No time no blog...eh?

Hello! Wow. It has been way to long since I have posted. I have been keeping busy with out of town guests, school, counseling, church, piano, family, rooting for the Packers (woohoo!), and eating new foods!

As far as recovery goes....it is going well. Almost too well for my taste. I have gained 3 pounds in 2 weeks. SCARY AS HECK! I have re-introduced full fat yogurt, full fat cheese, and butter into my diet. And man...it kind of packs on the pounds...in a good way. I am really proud of myself for gaining steadily.

The scariest thing right now is the way I look. In two weeks I feel like I am huge. I know it is unrealistic because 3 pounds is not a HUGE amount of weight. But others and myself have been noticing. My sister and mom have been really encouraging to me by saying that my butt is getting bigger and that I have bigger arms......but I can't see the positive. I was honestly hoping that even if I gained weight....I wouldn't change sizes/shape if I kept on working out and stuff. Irrational I know, but I almost believed that it would be true. Well its not. And I guess this is my next step in recovery. I have to learn to accept my body.

Right now I am eating a delicious salad consisting of arugala (LOVE), nappa cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, vidalia onions, cilantro, almonds, feta, ranch, and yellow mustard. Before that I had a bowl of stew and half a slice of bread. Oh yeah....I have started eating bread again...with butter on it! Hardest thing. But I am doing it.

Last Friday I ate at an Ethiopian restaurant. Ummm. Let me say that it was very ..... different. Not a huge fan. Here is a picture of the restaurant :

Classsssssssaaaayyyyy.

The food was about the strangest ever: 
Everyone in your group basically just tears off pieces of the bread stuff called injera (NASTY!) and scoop up the meat and veggies with it.

The meal was redeemed by going to get fro-yo!!!!!!! YUM! We got Pinkberry Fro-Yo! I got chocolate fro-yo with hazelnut butter (DIVINE), pumpkin granola, and half of a wafer cookie on the top. (gotta bring those calories up!

DEBBIE DOWNER: Ugh....I am now eating an orange that is far from tasty...so disappointing seeing as how the oranges lately have been INCREDIBLE! Seriously...go buy oranges right now!

I WANT TO HEAR ABOUT YOU NOW!
Do you put yellow mustard on your salads? DO IT! Learned it from this lovely
lady:www.ktbwood.wordpress.com
Is it hard to hear other people say that you have gained weight (as a compliment)?
Have you ever eaten Ethiopian food?

"I wanna celebrate and live my life, Saying ay-oh!"

Ahhh...I love that song! I am listening it to it right now and that's kind of how I feel! Life is good. Really good. Suprisingly good. Wonderful really.

Its like I have been cured. Seriously. You don't even know what I ate yesterday! I feel like a champion! I started out with my regular oats and and egg......THEN.....I ate pizza and salad at this fun resteraunt called Pizza Republica! And then I ate fried....yes fried.....italian egg rolls, buffalo sliders, fondu, apple pie, and bread pudding at a fun little resteraunt downtown! Fun times! I'll give you a rundown now!

I started the day by working out, eating breakfast, and going to counseling. Counseling was really helpful and I feel really inspired after it. My counselor suggested that I start volunteering and hanging out with other Christian College groups since I am going to have more free time since I am only taking 4 classes this semester! I have been wanting to do this for a while but have been scared to. I don't know why. Its the same un-social ed thoughts I think. But when she suggested this to me, I felt like it was from the Lord. I have been really wanting to serve others in some way and get to know other Christian college kids around! I am going to look at some different options of volunteer places and stuff! I'll let you know where I get with that! (Let's hope I still feel this adventurous to go out and be around other people!)

