Sunday Night Work Out

        Since Brandon and I ran our 10k yesterday, today was a cross training day. For our cross training days we generally try to walk, do push-up, pull-ups, squats etc.. throughout the day around the house. Now that it is nice out we try to take Sali out and walk her around the neighborhood. On one of our walks we walked passed a little play park area (one that we have always walked passed or swung on the swings). Until recently we did not use the play park to its full potential. It has a pole, monkey bars, pull up bar, steps and climbing ropes. It is awesome!!! Tonight we did a 1 mile walk and then ended at the play park where we spent about 30 minutes working on upper body work outs. 

I am now able to do monkey bars for the first time ever in my entire life. Even as a kid, I was never able to do them because the girls in my family were not blessed with upper body strength. We have leg muscle just no upper body. So I continue to work on my upper body almost daily. I have seen lots of improvement. Tonight I hung on the bar for over a minute. I can jump and pull up on the bar. I can do monkey bars. I can Pull my self up a little bit on the pole (can't quite climb it yet). I am going to continue to work on my pull/push ups and I will continue to work on climbing the pole. 

My advice to anyone who is trying to tone up and get in shape: Just try! I have learned a lot of things about myself through training for races and working on myself. I thought that I would be able to do some arm workouts for a few weeks and then I would have awesome arm strength but... that is not the case. It has taken a ton of work and I still can't do a pull up without a little jump up. It takes time and it takes practice. Some people are able to get it right away but if you are like me, you will go through frustrations, soreness and success'. Today Brandon and I were laughing at how far I've come, it is a good feeling but I am still disappointed every time I try a pull up and fail. 

Brandon has had great success too. Since he shattered his arm, he wasn't able to do much upper body. Recently he has been cleared to go live life and use his arm as normal. He is now able to do pull ups, push ups and climb the poly. Because of the motion of the monkey bars, he can't do them yet but he continues to try. (Really makes me mad that he can do all of these things with no problems and he has a jacked up elbow but I am proud of him!)

Just go out and play and pay attention to where you can take advantage of play times. Play place, around the house and even around the office. During school I play on our play place with the kids and at then end of the day I do kiddo boot camp where I teach the kids how to do ab work outs and squats. Playing is fun and I think adults forget that too often. 

So take this time and reflect on how far you have come on your goals and don't look at what you can't do still. Go you!! 

Anyone have any advice or stories they want to share? 

Pull ups on the monkey bars

Climbing the pole

Chin up and hold on the pull up bar

Monkey Bars!!!

Brandon's First Race

95 Brandon Brown   59:52.23   9:40

96 Kimberly Brown  59:52.58   9:40

Our results from Brandon's first running race! Go Brandon, I am so proud of you. 

     We weren't trying to compete or put too much into this race, our goal was to get our training distance in and get Brandon some experience with how running races go before our 10 miler next weekend. We ended up having a great pace and even completed the race in under an hour. We ran the race for adoption and foster care awareness in Loudoun County. It was the 2nd annual run me home race. It runs through old town Leesburg and onto the W&OD trail toward Purcellville. It was a nice, shady, pretty flat course and we found ourselves running and chatting about the giant houses. We watched and commented on other runners and talked about how much we enjoyed training together. It was a great race and we decided that as runners, we would rather enjoy a morning run together than push ourselves and tire ourselves out running for time. Brandon got pretty competitive when we would pass people and when we were coming up on our finish, we had a nice stride and a strong finish across the line hand in hand. We were really surprised at our finish time because the race seemed so easy and we could have kept going for miles at that pace. Hooray!


       This race is proof for me that my running stamina and speed has increased drastically since I have been eating healthier. I remember doing 5k runs and struggling to maintain a 10:30 minute pace without losing my breath. It is incredible to see my growth over these past few months. I credit Brandon for helping me increase my speed. 


       We are really excited about the Broad street 10 Miler next weekend. This race gave Brandon some experience and it gave us both some confidence to compete.


       My knee has been feeling great with my icing it after runs and doing heavy stretching throughout the week. I am hoping that it only continues to improve and I won't have to look into scheduling physical therapy in May. 


        We are feeling good and looking forward to our next adventures TOGETHER!!!

