Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Crohn's Confidential: THANK YOU


Just wanted to say a big THANK YOU for all of the support you give me and for your time reading these Crohn's Confidential Posts. When I was first diagonised with Crohn's Disease, there was little information about it that painted life with Crohn's in a postitive way. My hope for these posts is to provide a face to this disease and show that you can lead a normal life and be able to live life as you wish. I think social media has helped TREMENDOUSLY with breaking the stigma that this is just a pooping  disease and while I like to make poop jokes, I feel deeply about providing a resource and my journey to you all. 

I appreicate all of you. ❤


[[Life is much easier with a strong support team and love]]




 

Dear May

Dear May,

You were crazy in so many different way. The weather, appointments, activities, celebrations, and friends. Looking back on you, I liked you a lot besides the pollen-nado you produced. Lets dive into the month with some highlights.

Mother's Day
Staying super active
One Year 'Meet-aversary' with Kyle
Art Show
Friends!
Normalness
Allergies
Small Town Traditions

Being active was a constant this month. The weather was awesome- some really REALLY hot days, some cooler days and some absouletly perfect days. In the beginning of the month, Kyle and I went on a walk at Poricy Park after work. It was just too good to pass up. It was one of the perfect summer nights. We climbed a few times, not as many as I like due to Middletown Gravity Vault having their competition routes still up on their bouldering walls and I perceived them to be too hard for me and then Brick Gravity Vault at the end of the month closed their bouldering walls to get ready for the next competition. I was happy to get in a few walks around my neighborhood, exploring a new marina at golden hour and a bike ride too. 

In the middle of the month, my active status was pretty much paused due to a crazy influx of pollen that hit New Jersey. Everything was green- yuck! I ended up with a Sinus Infection (my first!) towards the end because the pollen was so bad. I was so sad to be inside a lot and got into a slump for a few days of not wanting to move. 

One fun and exciting thing Kyle and I did was going to the opening reception of an art show at Bell Works in  Holmdel. We had been to Holmdel a few weeks earlier and I fell in love with this place. A 'metroburg' where you can work and play all in one building.  I started following Bell Works on Social Media and found they were feautring a local artist and her work. The Opening reception was open to the public AND it offered drinks and bites. Kyle and I were in. We had no idea what to expect but we were forsure excited for doing something different. 

The reception was just as you would expect- people milling around, taking photos, drinking themed cocktails. Such a fun vibe. Kyle and I induldged in the specality cocktails and started to wander around the exhibit, "Rebirth into the Light". I invited my friend, Joe to meet us there since here worked in Bell Works. Joe and I have known each other since High School. It was a neat expereince and I felt very grown up. The paintings were beautiful and interesting. 

It ending up being an absolute perfect night- no humidity and in the 80s. This was the perfect date night for a Tuesday in  May. 

Kyle and I also celebrated our  "1st Meet-aversary". Knowing Kyle for a year has been quite and adventure and I am very happy to have him along for the ride.  Speaking of Kyle, he is currently exploring  Norway with Miss Penelope along for the adventure. They have seen mountains and trolls so far. I cannot wait to hear all about it and not trying to figure out what time it is there. Adding Norway to my Wanderlust travel list.

Daddy and I celebrated Mama on Mother's Day and then two weekends later, we all went out and spent the whole day out and about. This probably was the most normal pre-pandemic thing we have done in a long time.  We started out day off with the liquor store at 9 AM and ate lunch at Caffery's Backyard and then went shopping. Our hearts were so full. I truly enjoy spending time with my parents and I couldn't have been happy to be with them. 

Another fun and unexpected adventure Kyle and I went on was to a very special 5 year old's princess birthday party. The day of the party is was expected to be some of the hottest tempertures we had seen all year. I knew I wanted to be princess like but I also wanted to dress in the least amount of clothes that I would feel comfortable in for a children's birthday party. A peach tank and a frilly skirt that looked like princessy was the perfect out and after using my waver in my hair, I pinned it up and added some fun sparkly bobby pins.  We had the very best time being the only ones without children there. 

