Friday, August 29, 2008

Food Sensitivity/Allergy Test

I recently found out the results of a food sensitivity/allergy test I took. The lab uses your blood and tests it on 150 different foods to find out what your body has a reaction to. In a nutshell, this test can help you find out what foods may be making your immune system fight extra hard against. Which then makes it not as effective to fight other things like my Crohns.

Here are the foods that my blood reacted to negatively:
Chili Peppers (+1)
Eggs (+1)
Lentils (+1)
Milk, Cows (aka: Dairy!!!) (+1)
Peas (+2)
Pineapple (+1)
Radish (+1)
Yeast, Bakers (aka: baked goods, breads, anything yummy!!!) (+2)
Yeast, Brewers (aka: alcohol, lots of condiments) (+1)

Nice list, huh!!? Most of the items I can sure live without, but the dairy, eggs and yeast are going to be a challenge. The good news is that I just need to eliminate them from my diet for 6 months and then I can slowly introduce them back in to see how well my body tolerates it and then I can have them probably in small doses. Another good thing is that the rating system is from 1-4 and mine were all 1's and 2's, so it isn't as severe as it could be. If I had a 4, I pretty much wouldn't be able to eat that at all again.

Another interesting thing I learned is that your body adjusts to things over time and cycles though allergens. If I were to do this test again in 4-6 years the list could easily be totally different, or there may not be a list at all. That is why one year you may have seasonal allergies and then the next you don't. Just in case you were wondering my list of foods is considered foods I'm allergic to, but the allergen is an accumulation, not an instant kind of allergy like someone with a peanut allergy, where the onset is really fast. These allergies take months for you to see that you have a problem with them.

Wish me luck as I learn to stop eating some of my most favorite foods for the next 6 months (pizza, bread, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, egg salad, omelets, cereal with real milk, butter, sour cream, cream cheese, real yogurt.....). :(

Friday, August 22, 2008

Kalaloch Vacation

We have returned from our vacation to Kalaloch, located on the Washington Coast. I grew up going there many a summer and was very excited to take Shane out there for the first time. Sadly though, I know he'll remember very little if any of it. But we'll have pictures as proof.

Shane and I started the vacation off with 3 days in Sequim. A friend of mine was in town visiting her family, so we decided to meet up at the good ol' Clallam County Fair. We didn't get much time to spend together....that is sorta what happens when you have kids I've figured out, but Shane, Me and my Mom had a nice time in the hot hot weather and got a chance to visit the animals and have ourselves a scone.


Shane also had another fun filled visit at Grandma and Grandpa's house. This time it was the blackberries that were a hit. He couldn't get enough of them and plopped himself down right next to the blackberry bowl to eat away. He also got to take a ride on a tractor. I don't think I've ever seen him smile so big before.




Saturday we (Kenny, Me, Shane, my Mom, my Dad, my brother Kevin, my sister-in-law Becky and my Grandma) all headed out to Kalaloch which is a 2 hour drive. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate with us. It was cold and wet most of the time we were out there. None the less we spent as much time as we could on the beach, taking walks and playing outside. Along with a lot of time by the fireplace and eating. Shane had fun in the water and enjoyed playing with the sand and even had some fun chasing after a seagull. He had a lot of fun with his make shift bathtub, too. Give this boy water and he is a happy clam!




Monday, August 4, 2008

A Wedding and A Baby

A couple congrats are in store:

Congratulations to Vanessa and Jim. They were married Saturday, August 2nd in Port Townsend. They are honeymooning in the Dominican Republic. Happy life long wishes are upon you.

Welcome little Xela! She was born Sunday, August 3rd. Her proud parents are Tia and Micah (some of our wonderful neighbors). She joins sisters Karma and Veraty. Welcome to the neighborhood little one! You'll be running and playing with everyone in no time!

Catch Up...

It's been a busy week at the Booth household. I've missed a few important events so lets get started.

July 30th was our 3rd wedding anniversary. We've been together a total of 7 years though. Three just doesn't seem like very many, but 7 sounds right.


We celebrated by having Shane spend the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa in Sequim. I took him over on Wednesday and hung out with everyone until Friday. It was great seeing him in a different environment. You can really tell he loves being there. One of his many adventures was eating fresh raspberries from Grandma and Grandpas bushes. He couldn't get them in fast enough. He also didn't mind the blackberries either. We got to visit Great Grandma, too. I ate very well, between homemade fish and chips and lunch and dinner out (plus a few other goodies in there)!



Friday morning I headed back home. Kenny and I played it quiet and casual with dinner out and a little bit of shopping. The best part was we actually got to browse while shopping.

Saturday we hit the ground running. We did the Underground Tour of Seattle. Fun...I'd recommend it if you are up for some Seattle history. Then we walked to the Seattle waterfront to get some yummy Ivar's Fish and Chips for lunch and in hopes of catching a glimpse of the Blue Angels who were flying for Sea Fair weekend. Then we headed up to the Pike Place Market, but it was PACKED, so we didn't stay long there. After a short rest at home we made our way to the Red Hook Brewery for a tour and dinner. The tour only was $1 and you tasted 5 different beers and took home the tasting glass. What a deal! I'd do it again, so to try 5 beers for $1. Dinner was yummy too! Then it was off to see The Dark Knight. I wasn't really excited about that part of the evening, but the movie turned out to be very entertaining and I enjoyed almost all 2.5 hours of it. (Just so you know I think all movies should only last 1.5 hours!).

Sunday morning we had yummy donuts for breakfast and took the dogs for a nice morning walk around the hood. Next we hit Bell Square Mall for an hour or so and to grab some lunch. Our big event for the day was going out on Kenny's Aunt and Uncle's boat onto Lake Washington so we could really see the Blue Angels fly. Lake Washington is the center of the show...they flew over head a large portion of the 40 minute show. It turned out to be a nice warm sunny afternoon...a great boat day. We ended the evening by taking a ferry ride over to pick up Shane. I think we all were exhausted (Kenny, Shane, Me, Grandma and Grandpa) after our weekend of fun and adventures.