Tuna Salad with Avocado

We had a big lunch today so I decided to make a light, spring dinner. My sister and her husband were in town visiting and he requested that I make Brandon's Pizza Bites. For lunch we had pizza bite appetizers, Herb Chicken and Salad. For Dessert I make Honey and Cinnamon bread. Mikalanne and Andrew headed home and Brandon went to mow the lawn and clean up the yard. I quickly cleaned up the house and decided to play around with a light recipe for dinner. For lunch, I have found the Tuna is easy and filling but I am tired of always eating it the same way, while it is good, it can be boring day after day. So today I tried using avocado as a moisture instead of mustard. It was really good and I was actually surprised at how moist the avocado made the tuna.  

Sunday Brunch

Ingredients:

1 Can Tuna Fish

1/2 Avocado

1/4 tsp Salt

Pepper to taste

*Red Onion, diced (optional)

Process:

Avocado mashing

1. Mash half avocado in separate bowl until it is nice and creamy. This will make it easier to mix into the tuna.
2. Mix Tuna, salt, pepper and avocado together in a bowl. 
3. Add onion if desired.
4. Serve with your favorite veggies or try making these tortilla's. 

Add a little sea salt and mix tuna and avocado.

Enjoy!

True Honey Nut Cereal

This week I had some fun making new recipe's.  Before I went to Paleo, I was addicted to cereal. I would eat cereal for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack! I loved cinnamon toast crunch and raisin bran. Since oats, sugar, wheat and all things cereal are anti-paleo, I had to make my own. It was pretty tough training myself to avoid my daily treat but I overcame for 6 months! This past week I decided to make my own cereal and now I am not sure why I waited for so long. It is fast, simple and delicious. My one problem, I tend to avoid dairy because I think it might cause some binding up issues. I am going to start adding in full fat milk with my cereal on occasion and see if  I notice a difference. My other option is to eat the cereal with almond milk. 

Honey Nut Cereal

Ingredients: 
1/2 C almonds (I used shelled and sliced)
1/2 C walnuts
1/2 C Pecans

1/4 C Hazlenuts
1/2 C sunflower seeds

(You can use any nuts you like-Pumpkin seeds, coconut, macadamia nuts, I just used what I had in my pantry)
1 C pre-soaked raisins (cover in water for about 10-15 min, until they puff up a little)
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil
3 Tbsp honey



Process: 

Blend

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees
2. In blender or food processor blend the nuts, cinnamon and sea salt. 
3. In a large bowl melt coconut oil.
4. Combine Coconut oil, vanilla, honey and raisins and mix until well blended
5. Combine the liquids and nut mixture in the large bowl and mix well. 
6. Taste test the before you bake! You may like it a little sweeter or saltier than my taste buds. 
7. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.
8. Spread the granola evenly over the sheet. (A thin layer)
9. Bake 40 minutes for a nice crunchy granola. (The longer you bake, the crunchier it will get. Cooling also makes it crunchier.)
10. Allow to cool completely.  
11. Eat with your favorite milk or for my non-paleo pals, eat on top of yogurt or ice cream. Enjoy! 

Bake

Friday Morning bowl of Cereal. AMEN!

Brandon Man's Up a Recipe

For all you Bar food lovers...Pizza pocket craving? 
Brandon came home today excited to cook...WHAT is wrong with him? I don't mind but really? I never would have pegged him as someone who sits around and comes up with recipe's. Before he told me his idea, I assumed it would be like "oh hey, let's take these rolls and eat them with soup or put some marshmallow and cashew butter on it". Nope-he invented his very own Primal Pizza Rolls. I must say that even though I am not a huge fan of cheese or pizza, these were delicious. He used left over Brazilian Cheese Bread for his idea.

Gotta love a man in the kitchen!

1. First Brandon placed 6 Brazilian cheese breads on a baking sheet.
2. Then he pre-heated the oven to 350 degrees. 
3. After that he cut an "x" at the top of each roll.
4. Next he stuffed each roll with two little chunks of Gouda cheese (you could use any but that is really the only kind we eat).  And then he placed two small slices of pepperoni in the roll. 
5. After this he sprinkled some Oregano in them. 
6. Finally he baked them in the oven for about 6 min. (until the cheese was melted.)
7. He let them cool on the counter for a half second and then we devoured them for dinner. *TRUE STORY*

Toasty, melty and delicious.

I told Brandon that I was going to teach him how to make the cheese bread so that any time I don't feel like cooking, he can make these. 
Girls, make these for your guys and they will love you forever! This is true Primal MAN Food at its best. 
Thanks for dinner Brandon, I Love you and these pizza pockets. 

