The Morning After

We made it home from the State Fair yesterday evening, got attacked by some very excited dogs, relaxed for a bit, and as we sat there, we realized that we were all so tired that we could barely see straight, so we all went to bed early.

This morning the alarm went off at 6:30. Ugh! It's the first time the alarm has been set that early since early in June on the last day of school. I got Austin off on his first day of school, Jay back to work, and then I sat in a very quiet house. A very, very quiet house. I forgot how quiet it is when I'm the only one home.

As I sat in the living room with only my thoughts to keep me company (our dogs are not morning people either, so they were still sleeping), I started to reflect on the past few weeks.

The week before our county fair (the week of 7/12) I committed to being 100% gluten-free. I also committed to being as close to sugar free as I could be (not including natural sugars like fruit). I will allow myself the occasional treat though (what's life without a treat now and then?). I committed to no Aspartame. I now only drink diet coke with Splenda, crystal light or plain water. I committed to no MSG. If I buy frozen meals, they are all natural only. I committed to eating as close to all-natural (all the time) as I can be.

Those have not been easy choices, but as time has gone on, they have gotten easier. I am not thinking of it as a diet, but a total lifestyle change. I'll worry about weight loss later - one step at a time.

Back to my reflections....

This is my 6th week with my new eating lifestyle. The state fair was a real challenge. Most things there are breaded and fried. It'll be much easier now that we're at home again. While it was a challenge, it was doable and that was a positive for me.

"Ruby" my scooter did great! She made it up and down the steepest hills several times day without fail. She struggled at times with the thick mud leading up to our camper, but everyone struggled with that. She helped me go with friends from building to building from shop to shop, from show to show, all the while having so much fun.

My pain levels were better. I only had 2 "bad" days when I had flares. The day after a flare is always a recover kind of day, which usually involves me sleeping a lot. So in essence I had 4 down days. 4 out of 12 is so much better than I have ever had before, and so much better than I ever expected to have.

My energy level was pretty good. Most days I did get tired, but a nap of about an hour or so and I was good to go again. Most nights I was up past 11:00. The days the kids showed I was up early, but other than that I was able to sleep in until 8 or 9am.

I am having some major digestion issues, which I have heard can happen to some people when they go gluten-free. It's enough of an issue that I am researching what to do about it as soon as possible.

Over all the past month has been really good all things considered. I have to attribute it to the new way of eating. There is nothing else that is different, nothing.

I am praying so hard that it's the eating. I don't want to think that it's due to the summer weather. If that's the case, that means it's going to end. The thought of enduring another Winter like last year and the intensity of the pain I had brings me to tears.

For now, I am choosing to think positive and believe that it's not weather related. I will continue to eat and drink the way I have been. I will continue to do small amounts of daily exercise, and I will continue to do my meditating and reflecting.

And who knows.....maybe tomorrow there will be another new positive benefit. :)

Project 365 ~ Week 33 & 34

We took our Camper down on Sunday to the State Fairgrounds Exhibitor Campgrounds, and we came down to stay starting on Wednesday. So far we're having a great time, except the heat and humidity was relentless the first few days.

Sunday - 8/8

We've had a lot of rain lately, and I'm sure you've heard about it on the news. We're not sure if it's coincidence, or something to do with all the rain, but we keep seeing these white frogs, which we have never seen before. One actually was inside the house last week. They aren't very big, but they climb up walls, which is creepy...this one is on the outside of a window while it was storming around 10pm.

Monday - 8/9

I took Gabby and Tucker to the vet. I'm guessing Tucker wasn't too thrilled to be there, since he immediately went into hiding mode. LOL

Tuesday - 8/10

Austin washed up his restored tractor before taking it to the fair for judging that will take place later in the week..

Then he came in and put some finishing touches on the write-up that tells all he did to restore the tractor. The judges will read through this when they do their judging.

Wednesday - 8/11

 This is along I-35 as I drove to the fairgrounds. The river is behind the trees in the far back, and in front of the trees are some poor farmers fields.  At this point the water was still rising, and within an hour after I went past this point, they started to re-route traffic due to water on the roads.

Thursday - 8/12

We have had heat indexes of 110 degrees and higher, with very high humidity. It's miserable. It's so relentless that the a/c in our camper just can't keep up. We ended up putting aluminum foil over the windows to keep out the heat. It had been around 90 degrees in the camper (even at night), but now it's a nice, comfortable 75 degrees. Much better...even if we do look like Rednecks. LOL

Friday - 8/13

I knew a flare was coming. I felt it coming on yesterday, but prayed I was wrong. Jay took this picture of me when I was sleeping in the camper. See how red my face is? That's what is known as the "fibro-flush". Having your face bright red is common before and during a flare. Jay used to always ask if I had a fever, but now he knows what's going on too.