My dad works right next to my counselor...like a mile away. So I thought that I would call him up and see if I could come and say hi real quick. I never do this. Never. I am not spontaneous whatsoever and I am actually kind of struggling with my relationship with my dad right now. So this was hard but when the idea popped in my head...I wasn't going to let myself say no. So I called him up. It turned out that he was at starbucks with a couple of business people. He asked if I wanted to come.....I hesitated .......but then just said yes. So I went.....and the business people were really nice and I got to hear about all this interesting stuff. I am a business major so it was fun to see real life business people in action! Afterwards......one of the ladies asked if we would like to go to lunch.....I wanted to say no so badly. 1. because I have a lot of homework that I should have been doing (and should be doing right now) 2. she wanted to go to a pizza place (AHHHHHHH.....CALORIES!!!!!!!!!) 3. I really don't like eating "junky" food in front of other people (call me crazy but if I am going to eat "unhealthy" food I have to do it alone.) However, I knew that this was my ed and depression kicking in so I again said noYES! (I'm on a role!)

My AMAZING salad!

They had a lunch special at this pizza place where you could get a 9" pizza and a salad or soup. I got the mixed green salad that had Balsamic Roasted Tomato, Pickled Pearl Onions, Shaved Parmesan Reggiano, and Balsamic Vinaigrette. OOOOOOHhhh yum!  The pickled onions and balsamic roasted tomatoes made it DELICOUS! Oh and everything that they use is either locally grown or imported from Italy! AWESOME! It tasted so fresh and delicous! I even saw some cans of stewed tomatoes in their kitchen (the kitchen is visable while you eat!) and the words on the can were all in Italian. Love it! For my 9" pizza I got the Pizza Giacomo which had a red sauce, Fresh Mozzarella, Goat Cheese, Wild Mushroom, Arugula, Fried Garlic, and EVOO! YUM! The fried garlic was increadible.....it was sliced SO thin and then fried to crispy perfection. When you bit into the pizza there was that unexpected crunch! Yum! It was pretty good pizza! It was neopolitan style (thin crust) which is my favorite. However it wasn't very bold flavor wise. I would have liked to have tasted more red  sauce and goat cheese. It was kind of bland....except for the fried garlic (LOVE!). I think I actually enjoyed the salad more! haha! 

I did love the fresh arugala on top! YUM!

And guess what?!?!?!?! GUESS FREAKING WHAT?!?!? I ate 3 slices. 3. yes. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. AHHHHH! And I ate my WHOLE salad. CRAZY! I am so proud of myself. I snapped....and ate it! I usually can't stomach 1 slice of pizza none the less 3 slices!!!! Wow! Sorry...I will stop tooting my own horn now! :D

And you know what....I was full but not THAT full....crazy I know. Most people would be like...."Dang girl....you ate 3 slices!??!?! What's wrong with you?!?!?" But hey...I was hungry and I wanted it. And I didn't freak out about it that much....sure I was kind of IN SHOCK at what I had just let myself do....but I honestly felt like I was taking that pizza and shoving it in the face of ED! HA! TAKE THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

After this I went home and worked on homework for about 2 hours. Then my sister called and asked if I wanted to go out with some friends to a place called the Union Bistro for drinks and appetizers. At first I said no. I had homework to do, I didn't want to eat more "unhealthy" food since I went crazy at lunch, and I didn't want to go socialize with people. Then I stopped myself. Was it really me who was saying no or was it my ed? Did I....ME....MYSELF......want to go? no way YES SIREEE I DID!!!!!!!!!! So I said yes. I'm going crazy! ahah! So I went...and I got a virgin strawberry dakury.......and yes I drank it all.....and yes I didn't scoop off the whipped cream! BAM! And then I nibbled on all kinds of yummy eats that I listed above! And when I got home....I was still hungry.........I wanted to just go upstairs and go to bed without filling up my tum tum. But I said no to that and said YES to some left over sweet potato fries, green beans, and cornbread from my parents dinner. Yes I ate cornbread too! With agave! And then I happily went to bed after eating and saying yes to everything I always say no to.