Brazilian Cheese Bread

This my friends is what happens when your husband is away and you have nothing to do... Sit on the couch, chat with friends, get inspired to make food. I googled recipe's using Tapioca flour and this is what I found. Breads using tapioca flour rather than wheat flour. I came across a few Brazilian puffs and decided to do a little recipe combining. 

Ingredients:

• 1 Egg (room temperature)
• 1/3 C Olive Oil
• 2/3 C Whole Milk (Grass Fed, Farm Fresh)
• 1 1/2 C Tapioca Flour
• 1/2 C  Grated cheese, I used Gouda because that is all I had in the fridge. Great choice!
• 1 tsp Sea Salt 
• ¼ tsp Garlic for a soup bread or 1/4 cinnamon + 1 tsp Honey for a dessert bread

Process: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Grease a mini-muffin pan with coconut oil
3. Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and pulse on medium/high until all is well blended. Scrape blender if needed.
4. Pour batter into mini muffin pan. Fill it all the way up without over flow. I got about 22 mini muffins out of this batter. 
5. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes until golden brown. Do not over cook bread should be chewy and light. 
6. Serve warm! I tried them alone (delicious), with butter and honey (amazing). They would also be outstanding with some fresh jam or with a bowl of chicken soup.

So what do they taste like? They are chewy and light. They are not overwhelmingly cheesy (could be the choice of cheese or the fact that I added just barely a half cup) but I am not a cheese fan. These would be considered Primal not Paleo because of the dairy. 

These reheat and if you want them for a dinner, you can save the batter in the fridge for about a week. 

Tastes like a warm roll! YUM

Apple Bacon ColeSlaw

         Another wonderful recipe from Eat Like a Dinosaur.
In the spirit of summer being upon us, I was inspired to make some coleslaw without all the mayo and sugar. 
Looking through my Paleo cookbooks, I found that Paleo Parents had a delicious recipe. 

Apple Bacon Coleslaw 


Ingredients:

• 1/2 cabbage
• 2 Large carrots Shredded 
• *(I used 1 bag of pre-cut coleslaw from dole instead of the above 2 ingredients.)
• 1 Tbsp Sea Salt
• 1Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 tsp Cumin
• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
• 6 pieces of bacon 
• 1 Large Gala Apple

Process:

1. Combine the Cabbage and Carrots and salt in a bowl and mix with hands. Allow is to sit for about 30 minutes. After cabbage releases water, drain thoroughly. 
2. Cook Bacon in skillet until crispy
3. Add all ingredients to cabbage, mix and serve cold or warm with your favorite summer time favorite. We are eating it for lunch tomorrow with Carolina BBQ style pulled Venison. 

Featured here with cantaloupe. strawberry balsamic salad, Tuna salad and
cucumber~tomato salad. Sunday Brunch with the Davison Crew!

*My change- I cooked the bacon in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes until it was crispy. I brushed each strip with a little agave nectar. This will compliment the Carolina BBQ nicely and it really kicked the coleslaw up a notch- the spicy, sweet and savory! A delicious side dish and it was quick and easy. Now to master hush puppies for the next BBQ. 

Brussel Sprouts are not Gross!

My dear friend Kendayl just bought a house and is currently fixing it up. She just re-did her kitchen and tonight I went over and she cooked me dinner! I was a little nervous (not because of her cooking, she is a great cook). I was nervous because she told me she was making me eat brussel sprouts. I was so scared to eat them but I figure, I make Brandon try new foods so I should too. Kendayl placed them on a cookie sheet with some olive oil, rosemary, onion salt and garlic. Then she placed them in the oven until they were a little crispy. When she pulled them out I had instant flash backs of my parents making me try them when I was little and crying and probably spitting some into a napkin hahaha. She served them with delicious herb encrusted chicken and a Spinach salad with yellow onion, tomato and a homemade balsamic dressing. 


Finally the time arrived, she made me eat one. I loved them and got seconds. I really liked them and I even plan on buying some and making them for me. (I promised Brandon I wouldn't make him try them a long time ago... so I have to keep my promise but I am betting if they are on my plate, he will try one)
They were good because some were soft but there were also these crispy pieces that were amazing. I am going to try them on the grill and try to give them a nice smokey flavor.


After dinner we had some great chats and laughter. Much needed time together. Then it was my turn, I taught her how to make some of my candies and we did some experimenting by adding some coconut and raisins to the cashew nut butter candies (good call Kendayl)! 


It was so much fun cooking, baking and sharing this time together. I love my friends and I love sharing meals with people. Looking forward to more nights like this. 