 Unfortunately, the flare that had me in bed, made me miss cousin Cassie as she competed in the Cowgirl Queen Contest. A good friend of mine sent this picture she took of her in the barn while getting ready for the contest.

Saturday - 8/14

Super Bull! This bull topped the scales to be the biggest bull in Iowa.

Sunday - 8/15

My family teases me because I like watching Cops on tv. We were in the Law And Flame building today and they took my picture as a "cop". lol

Monday - 8/16

My sister-in-law Jodi and I walking down one of the main roads. You never know what we will be talking about when we get together, but it's usually a random mix of topics.

Tuesday - 8/17

This lady sold candy and dried fruits at a booth, and Ashley and I bought some to send to Lance. When the lady found out where it was going, she put a couple of handfuls of  a dried fruit and nut mix in a bag and told Ashley to send those along and to tell Lance they were from the candy lady. She also said to tell him that she'll be keeping him in her prayers. I wanted to take her picture to send along, but she didn't want it taken alone, so the girls got in with her. :)

Wednesday - 8/18

Big Boar! That's a whole lot of bacon! lol

Thursday - 8/19

Nephew Jacob showed pigs in the 4-H show today.

Friday - 8/20

It rained almost the entire day today, so we went and got our passports that we'll need for  next Spring. Then we did school shopping for Austin, and we stopped at a Cabela's type store before heading back to the fair.

Saturday - 8/21

My picture of the day won't be taken until later tonight, so I am posting this picture that was taken earlier. This is Ashley with her brothers and sisters in law (minus one brother). The other brother happened to be showing his cow that same day that we were showing pigs, so inbetween his classes they came over to say hi.

Tonight is the night I've been waiting for since buying the tickets a few months ago. Sugarland is my favorite country singing duo. I know almost all the words to all their songs. I bought tickets to go to their show last January, but unfortunately I wasn't able to go due to the severity of my Fibromyalgia at the time. I cried the night of the concert and actually prayed that I'd be strong enough to go see them one day. I never would have imagined they would be coming back here so soon, and I am beyond excited to know that I can actually go this time!

It's Tradition

The Iowa State Fair starts next week. This is a HUGE event, and people literally come from all over the world to visit. Here's a little trivia...did you know that a travel author listed our state fair as one of the top ten things to see and do before you die. Honestly...it's that big.

Our school system has now decided we will now be starting school BEFORE the fair is over. My nephew is scheduled to show his pigs on the first day of school. It's crazy!

Now some people might not think this is a big deal. But let's look at the big picture here. Let's be honest...Iowa is predominately an agricultural state. County & State fairs celebrate that fact. We don't have a Mt. Rushmore, or a Golden Gate Bridge, or even a Statue of Liberty. The State Fair and it's popularity is all we've got to celebrate.

I'll be honest enough to admit that I didn't fully appreciate the state fair before I had children who are raised in this lifestyle. Children who love this lifestyle. I have 2 girls who have actually shed tears over the fact that they only have one year left to show before their are too old. That's how much this is a part of them.

Farming is not just a job, it really is a lifestyle, and as I said, this is Iowa's predominant business & lifestyle. By all these schools deciding to start school before the fair is over, is to us, saying agriculture isn't important. That's a slap in the face to all the struggling farmers who are working so hard every day just to keep their farms going. Tell them it's not important.

We talked to Austin and told him that we would let it be his decision whether he started school or not right away, or if he waited until the fair was over. We also told him that we would support him 100% either way. Austin didn't even hesitate and he said "No way. I don't want to go. That's our fair, and I want to be there for all of."

Therefore, on August 19th, when children will be pulling on their brand new backpacks and heading back to our school for the first day, Austin won't be there. He will be with family, sharing and enjoying not only his lifestyle, but his heritage. And we couldn't be more proud of him for making that decision. Oh, and for the record, my nephew won't be in school either. We'll be cheering him on as he shows his pigs.

So we'll go to the fair and we'll enjoy ourselves.

We'll enjoy ourselves while walking through the baby pigs exhibit, even though we can see them at home.

 We'll  enjoy ourselves as we celebrate all the different species of livestock that are being exhibited...even cows, who may or may not have something against blondes. :)

 We'll enjoy the Butter Lady and her Butter Cow. Yes, it is a cow entirely made of butter. She does the cow every year, but she also does other things such as Elvis, Michael Jordan, and other celebrities.

And we will enjoy being there cheering and celebrating at the big boar contest. This is a picture of last years winner who was owned by Jay's twins cousins (one is pictured). They also won the previous year, and are hoping to win again this year.

And we'll also enjoy ourselves one evening at the best concert of all the concerts (in my opinon) that will take place at the fairgrounds grandstands: Sugarland (weeeeee!!! I'm so excited!!)







Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. Not only is it is right...It's tradition.

