Leavenworth!

Aaaahhh yes, the weekend Ive been waiting for for a very long time is finally here. Every October, our family spends a 3 day weekend up in Leavenworth. Im really excited that we all get to be together, having fun and not worrying about anything. I know that I will be relaxing, drinking coffee and wine and having delicious breakfasts out. Glorious!

Ill make sure to post some pictures when I get back!

See ya!

Äntligen!

Hej alla!

Jag tar på mig mitt par tajta jeansbyxor (som heter svenska språket!) och skriver lite om vad jag har gjort de senaste månaderna. Det har varit mycket!

Jag jobbar sedan våren som massageterapeut hos några sjukgymnaster i en klinik i staden Tacoma. Jag trivs verkligen där!! Vi är åtta sjukgymnaster och två massageterapeuter, och vi har jättekul på jobbet tillsammans. Våra patienter säger att de känner sig en del av våran familj. Det är jättekul!

Nyligen har jag flyttat ifrån staden Tacoma till det lilla samhället Vaughn igen. Jag hyr ett litet hus som är riktigt sött och mysigt. Jag jobbar fortfarande i Tacoma, men bara 3 dagar i veckan. Det är perfekt eftersom hyran är billig!

Annars har jag börjat njuta av hösten. Jag äter squash, bakar, gör grytor och ska göra årets första sats vinglögg på söndag. Vinglögg går jättebra att göra hemma- och det är ett måste när man bor i ett land där folk inte ens vet vad glögg är för något! Nu gäller det också att hitta riktiga pepparkakor. Här i USA går det att köpa Nyåkers och Annas, men jag försöker få tag i Semper glutenfria pepparkakor.

Ja, glutenfritt har jag ätit i nästan en månad nu och jag känner mig HUR MYCKET SOM HELST bättre! Smärtor i magen ökade ständigt under våren som sommaren och jag kunde inte gå upp i vikt (alltså blev jag för smal). Blodprovet för celiaki var negativ, men läkaren sa att jag kunde prova kosten eftersom man kan få falska negativresultat. Skillnaden är verkligen som natt och dag! Jag har till och med gått up 2 kilo, och kunnat bilda muskler! Men jag vet att om jag ska få en riktig diagnos måste jag äta gluten igen och sen ta prov, osv. Fy! jag vill verkligen inte göra det. Jag tror jag väntar ett tag iallafall.

Nästa helg blir det en kort semester i Leavenworth. Det är en by uppe i bergen som ser ut som en liten tysk stad. Vi ska på Oktoberfest däruppe och ha kul!

Det planeras en Sverigeresa i Febuari för att kolla Svenska Rallyt. Hoppas verkligen att det blir av. Jag saknar er alla oerhört mycket!

Stor kram från ''over here''!

Something in Swedish for you Swedes :)

Ja ja ja någonting för svenskarna skriver jag här... Förlåt om grammatiken är konstig- det har varit länge sedan jag skrev ett längre inlägg på svenska. Språket känns som ett par nytvättade jeans- lite för tajta och hindrande på nåt sätt tills man har haft dem på sig i några timmar!

Skogslivet är trevligt, särskilt nu på hösten. Jag har börjat laga bra mat igen och lagade pizza och kakor åt några vänner! Jättekul!

Å fy... nu måste jag lämna datorn igen för att göra nåt... jag lovar att jag skriver mer senare!

Kram på er alla därborta i Sverige. Jag saknar er!

3 day work weeks rock!

Just started a new work schedule this week- a 3 day work week. I work three 8-hour days now and have the rest of the time for more awesome pursuits. Massage is just such a cool job- I think about how much I like it every day. It can be quite challenging, though. And repetitive strain injuries creep up on you if you are not careful, bit its OK. You learn!

Otherwise, things are going really well. Im on my 3rd week of gluten-free, and I still feel so much better than I did before I started. I keep wondering if my original celiac blood test was a false negative- with such an improvement, maybe gluten intolerance was part of the problem. I have got to get back to my doctor one of these days and tell her... but I dont want to have to start eating gluten again just to get an official diagnosis of something. Gluten free is not the easiest thing to do, and you have to explain a lot. I am really self conscious about it. Im learning to cook a little differently and its going really well. No failures yet!

Life on the KP is also GREAT! Fall colors are starting to come out, and its really awesome to be so close to family and friends! LOVE IT!

Just a little news...

Well, life has been treating me pretty fairly lately! Im really enjoying life in the countryside. It is so easy to sleep here, and I love the beautiful foliage that we are getting out here right now. I love to go for walks or runs and take it all in, its so beautiful!