Omega 6, Omega 3- I hate Science

Should we use Agave Nectar? Is it Paleo? 
 Agave Nectar is extracted from Agave plants but it is highly refined and basically raises your insulin level the same way that high fructose corn syrup does. Don't be fooled like I was with the "All Natural" label. I have switched to honey or maple syrup when I use sweeteners.


Grape seed oil is high in natural sugar and also has a really high Omega 6 content but it does have some Omega 3. Use it in moderation. The only thing I really use it for is Paleo crunch but I haven't made that in a long time.


Coconut oil has one of the lowest omega 6 count but it doesn't have any Omega 3.


Check out this picture of our oils- should make it more clear. This was from http://paleozonenutrition.com/





Your goal with using oils is to make sure that they are as close to an even ratio of Omega 6 and Omega 3. Notice Safflower oil- 74.6g Omega 6 and 0 Omega 3. Clearly not a great choice.


Why should we balance our Omega 6 and Omega 3 Fatty acids?
You don't want to burn yourself in the shower so you balance the hot and the cold right? Well that is what we are doing with Omega 6 and Omega 3. Omega 6 is linked to inflammation where Omega 3 is linked to anti-inflammatory. The best ratio is about 4:1 to 1:1. This information comes from here.  Check out their site and see what the Omega 6 and Omega 3's are for other foods.


Keep in mind that you can't stress out about the foods you eat, your body will evolve and you need to listen to what it is telling you. If you stress about what you are eating, you are adding unhealthy energy to your body and causing health issues due to stress. Make healthier choices and eliminate as needed.

Tired of Drinking Water

On a hot summer/ oh it's only Spring? On a hot Spring day like today, sometimes I get really bored just drinking water. I read around on a few blogs and cookbooks and created this light refreshing beverage. It is kind of a NOjito since it is alcohol free! (except one time I put a little Malibu in it and it was delicious!) 

Flavored Water

Ingredients: 

1. 45 Oz of Water
2. 2 Oranges, juice only
3. 1 Lemon, juice only
4. 1/4 Pineapple chunks, squeezed and place in the container
5. 25-30 Mint leaves, crushed and chopped and placed in the container

Process: 

Put 40 Oz of water in a container. Squeeze the juice of the oranges and lemons into the container. Squeeze and place 1/4 pineapple into the container. Add 25-30 fresh mint leaves. (I got some from my own herb garden and grabbed a blend of orange mint, chocolate mint and regular mint) 

Allow this to sit in the fridge for 2-3 hours and stir before serving. 

Play and Enjoy Life

A big part of our life should be playing, relaxing and hanging out with family and friends. This morning Brandon and I woke up and got a chance to play and hang out with his mom and dad, his brother and sister-in-law. We started out with a little coffee and breakfast: 

Red Brownie Cupcakes, Fresh Strawberries, Blackberries, Pineapple and Coffee!

After breakfast the girls headed off to walk around and play at the outlets (Yes I count shopping as playing- you have to walk, pick things up, take your clothes on and off, bend over, squat, raise your hands-shoooweee tiring!) 

While we were out the boys headed over to Great Falls to cut, gather and haul firewood with their chainsaws in tote! They had a good time but we aren't sure who played harder... haha 

We all gathered back at the house for some burgers, asparagus fries, sweet potato fries and some veggie chips. We had a great time sitting on the back patio talking and sharing stories of our adventures of the morning! 

After lunch the girls cleaned up and the boys headed back to the wood to chop and stack. When we finished the girls decided to take a hike over to Algonkian Park and do a little photo shoot and site seeing! Perfect way to end our time together. Feeling very blessed to have family that I enjoy spending time with! Family that is always there when we need help and great hiking trails seconds from our house!

Hopfully all the Quality time with the girls was worth the battle scars . 

Red Brownie Cupcakes

This is a recipe that I said- eww those ingredients are disgusting! With my new open mind and a handful of ingredients on hand, I baked it up and I am so in love. This is a delicious recipe from Paleo Parents: Eat Like a Dinosaur  I was going to hold out on posting this until next week when I perfected my pictures and thoughts on it but I have had so many great responses and requests for this recipe from Paleo and non- paleo friends that I decided to throw it on the blog tonight.
I made these for a backyard BBQ, Easter and again today for my school friends. I have one particular co-worker that is a super picky eater. This week he thought it was crazy because he ate 3 salads in one week. I had him try one of these cupcakes today and he ate it even after I shared the ingredients with him. Throughout the day several co-workers stopped by room to get more of these little treats. I am so glad that they were delicious for all eating types! Hope you try this recipe, check out Paleo Parents and more ways to start adding healthier foods into your diet. 

