe?  No, but I’d like to get one.
54. What do you wear to bed?  A tank top. 
55. Wal-Mart, Target, or Kmart?  Target, Wal-Mart, Kmart.
56. Nike or Adidas?  Nike. 
57. Cheetos or Fritos? Both! 
58. Peanuts or Sunflower Seeds?  Both! I try to limit eating sunflower seeds though because they cause my mouth to hurt.
59. Ever take dance lessons?  When I was little I took tap dance. I want to take dance now though! I’d be a Latin dance sensation!
60. Ever won a spelling bee? Yes, in second grade!
61. Have you ever cried from happiness? Yes, quite frequently, actually. The last time was a few nights ago watching Phillip Phillips win American Idol. 
62. Regularly burn incense?  Ewwww. No! My olfactory system works overtime as it is. I don’t care for many scents at all. 
63. Ever been in love?  Yep!
64. What was the last concert you saw?  Toby Mac
65. Hot tea or Cold tea?  Neither. 
66. Tea or Coffee?  Neither. 
67. Can you hold your breath without holding your nose? Yes!
68. Are you patient?  Yes with some things, like my kids usually. No with other things like slow drivers!
69. Ever won a contest?  Yep! I won a Pioneer Woman signed cookbook, a dress, an Initials bag, a turkey at BINGO, and other stuff that I can’t remember!
70. Ever have plastic surgery?  In my mind I’ve had a breast reduction and a tummy tuck, but nothing ever in real life!
71. Which are better, black or green olives?   Both!
72. Can you knit or crochet?  Only a scarf! 
73. Do you want to get married?  I think I have to say yes since I already am married, right? 
74. Do you have kids?  I sure do. I have two boys! I always knew I’d have boys! 
75. What is your favorite color?  Purple, without a doubt!
76. Do you wear shoes in the house? No! I hate wearing shoes!
77. Who would you call first if you won the lottery?  Kurt or my mom.
78. What's the first thing you do when you go online? Facebook, Hotmail, Blogger, Pinterest…in that exact order.
79. Do you like sushi?  No. I’ve tried it numerous times, I just can’t like it. I’d like to be cool and hang with the sushi crowd, I just can’t.
80. What are you doing tomorrow?  It’s Saturday and we have NO plans other than to spend the day at the pool with friends! 

Let me know if you decide to answer the questions! I’d love to read your responses!

Sarah:)