Lifestyle Changes

Well Friends, the question has been raised, are Ricky and I Amish? Well, no...but we are running on little to no money, thank you student loans, so we have spent our days finding ways to spend less. While trying to minimize our spending Ricky and I also became very aware of the nasty things that are put in cleaners, toiletries, makeup, and even what is sprayed on food. You may be wondering how we managed to run across that while searching for ways to spend less money, well it turns out a lot of people who are trying to spend less money have resorted to making many things themselves. So we have decided to alter our lifestyle in an effort to spend less money, eat less bad food, and bring less chemicals into the home.

However, while we were chugging along on our little expedition, we were hit with some unexpected road blocks...Ricky and I got hit with some nasty sicknesses(me), multiple allergic reactions(Ricky), followed by a concussion(Ricky). Let me first say, Praise JESUS that we have health insurance again, after 2+ years with none. God has been so good to us in providing Ricky with a wonderful job that he loves, and through that giving us full dental, vision, and health insurance. Since we received these benefits we have both needed to purchase glasses, contacts(me), had cavities filled, received dental exams, seen 4+ doctors, many prescriptions, and an ER visit with a CT scan and chest XRay. Did I mention we have only had insurance for 2.5 months? It has been quite a whirlwind the last few months, but through it all, we are reminded of our sovereign God and His plan for us.

My dear sweet Ricky has had a few allergic reactions over the past few years that have resulted in full body rashes with raised welts and facial swelling. He has gone to doctors and received medical attention and they were never quite sure what was going on with him, and what exactly was causing these reactions. A few weeks ago, Ricky woke up one morning and asked me if his face looked swollen. Being the loving wife that I am, I laughed and said " why yes it does!" and ran to get my camera. We decided to take pictures each morning and night to chronical the change in his face, and it got crazy! Here is a picture of him on the third day, when I finally called the allergist and got him right away.

Turns out he is allergic to many, many things and some of them are minor allergies while others are very serious allergies...

From serious to minor:

Tomato

Carrots

Shrimp

Potato

Peanut

Wheat

Corn

Oats

Soybean

Orange

Apple

Baker's Yeast

Crab

Now, while that looks like the craziest list of allergies on the planet, because it is, do not be discouraged. They tell us there is a high occurrence of false positives so he is going in for a more conclusive test this Thursday. So far the only one we are sure is a pretty nasty allergy is tomatoes. Which makes us both really really sad. :(

Now some of you may be wondering about that concussion I spoke of earlier, and the ER visit with the CT scan and chest X Ray...

Well, my Ricky loves mountain biking, loves it so much he goes 4-5 times a week for 2 hours in the afternoon and also on Saturday mornings. Now given my husband's love for extreme sports and his tendency to get hurt, I have had many nightmares where I am woken up by a phone call telling me to come pick up my husband, or meet at the hospital, as he has been injured in an accident. Well, Saturday morning, that nightmare became a reality. I was woken up with a phone call from a man named " Ron" telling me he had my husband and he had taken a pretty bad fall on his mountain bike and that I needed to get down there right away to drive him to the hospital. I frantically threw on clothes, brushed my teeth and ran to get out of the house. It was at this point I realized I was left with the Miata to drive, and sometimes only Ricky knew how to start the Miata, as it is old and "special". After a few failed attempts at starting the car, I called my sister asking her to come get me and take me to Dreamy Draw Park to get Ricky.

When we arrived at the mountain, we found a very dirty, bloody, concussed, Ricky.

Ricky's front tire blew while he was going downhill throwing him over the front of his bike landing mostly on his head and upper left side. "Ron" was very very nice and sat with Ricky the entire time and also walked him down the mountain from where the accident occurred. When we got there and realized his pupils were not reacting to light and he had lost at least 15-20 minutes from right before the fall until about halfway down the mountain, we put him and the bike in the car and went to the ER. Ricky and I spent most of Saturday hanging out in the ER waiting for test results. Ricky's brain is OK but he may or may not have some broken or cracked ribs. Basically, there was nothing they could do about it and many times it did not show up on the scan so they just said take it easy, take your pain meds, and be grateful you were wearing a helmet. YES, Ricky was wearing a helmet, but the helmet was smashed where he impacted the ground, and I am so thankful that was not what Ricky's skull looked like. He is covered in large cuts and "road rash" and is still very very sore, but all in all he is doing alright. Ricky is no stranger to concussions, and has received one or two in some nasty snowboarding falls. He does nothing halfway and loves high intensity sports. I knew when I married him that there would be some injuries along the way, and since we began dating I have been by his side for the following procedures:

Rod bending procedure(eek)

Screw Removal(twice)

Rod Replacement

Concussion/ER visit

Staff Infection Removal

Now those are just the serious ones that required the hospital, there have been many more minor accidents that we have tended to from home. I love my Ricky, and his heart for crazy and exciting things.

On a differnet topic...

Toothpowder

1/2 Cup Baking Soda

Dash of Stevia Powder or Salt

Peppermint essential Oil

There you have it, toothpowder. Now, it takes a little getting used to, but my teeth have never felt cleaner, and I have grown to really like the taste of it. Many people do not add the essential oil, Ricky does not mind it without, but I HAVE to have the peppermint taste, it is an essential part of my teeth feeling clean. I did the first round with salt, but you have to be sure to get it down to a powder, as if it is too course it can damage the enamel of your teeth. This second time around we are using the stevia powder to see which we like best. I encourage you to try it! I put mine in a small mason jar and keep it in the drawer with the toothbrushes. Just dampen you brush and dip it in the powder, then brush away! I keep the recipe taped onto the bottle so I remember the measurements each time. Did I mention that I figured it to cost about $0.50 per double batch(which is what my jar holds) and that lasts us at least two months.

Not too shabby.