*My friends who don't normally cook like this, go to Wegman's and get all of their ingredients there!*

Red Brownie Cupcakes


Ingredients:

• 1 Medium red Beet (yes a beet in cupcakes-it's for color and nutrition, you can't taste it. I PROMISE)
• 1 Tbsp Coconut Oil
• 1Cup Fresh dates (about 15, cut and de-pitted)
• 1/2Cup Coconut oil
• 1/2 Cup Butter (I use Kerrygold Grass-fed)
• 1/2 Cup Palm Sugar (Paleo parents use unrefined sugar)
• 1/2 Cup full fat Coconut Milk
• 2 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
• 3 Tbsp  Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/2 tsp Lemon Zest (about half a lemon)
• 8 eggs
• 1Cup Almond Flour
• 1/2Cup Coconut Flour
• 1/3 Cup cocoa Powder
• 1tsp Baking Powder
• 1tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Sea Salt

Process:

*It is a lot of ingredients and a lot of steps so read through the recipe first and then start baking. Don't be frightened, it isn't hard- just a lot ingredients. I have made some changes to the original recipe because I only have a small food processor (and my blender couldn't handle it)

1.  Wash, peel and dice the beet into small pieces. Coat evenly with 1 Tbsp Coconut Oil and roast for 20 minutes at 425 Degrees until the texture is mushy like a banana.
2. De-pit and puree 15 dates and place in mixing bowl with Coconut milk and roasted dates. Mix on high and scrape sides of bowl often until batter is a reddish color. Take all of this mixture and puree until smooth. *If you have a large food processor, you can omit the mixing bowl and just put it all straight in your processor. *
3. Transfer puree back in the mixing bowl and add butter, coconut oil, sugar, vanilla, vinegar, and lemon zest.
4. Add one egg at a time, mixing well after each one. 
5. Sift together all of the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
6. Slowly add to mixing bowl with the puree mixture and beat until batter is formed. 
7. Fill lined muffin cups 3/4 full.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
9. Because of the large egg quantity in this batter, you'll want to store these in the fridge. Up to a week or more

I made 16 large cupcakes and 24 cupcakes

Sam having a cupcake for a pre- Easter treat

Jaden having some cupcake

Brandon enjoys them cold and I enjoy them with a cup of coffee or hot tea. We've also put some marshmallow fluff on top to eat like a cupcake. 

(Fluff recipe will be up soon, still a work in progress)

Nut Butter Candies

Brandon's loved cold Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for Easter and in order to keep us from Cheating over another junk food filled holiday, I had to come up with a treat for us. Over the break I made these and created one to be similar to a peanut butter cup. 


Nut Butter Candies


Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Cashew Butter (I use Nature's Promise)
• 1 Tbs Honey
• 1/4 tsp Sea Salt 
• 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
• 3 Graham Crackers (optional-It makes it a little thicker and a little sweeter) (recipe to follow)
• 1 bag of Dark Chocolate Chips (I use Enjoy Life)

Process:

1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside
2. In a bowl, add all of the ingredients and mix well with a spoon. Taste test the ingredients and make sure the cashew butter isn't over powering. If you don't like the taste than add a little bit of the other ingredients to get a taste you like. I play with the ratios a lot. 
3. Once you have a great taste, roll them into Macadamia nut sized balls and place them on the tray. Once you have the tray filled, place them in the refrigerator while you melt your chocolate. 
4. In a saucepan: Pour your chips in the pan and turn the pan onto a low heat and allow the chocolate to melt down slowly. (This also works in a microwave safe bowl- put the chips in for about 45seconds but watch carefully and do not let them burn)
5. Once chocolate is liquid and creamy, pull out the candies and coat them in chocolate using a spoon or a paint brush. You will only be able to coat the top first.
6. Place the chocolate covered candies in the fridge for about 5-10 min. Then pull them out, flip them over and fill in the rest of the candy with the remaining chocolate. 
7. Keep refrigerated until you are ready to serve. 
8. Enjoy! 

I made these in a candy mold (not recommended, they look cute but it was hard to get them out!)

