Friday's Letters [08.31]

Happy Friday, folks!

Dear first week of school, You have been exhausting, but fulfilling. I am so excited to see what this school year and the students will bring!

Dear NC State, Tonight is the night. The big game all of us fans have been waiting eight months for. Please do not disappoint! The hubby and I are sad to miss seeing the game live, but there is no way we would make it to Atlanta in time for kick-off. We'll be cheering y'all on from the comfort of our couch. GO PACK!

Dear readers, I apologize for my horrible attention to this blog this past week. Things have been absolutely cray-cray in the Mobley house. I promise to do a much better job starting now! Oh, and be on the lookout for a giveaway coming soon:-)

Dear family and friends, Thank you so much for all the birthday love! It's hard to stop smiling when every time I turn around someone else is wishing me a happy birthday. Talked about being blessed! Thank you again for all the love.

Dear fall, Okay, I'm ready for you now. I fought long and hard to keep summer around but with the start of school I realized it was a lost cause. Bring on the cooler temps and pumpkin-flavored everything!

Back To School. . .

Back to school. Back to school, to prove to Dad that I'm not a fool. I got my lunch packed up, my boots tied tight, I hope I don't get in a fight. Ohhhh, back to school. Back to school. Back to school.

-Billy Madison

Back to school time, folks! I apologize now as my posts will likely be few and far between for the next week as I adjust to the school schedule again. Best of luck to all my fellow teachers on their first few days back and all the parents as they said their kiddos off!

Zucchini Spice Bread

I was very excited a few weeks ago when we had the opportunity to knock something off of my 30 Before 30 List by visiting the local farmer's market and creating a meal from our purchases. One of the items we picked up was zucchini. We'd eaten it a million different ways a million different times, but had never before tried it as a bread. Cue the need for a sweeter item to round out our menu. Here is the recipe I tried and tailored. It tasted especially yummy warmed up with vanilla ice cream. Mm mm mm!

Ingredients

1/2  cup  applesauce

1 1/2  cups  all-purpose flour
1  teaspoon  baking powder
1  teaspoon cinnamon
1/2  teaspoon ground ginger
1/2  teaspoon  salt
1/4  teaspoon  baking soda
1/4  teaspoon  ground nutmeg
1/2  cup  light brown sugar
1/4  cup  granulated sugar
2 eggs
1  teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups coarsely grated zucchini (about 1 medium)


Directions
Heat oven to 350.

Grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 in loaf pan.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, baking soda, and nutmeg.
In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, light brown and granulated sugars, eggs, and vanilla.
 Mix in the zucchini.
Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined (be careful not to over mix).
Spread the batter in the prepared pan and bake 50-60 minutes.
Cool in the pan for 30 minutes.
Enjoy!

Friday's Letters [08.24]

Happy Friday, folks!

Dear First Day, You are a mere 72 hours away-eek! Please be kind to me and my out-of-it body. It's going to take some time for me to get back in the swing of things and I would really appreciate it if you could ease that transition.

Dear Real Marriage, I am so grateful for the eye-opening conversations you are prompting within our marriage. Even though we've only been married two years, it is still crazy to see how much we've grown. Thank you for continuing to challenge us for growth.

Dear Daisy, My deepest apologies for the jolt to your spoiled schedule. I know hanging out in your two bedroom condo (aka, the crate) is not the most exciting thing in the world, but if you can figure out a way not to destroy every pillow we own maybe you can stay out. Just think, all this extra time to sleep allows for lots more stellar puppy dreams!

Dear readers, Thank you so much for your support of yesterday's post. It was not easy to write, but the overwhelming love and kindness you showed me made it worth it:-)

Story From the Heart

This post has been on my heart for a very long time, but is not something I felt quite ready to write. It took some time to get here, but with the recent relapse of my minimal change disease and the steps we are taking I thought it was time to start talking.

I had an eating disorder in high school.

Nothing was ever officially diagnosed, but when one 5'8 tall girl drops to 110 and looks a bit like a skeletor you can figure it out. It didn't come on overnight and I didn't just one day decide never to eat again. It was a gradual transition. Let me back up.

My high school years were tumultuous to say the least. I think many of us can look back on high school and say the same. I don't feel like I deserve a parade of sympathy for it. What made my years a little different were the craziness of my sister's diagnosis of liver failure (don't ask me the fancy name, I can never remember it) and the chaos that ensued. Poor Manda spent a lot of this time in and out of hospitals. From tests and procedures to new medications, she became a bit of a lab rat. It wasn't until they were able to finally pinpoint some things and get her to a doctor in Cincinnati, OH that things started to get better. Praise God. So, she and The Momma started hitting the road to Cincinnati on a fairly regular basis while the other four Wardlets stayed home with the Pops.

As the oldest a lot of stuff fell to me. I really didn't mind it. I've also loved helping others and doing what I can when I can. But the added responsibilities coupled with the stresses of high school, and more importantly the years to follow, threw my life in a bit of a tail-spin. Things started to get a bit out of control, and for this control freak that was too much. How did I cope? I began controlling the only thing I knew that I could my exercise and diet plan. 

I can't pinpoint the exact time but I want to say it was the summer before my junior year of high school that things started to get out of hand. I never starved myself, or even counted calories really, I just ate the minimal amount I could to keep my body going on the crazy exercise plans I was following. This continued for about two years. During this time Manda and Momma continued traveling back and forth to Cincinnati and Manda was put on the transplant list for a new liver.

I want to make it clear that I do not blame any one but myself for this. This was not my sister's fault for being sick, or my parent's or friends' faults for not "intervening" (I wouldn't have allowed them to any way). This was my dysfunctional way of trying to control a situation I could not. At this time my faith was all over the place. I still believed in God, but wasn't sure where He was in my life. What I should have done was trust Him to see us all through this period, but instead I tried to take things into my own hands. Another great example of my failure and His unending patience and grace with our faults.

What happened? Well, I went to college. I got any way from a lot of the stresses that I had failed miserably at controlling and was able to actually be a kid. I stopped trying to perfect everything I did and I stopped trying to manage every little component of my life. I started eating healthy portions (eating healthy food wasn't the problem) and stopped obsessing about working out. I stopped comparing myself to those around me and actually took a look at who I was. God also reintroduced himself to me in a big way. A little over a year after I entered college, Manda received a new liver.

So, what does all that have to do with my kidneys and now? Anyone who puts their body through the hell I put mine through is going to have some lasting effects. And while they tell me the minimal change disease isn't related, part of me worries that it is. Could I have prevented this by living a healthier life? Maybe, but what's done is done and worrying about it isn't going to solve any good. 

I'm going to see a nutritionist in a few weeks to talk about an eating plan that will keep my kidneys happy. It may not make a huge difference, but every little bit helps. This appointment is years overdue. David and I maintain a healthy lifestyle of exercising regularly, but not overboard. We try to eat as fresh as we can in healthy portion sizes. We do enjoy dessert every so often (have you seen my foodie page or pinterest boards?!) but we try not to overdue it. I'm excited to officially see what we can do to banish the eating disorder beast from our lives forever.

Sorry for the total brain/heart/word dump. I needed to get it out there. Thanks for reading:-)