Goal Setting

While in Florida, my goal was to run at least one 'long run' of 4-5 miles. Since Geoff and I ran a marathon three months ago, 4-5 miles really shouldn't be that big of a deal. However... I haven't run or exercised in 4 weeks because of my crazy thyroid 'friend.' So... 4 or 5 miles IS a big deal to me!

I am happy to report that yesterday we ran around our resort property which totaled 4.5 miles! I actually felt really good and quite strong at the end. This got me thinking however... if I can run 4.5 miles the first day of vacation... what could I accomplish by the end!? :) Happy goal setting!

Merry Christmas to you!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and spent time with those you love. Christmas sure is a special day and I hope you enjoyed special memories.

I will be on vacation with my family starting on Sunday... look for a few posts here and there on our Florida adventures!

Fruiti Sushi!

Courtesy of the Chex website (one of my new faves!!), I found a recipe for Fruiti Sushi! Such a cute a festive idea for this time of year. Plus each serving (1 whole candy roll) is only 110 calories and 4 grams of fat. For a sweet dessert, this is a great idea! Check out the recipe and happy sushi making!

Out of the mouths of babes

I found this story online this morning and it just made me chuckle... Merry Christmas!

A Sunday school teacher asked her class, "What was Jesus' mother's name?"

One child answered, "Mary."

The teacher then asked, "Who knows what Jesus' father's name was?"

A little kid said, "Verge."

Confused, the teacher asked, "Where did you get that?"

The kid said, "Well, you know they are always talking about Verge n' Mary."

SO cute and kids do say the darndest things!

A few things I have learned...

Have you ever been in a situation where you don't really appreciate something until it stops working? For instance, you never realized how valuable your big toe is until you break it and can't stand upright, or you never appreciated your ability to swallow until you have strep throat and can't even get water down?

For me, I never appreciated my thyroid until it stopped working. Last week I went to my doctor, desperate to figure out why my heart rate was all over the map, why my appetite has been absent the last 2 weeks, and why I just felt plain lousy. It turns out that despite my diagnosis of Hypothyroid disease 8 years ago, a significant piece of information was missing. I have something call Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. A big fancy way for saying that my thyroid is attacking itself and causing havoc on the rest of my body's systems. So after lots of needle pokes, complicated tests, and a bit of worrying, we finally know what is going on. PRAISE GOD!

I am so thankful for the wonderful doctors I worked with last week and the amazing family and friends I am surrounded by. The treatment for such diagnosis is similar to what I am currently doing: taking Thyroid replacement medicine. The other option is to minimize the function of my thyroid by 'killing' it with radioactive iodine which would make future trips to the endocrinologist a lot less nerve wracking, but we'll leave that to the doctors to decide.

So now I have much more appreciation for my body and the little pieces that keeps everything on track. To my thyroid... thank you for teaching me a big life lesson of self- appreciation.