Austin's Tractor

Austin totally rebuilt a 1949 John Deere tractor for an FFA project. It was judged at our county fair, and he will take it to the State Fair to be judged there as well.

Austin has wanted to do a tractor since he was a young boy, but you need to have completed at least one year in the FFA program at our school in order to be in the classes. So he was anxious to get started.

Jay and Austin found a tractor for him and brought to the school, along with several other students who were doing tractors. Some rebuilt the entire thing, some only did body work. Austin did the full rebuild.

Here's some pictures to show just how involved he had to get in this project:

 This is a picture of the front grill. It was green...sort of. Austin had to pound out dents and then totally sand it down before he could even think about repainting it.

The tractor had to be taken completely apart, to see what parts needed to be replaced (many did) and what could be reused. Even the ones that could be used had to be cleaned and sanded to make them look new.

Once the new parts came in, you couldn't just re-assemble the tractor because you still had more body work to do. As Austin said "sooo many stupid dents!" lol

Mechanics is not Jay's strong suit, and the FFA advisor has so many kids he's trying to help at the same time, so he allows kids to have someone come in and help them when needed. Our good friend, Jeff, is very mechanically knowledgeable and he was so great to come help Austin several times.

Jeff was also great when it came to teaching Austin how to put the newly rebuilt motor back together. Jeff talked Austin through how to do things when he helped him, but he made Austin do the actual work himself, so that he learned what he was doing, and why. What a great friend he is!

Once the body has been un-dented, and fully sanded, it then goes into the painting station. All the parts must be painted and if any mistakes are made, you have to sand those out and then repaint. The main parts of the body took 2-3 coats. After that, it's reassembly time.

If you look closely you can see all the nuts and bolts and cables that Austin had to clean or replace.He spent so much time on this project over the past year. They only have 1 1/2 hours each day in class ( although part of that is spent in the classroom). So most kids, including Austin came in before and after school to work on their tractors.

Remember that grill? Looks much better now doesn't it? :)  Austin's FFA Adviser came out to our place this Summer to help Austin apply the stickers and logos. You only get one shot with those and he has some special tool to aid in the application. It also helps to make sure you have it lined up properly.

After a very long year, the tractor was finally done. Austin is so proud of the job he has done on it, and so are we! When we asked him about doing another one he said "No way!" It took so much of his time, especially when you figure in school, sports, school music concerts, and homework. He also learned that he does not enjoy mechanics. He is a perfectionist like I am, and therefore he preferred the body work and painting, and enjoyed making sure it was just right.

However, he did say he'd like to redo another tractor without having to do the mechanical parts...just the body work. This next year he is taking a welding class in FFA, so who knows what will come of that. :)

Austin earned a purple ribbon at the fair for all his hard work, and purple is the highest ribbon you can be awarded.  We are extra proud because he was the only sophomore, and according to his Adviser, not many first year kids earn a purple.

As for the future of this tractor, it will remain a show tractor. With this being such a strong farming area, many have restored or rebuilt tractors over the years, so they appreciate all the hard work that goes into doing that. People are encouraged to drive their restored tractors through area parades, and Austin plans to do that next Summer.

In the meantime, it will travel to the State Fairgrounds next week to be judged there. We're keeping our fingers crossed!! :)

FFA Banquet

We went to the FFA Banquet last night, where awards are handed out and new officers are installed. Austin is very active in FFA (as were the girls when they were in high school) and it's a great organization with lots of opportunities. They attend the state convention every year and they go to the National Convention once during their high school years and they meet so many great kids from all over. Anyhow, on to the banquet.

Austin had a great night!

Here he is receiving his leadership award, which is given to 1 member from each grade that shows outstanding leadership in the organization as well as in school.



He is next to the yellow flag in this picture. He is receiving his 2nd year chapter member award.



Here he is receiving his Proficiency award for swine entrepreneurship...which basically means he won an award for outstanding breeding, raising and selling of his pigs.



Austin was elected as a Co-Treasurer for their chapter and this picture shows the installation of the new officers. Austin is to the right of the yellow flag.



Right after being installed, a section of the FFA flag banner fell down and Austin taped it back up. We joked that this was his first official action as an elected officer. LOL



And here he is showing his Leadership and Proficiency awards. :)



It was a fun night, as a lot of the kids are either cousins or friends who all show at the county and/or state fair, so we know not only them but their parents and families as well, which makes it extra fun. Another great part to the night was that it was potluck. Oh my goodness - the food was AWESOME!

State Fair ~ The Musical

Our high school is putting on the musical "State Fair" from last night through Saturday night. Austin is a carnival guy that runs a game booth, and he's also in the chorus parts for the rest of the play. He did a great job and we are so proud of him! All the kids did really great. Here's a couple of pictures from last nights performance:







This is a picture of Austin and his girlfriend "K". She ran one of the spotlights for the play. Notice how much better he smiles in pictures now? Thanks K! :)

Ashley and Chelsea both came home to watch their little brother perform. He was suprised and excited to see them there.