The job is also going amazingly well- I learn new things from each person I work on. Massage is such a cool field to be in because you are learning and getting better with each patient you treat. Getting one's license to practice is just the beginning of learning, not the end. Amazing!

Well, Im sitting here eating my gluten free coffee cake. Yes, *gluten free*. In short, my doctor suspected me of being intolerant a while ago and had a test done which came back negative. In my desperation to not have gut pain so often, I tried the diet (which she recommended like two months ago!) and it actually has helped A LOT! I read that sometimes a blood test will give back a false positive, so that must have happened. I feel much more energetic and happy. Honestly, its been two weeks, and not eating gluten has not made me feel deprived at all!

It just takes being creative!

Heres a link about gluten intolerance

http://www.womentowomen.com/digestionandgihealth/glutenintolerance.aspx#sensitivity

A new life! A new recipe!

Well, after a few weeks of crazy packing and preparing, I have finally made it out to my new cabin on the Key Peninsula. I have really started to enjoy living out here, in close proximity to all the people I love and grew up with. Being close to family and friends is really so important for me, and I am very thankful I got the opportunity to move out here.

Here is the main room- this side of things is the living room part, and then there is the fireplace/bed area which is on the other side.

Magic happens, though, in the KITCHEN!!! My kitchen here in the cabin has what most kitchens have, a stove, oven, fridge, sink, cabinets, etc. There is more counter space here than there was in the apartment, about equal storage space, but I really do miss the gas oven/stove!

Heres the recipe with which I broke in my new kitchen. Its my own recipe, and since I have a couple dietary restrictions, feel free to substitute the wierd stuff out for normal stuff!

The recipe for the filling is as follows: get this together

1 bunch of spinach or 1 bag of spinach

15 mushrooms

1 yellow onion

a couple cloves of garlic

cooking sherry

5 eggs

almond milk (or regular)

earth balance buttery spread

SAUTE the onions together with the garlic and buttery spread. Use as much fat as you like in it- but using the spray stuff will rob you of good flavor. I did about a tablespoon of buttery spread.

When the onions get translucent, add the mushrooms and about 1/2 cup of cooking sherry. Turn on medium-low and simmer.

While that simmers, wash your spinach and make your crust. You will need to make a pie crust of whole grains. Mine was made from half buckwheat flour, and half Cravings Place pancake and waffle mix (based on rice flour).

Put the pie crust in a pie plate or casserole dish, depending on how much you want to do.

OK, so now you have your pie crust; and your mushrooms, onions, sherry, and garlic are happily bubbling away. Time to make the quiche-ey part of it.

Blend:

2 cups of almond milk, 5 eggs, a clove of chopped garlic, some salt and pepper and a little handful of spinach to turn the mix green. Blend until smooth.

Put the mushroom and onion stuff in the pie crust plate, and pour the egg mixture over it. It will be GREEN!

BAKE@ 350 for about 1/2 hour, or until the thing is slightly browned and the middle is set. Cool for a couple of minutes, and DIG IN!!! It looks like this:

anniversary party, drumming and bean flour pancakes!

Well, my friends, it's been a whirlwind week.

I have been moving all week, which is very exciting and at the same time pretty stressfull. And today we siblings threw our parents a 25th Anniversary party which turned out awesome. It was nice because people respected me and did not try to micromanage me! I hate it when people tell me how to do stuff that I already know how to do!

Tomorrow I am moving into my cabin. Finally... yes, at long last Ill be there! I really cant wait.

And... I thought Id be able to finish this blog before I got too tired but... I think thats going to be hard.

I ate SOOO much today. I had some lovely corn chips with guacamole, some really great gluten-free brownies made by our buddy Cher, all kinds of random servings of food all day and night. There was also a chocolate cake with strawberry mousse filling. Ive got to learn how to make those gluten free brownies. As far as I know Im not gluten intolerant, but the texture of them is just SO good. Gluten free flour is slightly more ''gritty'' than regular flour, and so it gives what you cook with more of a texture. If eating gluten free wasnt so dang expensive, Id probably buy cookie mixes and stuff all the time because I love the way it tastes!

Speaking of gluten-free, I had some bean flour that I made breakfast pancakes with the other day and they turned out great! But I forgot to wash the pan well the night before (after I made spicy stir fry) so they had a certain unexpected heat!

I also played the drum set today... and totall rocked the garage off its foundation. AMAZING!

OK I guess I stuck it out a little longer than I thought!