I feel alive. Happy. I feel like celebrating and living my life while saying "AY-OH!" ahahah! Cheezy much?!?!? But I am serious! I feel like a rockstar! I feel like me for the first time in forever. It is a WONDERFUL FEELING! I only hope that the rest of you have or get this feeling! I can only say that it is by the grace of God that I am doing this well. I don't know how I am doing it...but I am! I feel in control, confidant, powerful, beautiful ( yes...I feel beautiful!!!), etc. My sister said something so true last night. She said that life is meant to be lived. We spend SO much time just worrying about our life that we don't ever truely live it to the fullest. Is that how God wants us to live? He has given us food for pleasure and nourishment. He has given us exercise for pleasure and health. He has given us friends for pleasure and help. He has given us lives. Have you ever thought about that. He has breathed life into you. What are YOU going to do with it? Will you use your life to worry about food, image, beauty, loneliness, control, etc? Or will you use your life to have fun, please and honor God, and bless others? Even though it is hard....I am wanting and striving to do the latter. I encourage you to do the same!!!!!!!! Thank you for your prayers. They are working. And I hope you know that I pray for you as well!

Do something crazy today. Say yes. Shove ed into the trash can and eat for fun! Check out that body of yours and thank God that you have arms, legs, a stomach, a face, and a beating heart! We are so blessed.....we just can't see it. I encourage you to take the time to see those blessings and to enjoy them to the fullest!!!!!!!!

Pho!!!!!!!!!!!!! (pronounced fa!)

Good afternoon! I guess I will just get right into it. Last night was kind of not a good night. But unlike before, I was able to recover. This morning I still was sad/angry but after going to my doctor's appointment...I felt much better. This would not have happed a month ago. Usually I would get into these modes where I would be sad for days on end over one thing. Thankfully, with a few tears shed, a long talk with my mom, and some prayer, I was able to turn my day around. Very pleased about this.

Something neat.....my doctor said that I was at one of the fastest rates she's seen of recovery. This meant a lot to me. She said, which I agree with, that I seem to have a great environment to get well....I have a counselor and a wonderful mother to help and support me. She was so right. I realize how much I take this for granted. Having my mom supportive of me is a huge blessing. She has helped me so much. Along with my counselor. And most importantly I have God to help me.

Have any of you ever had Pho before??? If you haven't, you should find a Pho place to eat soon. Pho is defined by wiki as, "a Vietnamese noodle soup, usually served with beef (pho bo) or chicken (pho ga).^] The soup includes noodles made from rice and is often served with, basil, lime, bean sprouts, and peppers that are added to the soup by the consumer." Mmmmm it is so good. Here is a picture from wiki of the traditional Pho.

Look at how huge!

When my mom and 2 of my sisters went to San Diego a while a go.....we found this Vietnamese restaurant and we ate Pho. Well we didn't know that is what we had eaten. WE LOVED IT! But it was all the way over in San Diego......so we have wanted to go back to get some. Little did we know.....we had had Pho. Well my dad has loved this Vietnamese place called Pho Saigon. So he invited myself, my mom, and 2 sisters to come and eat at this place. Well....I ended up ordering the shrimp pho which was DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!.My dad insisted that I got the large size of the pho.....just 75 cents more that the medium. So I ordered a large. Let me tell you something. This was not large. This was super-mega-monstor-huge-can't eat if forced to-size! It was huge!

It was amazing to say the least. I had to add some hot sauce and I added tons of the basil/asian cilantro/ been sprouts/lemon juice all mixed in!

They give you a plate of herbs and sprouts to top your  pho with. MMMM! (phone pic...terrible quality)

The flavor of the broth. YUM! I am a broth girl! What the heck does that mean, you ask? It means I would rather have more broth than all the other stuff in soup. I love broth. This broth....I can't even describe the flavor....I can't compare it to anything. You have to try Pho. This place was packed out and had a line out the door. I will be going quite often (I still have leftovers!!! YAY!)

I did something kind of scary too....I ate a crab cheese wonton. Deep fried cheesy, crabby goodness. Loved it! The dipping sauce....ahhh. I could have drank it. It was really sweet and tasted like ginger on steroids. MY FAVORITE! :D 

Yes. The sauce was really that orange. SCARY but YUMMY!

It was really fun! And I found my new favorite place to eat! YAY! I even found a blog dedicated to Pho lovers http://www.lovingpho.com/! :D 

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23