These I put  Marshmallow fluff on top and didn't add the graham cracker to the candy.  (Marshmallow recipe to come soon, it is being worked on by my friend Erinn)


Have fun with this recipe and make your own variations :) 

Spring Nights and Friends

Last night Brandon and I were invited to dinner at a friends house. Normally this is a task of trying to prepare ourselves to eat what we can with being polite and trying not to walk out with stomach issues! However, last night we went to our friends house and they had a great meal prepared for us. The appetizer was Trader Joe's trail mix, sliced apples, these delicious vacuum dried bananas (they melt into real delicious bananas in your mouth..YUM) and some sliced aged cheese. Erinn is a chef and did a delicious lamb roast on the grill with herbs and (his favorite... garlic). For our side dish we had sting beans and grape tomatoes sauteed in spices and olive oil. I was in charge of dessert and I made some Cashew butter and Marshmallow Chocolate candies (recipe will follow soon). I am mostly writing this post because the backyard was adorable and I got some cute pictures. No recipes, no rants, no lessons just yummy food pictures and sharing a meal idea that you could create yourself! 

Adorable table that Erinn and Brandon picked up last week at a local Antique store! So sad it didn't come to my house

                

My first time eating lamb! It was really good.  (well besides the mint jelly crap I tried on a cruise ship-gross)

                

My Plate!

                             

Spring Break day 3

This morning I woke up with so much energy. I think there is something to this getting lots of sleep thing! I have been sleeping a full 7 to 8 hours and working on getting normal meals in and I am feeling great. Lots of sunshine and playing outside is helpful too. Being inside an old school all day (possible mold issues from a previous flood) cannot be that great for me and I have really noticed a difference. I got up and made breakfast and coffee for Brandon and I before he left for work at 8.

Split sausage, pancake, egg and coffee! mmm

  I did some laundry and  headed to the dermatologist. I had a full body examination and she said I looked great. She asked if I was a college student (oooo yay!) then she told me for 26 (almost 27) I had fabulous skin and hardly any wrinkles. She told me it was well hydrated and that I was not a "moley" person so I shouldn't worry too much about skin cancers but to do routine checks on myself and visit once a year. I never knew the dermatologist was a yearly visit! I have never been before. So I asked her a lot of questions:


1.) Do I have cancerous moles. She gave me the pamphlet below  and told me that everything looks normal. We talked about one on my chin that has been bothering my, irritated, changed colors etc. and I am having it removed over the summer and they are sending it to get a biopsy (but she isn't too concerned).

ABCDE's of Melanoma

2.) I have little red bumps on my arms....and my butt ;) What are they and how do I get rid of them. She said a common mistake we make is to use hydrating lotions but not an exfoliating lotion so we get dead skin cells commonly on our arms and butt areas. It is called Keratosis Pilaris and it is worse in the winter. She said that an exfoliating lotion with alpha hydroxy, urea or lactic acid would be the best. However, it won't remove redness but it will smooth the skin and help with any irritation it causes (mines not irritated it just looks ugly!) To remove redness that would require a chemical peel and that does not sound fun to me. Carry on tiny bumps!

Reading material and my new exfoliating lotion.

3.) When I am over heated or nervous or worked up in general, my skin get red and blotchy. What is that? Why does it do that? Please make it stop!
~I told her it is most common when  I am nervous, being put on the spot, being the center of attention, in stressful situations or if I am sitting in one spot for too long.
~She said it is very common and it is an adrenaline rush. She told me that it isn't as bad because I am not fair skinned and the more tan I get the less it will be noticed. She recommended  .25mg of Atenolol (beta blocker), 3g of Lysine and Arginine, or to try some calming methods (yoga, breathing) before I am in these situations. 


                                                


I am not a fan of medications but I would love for this to go away because it is really embarrassing. People always feel the need to point it out too- just ignore it and it goes away in 2 minutes. I am not sick, I am not gonna throw up, I am not over heated, I am just blotchy... IT HAPPENS. 
So I am going to try the over the counter Lysine and Arinine first to see if that works. I never noticed Xanax working or not working- might have to keep that around when I speak in public or know I am going to be center of attention. I would prefer not to take the beta blocker because I hear it can mess with blood pressure. 
Anyone else suffer from this? What do you do? 


Other than my doctors visit, Sali had a vet visit and needs leg surgery and a tooth removed. She is not happy about it and neither is our wallet but she is Mans best friend and we love her. She has been such a blessing to our family and she is getting her surgeries ASAP.

Always a brighter tomorrow

Finally I made it home and got to garden, clean up my yard and relax on the couch for a little bit while Brandon was in class. Can't wait for a doctor free tomorrow. I need a break from Spring Break!

mmmm can't wait to use this garden.