Going to the birthday party, let me re-connect with Krys, the mom of the 5 year old. We had been friends for over 15 years and life just has gotten in the way but it was nice to find ourselves back to each other. My town holds a Memorial Day parade each year; almost 10 years ago Krys and I went to the parade with her dog and a little boy pointed out "That dog has 2 mommies!" and we have continutally laughed about it ever since. This year, her dog didn't accompany us but her husband and kids. Looking around at the parade route seeing families and members of the community, it was really nice to see.  It felt like pre-pandemic times. It was nice to see how many people were in attendance and I was so thankful that the firetrucks and ambulances did not blast their sirens, my sensitve ears would have not liked that. 

Towards the middle of the month, my allergies totally sidelined me unexpectedly. I have not had allergies this bad in almost 20 years. My thoat was swollen which made eating a challenge, and my ear hurt, more specifically my Eustachian tube in my left ear was not have it. After two trips to the urgent care and then one post allergy attach trip to an ENT, it was confirmed it was allergies not a sinus infection. Those two weeks were rough for me and I avoided being outside as much as I could,  which made me sad. 

The saying "pick a day to rest or your body will pick it for you" was very relevant for me during this attack. I tried to not over do it and just give myself grace to rest and recoooperate. The real MVP's of this was allergra, motrin and The Hills season 5.

Overall May was a great Month, I left May with a full heart and happiness. I am looking forward to more consistant warm weather, lots of time outside and preparing for my July vacation to North Carolina. I am also hoping to be more consistent with my posts. This blog, Wonder Grace & Joy has turned into a passion project more than anything else for me and I love being able to look back on life and see what was going on. Thank you always for reading along! 

How was your May? What are you looking forward to in June?

[[May you always be the one who sees the light in little things-MHN]]


Monday, May 30, 2022

Memorial Day

 


May we always remember-All gave some but Some gave all-for our Country. May we pause on this day of barbecues and good times to remember what this day actually is for- those Soliders who gave their lives to protect us and the Country we live in. May we never forget the scarfice that these men and women have made. 

God Bless America

Sunday, May 29, 2022

Diary #29

I am in LOVE with all these snapshots from this month. Warning, there is a lot of them; there was just too much to see and enjoy and I couldn't not take a snapshot to remember them. Let's jump in shall we?!

Some leftovers from April:

Mom and Dad drove by my office to say hello!

Library Haul (Spoiler alert: only one of those books was read.)

Do you think Horton heard a Who on here?

Manasquan Reservoir

On to May's snapshots:
Loving all the colorful tulips

Bright Flowers on a dreary day

Hidden color

Looking Up

An appropriate reaction to the news of Roe v. Wade possibly being overturned

Pretty Flowers

Stepped outside at the right moment

Feeling Festive for Cinco de Mayo

Manifesting travel with my neon airplane pin

Secret room at the library

Newton and I have become friends
Did not see this coming in 2022

Anniversary flowers

Found in the parking garage (among other things)

Cue Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Verison) by Taylor Swift

Hi Mr. Bug!

Golden Hour at Poricy Park

Reflection at Poricy Park

Found some luck

Giant blooms

Apparently the USPS uses really sticky glue for their 
certified mail cards

Rebirth into the Light Art Show- Favorite Paintings

Rebirth into the Light- Favorite person

Gym selfies from my parents

Urgent care for allergies- at least I am matching 💙

7 Sticky notes and counting 

5th Birthday party celebration for Sahara.

Caffery's Backyard for Lunch

Mom's Garden part 1

Mom's Garden part 2

Neighbor's Rhododendron's

Mom's garden part 3

Furry friend found on a walk

Golden hour reflections at the marina

More golden hour views

Silly face in my coffee

Seeing my name never gets old

Shorts season

Bike rides to the marina

State Marina reflections

Forked River

Penelope is a world traveler now- making friends with Trolls in Norway

Small Town traditions

Big sunglasses and 15+ years of friendship

Can you tell I love golden hour yet?

More walks at the marinas

Couldn't resist an old school #OOTD photo

DMV 

Whew! That is a wrap on May. Check back next month for what I saw in June and always remember you can search "photo diary" for all the previous months photos; 28 other months to be exact. :) 

[[We are making photographs to understand what our lives mean to us. Ralph Hattersley]]

What's a recent photograph you've taken? Share below.