Jay's parents surprised Austin with a "You're a Winner" big cookie after the musical. As you can see K wasn't around to tell him to smile, and obviously he doesn't listen to me. LOL

More Than Just Bringing Lemonade

This picture requires an explanation, which is why I saved it for a separate post and not with all the other fair photos.....

Jay and I were walking around the fair and we stopped in a shady spot to "people watch".

Heaven knows you see ALL kinds of people at a fair.

You can work up quite thirst while people watching, so Jay walked across the concourse to get us each a lemonade. While he was gone, I saw a lady off to the side in this purple tie-dyed tank top and I honestly thought she was drunker than a skunk (is that midwest saying or is it just in my family?). She was wobbling, her head was bobbing, and then she grabbed ahold of the street pole. I was sitting there getting almost excited thinking "Oh she's goin' down! She's goin' down folks!" and then, sure enough she did! WHAM! Straight to the ground, out cold.

Me, being the intellectual that I am started yelling "Oh wow! Woman Down! Hey, There's a woman down over there! Hey! Somebody! Lady in a purple top is down! Right there!" Which now let's me know that I answered wrong in the last Facebook quiz I took when it asked how I'd react in an emergency.

Thankfully she had enough sense to fall down less than 50 feet from the first aid station (I know...what are the odds?). So I yelled and pointed a couple more times and finally a couple of the paramedics jumped off their gator and went over to her.

Being a proud fan of any of those police or ambulance type shows, I was a little disappointed that no cameras were there, as I was totally ready for an interview, and to prove that not all people on those shows have no teeth... as I would flash my smile to prove.

The lady came to, and they put her on a cot and wheeled her to the ambulance. Once they had the lights turned on, off they went through the wall-to-wall crowd, which had to be so much fun.

I felt that I helped maybe, sort of, kind of, almost, in a very roundabout, not even close except in my imagination, way, save this womans life and I wanted a way to commemorate it. I knew that taking a picture of this poor lady would be tacky with a capital T, so instead I took a picture of Jay as he was looking at her while bring us back our lemonade.



Now aren't you glad I explained this picture? I bet you thought I was just going to say I took it to show he was being sweet and bringing us lemonade.

And Then It Was Over

Hard to believe another State Fair has come and gone. At the time of this post, we are just getting ready to head home to see some dogs who will be very excited to see us (a good friend has been caring for them for us).

Since this is the end, I thought I'd finish up with some leftover random photos to share. Some were taken just today, and some are from the past couple of weeks that I found tucked away saved in the wrong file (anyone else ever do that?).


I'm hoping when we get home that I can lighten this picture up on the other computer, because it really is such a cute picture of Chelsea and one of her cousins, other than being too dark.







There was a pig sale towards the end of the fair, and well, you know how it goes with those darn pig farmers...you can't turn down a good deal. But, Jay had told me before the fair "You know, I don't think I'll buy any pigs this year." I gave him the "Yes dear, I totally believe you" look, knowing full well that he was full of baloney. Sure enough, I was right because we came home with not 1, but 4 pigs. *sigh*



Before having kids who exhibited at the fair, I had been to the state fair once, and on that day we walked down the main concourse (at that time it was mostly a flea market), and we went to the midway and rode the rides. With our kids, we'd walk through the midway, and they would maybe ride one or two rides, but that's it. This year we never even went into the midway area.




This is a shot of Jay and the kids standing in line at the Cattlemans restaurant on the fairgrounds. This is where Jay gets his favorite "Hot Beef Sundae". This place is so popular that there are two long lines that wrap around the outside of the place. Thankfully the line goes really quick, and yes, the food is so good that it's worth the wait!




Ashley is the dare-devil in our family. She loves rollercoasters of all kinds, and nothing seems to faze her. Her cousin wanted to ride in the air force jet simulator (remember the movie Top Gun? It simulates riding in one of those...sort of). Well, Ashley said she'd go. This shot is right after they were done with the ride. Both loved it and laughed so much they both had tears in their eyes!




I came into the camper one day and found Ashley & Chelsea like this. When asked why in the world they were doing that, they replied "We're bored". Well of course.






Well, there you have it. Some insight into the Iowa State Fair. I hope you've enjoyed my little pictorial tour of the fair over the past couple of weeks. Sara, please consider these past photos as my contribution to the previous 2 weeks of Project 365...LOL.

If you ever decide to visit the Iowa State Fair, be sure to hike up heart attack hill and stop by our camper!

For now, I'm going to sit and reflect on the past 2 weeks of family fun and memories, and then we'll finish getting things packed up so we can head home to lots of wet kisses, and I'm looking forward to going to bed early tonight!