Good News!

Well - it's not news about Oregon or our move (**yet!) but I got good news in regards to my health today.

Earlier this week, I had follow up blood tests to find out if my blood sugar levels have improved since my diagnosis of diabetes. Well - they have!!

My levels are down quite significantly! In fact, they are close to "normal" non-diabetic levels!! Whoo hoo!

Hoping for more good news on the moving front today! That would be great!

Oregon-ho!

We are moving.

Yes - I said it! We are going to be moving to Oregon in the very near future. Mike and I have made the decision to take a major leap of faith. We don't have our timeline nailed down just yet, but by the end of summer for sure! (I have to stay in CO until the middle of June for sure -I have a ticket to see Rent!!)

We looked at our budget, etc. and Mike is going to be able to quit his hellish job and find something for way less salary, but hopefully happier!

We are currently looking for a rental house on the coast somewhere! (If you have a lead on that, let me know! It's hard to find long-term rentals - a lot are listed as vacation rentals!) We're going to use our long Memorial Day weekend to start sorting and getting rid of "stuff". I have a LOT of "stuff"!! A lot of it has been in the basement since we moved into our house over three years ago! Time to ditch it I think!!

So... our adventure is starting. We are both very excited and it feels like we've made the right decision! Leaving our friends in Colorado will be the hardest part, but they'll come visit!!

Any advice for us as we prepare to pack up and move across the country?! Send us some good vibes if you think about it!

Discovering Soba Noodles

One of my favorite discoveries since learning I had diabetes is soba noodles. I need to limit my intake of high carbohydrate food, so I started looking for alternatives to noodles. My find has turned out to be one of our favorite meals over the last month or so. (Mike likes the soba noodles too - which is great!)

Soba noodles are buckwheat noodles from Japan. In reading online, I found that buckwheat is actually something that is recommended to be added to a diabetic diet! It can actually help lower blood sugar!

Soba noodles are silly easy to cook - they only take about 4 minutes to boil. So far, the way I've fixed them is this:

(I don't have any quantities really, so I'm kind of guessing!)

In a wok or deep skillet, put about 1 tbsp of olive oil to heat. Add in about 1 cup each of cooked, diced chicken, chopped broccoli, and shelled edamame. (I use frozen veggies and pre-cooked frozen chicken.) Sauté until the vegetables and chicken are heated through. Meantime, boil your water for the soba noodles and cook the noodles.

For the sauce, I'm using a soy ginger sauce I found in the grocery store. It is one of the few mix sauces that was low in sugar. It's yummy too! I add in some chopped ginger and garlic, a few drizzles of sesame oil for taste, and let this cook together. Drain the noodles and add to the mix. Voila - you have a tasty, healthy dinner!

Have you ever cooked with soba noodles? Any other recipe ideas for me?

Our House... in 10 years

We saw this house in Yachats, OR last year when we were there. It is just up the coast (about 1/4 mile) from the Overleaf Lodge where we stayed for our honeymoon. I LOVED it last year when we saw it.

During a visioning exercise in Circe's Circle, we were exploring ourselves 10 years from now. Well, my 44 year old self (with Mike, of course!) lived in THIS house! Right on the ocean! I could see myself happily walking the trail along the coast, and I was making art to make my living! Perfect!

Seeing this house again when we were in Oregon a couple weeks ago... confirmed it! Yep, I love this house, love this town, love the coast... I WANT to live here. I hope it will be sooner than 10 years from now, but I will continue to keep this vision in my mind and work towards making it reality!

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?!

Back to the Blog World

I'm back! I don't know if anyone missed me, but I've finally decided I want to blog again! I am starting over with a whole new blog. My previous home is still in existence at Mimmsical Creations. Since getting married a little more than six (!) months ago, I have felt I needed and wanted to change the name of my blog. I kind of needed a writing break too, so that all combined to my absence.

My new home (here!) is a fresh start, and a branching out, all in one. My blog name is Off Center Studio. Over the past couple of months, I participated in Circe's Circle with the amazing Jamie and Suzie. We worked on projects, and ideas, for ourselves. My initial project/idea was to have my own website design business. I work for a company doing their website currently. I love that job very much. But, I also have an interest in branching out and doing design for others. We worked through some of my thoughts, brainstorms, etc. I came up (with Jamie and Suzie's great help!) my name of Off Center Studio. It fits! I'm going to take that name right now and go with it.

My project morphed, stalled, and changed during our 12 weeks of Circe's Circle. I put it on hold when we had some major things happen in our life. But, I have held onto all of the information about what I want to do, and I'm going to see where it takes me, or where I take it! I am starting Off Center Studio with this blog!

My plan for this space (as of right now anyway) is to share a lot of things. I have a lot of photographs that I want to have a place to share. I love to cook, and I want to share my process, recipes, successes, and failures. I am also going to join in The Next Chapter bookclub, and will share about that process here as well. As things change in my life, I'm sure this blog will change too!

A lot of things have happened since I last posted. The biggest thing is that I was diagnosed with Diabetes (Type II - and very borderline.) That news hit me quite hard, as you can imagine, and I had to really relax into the idea of needing to make some major changes! Since learning this, about 10 weeks ago now, I have begun making changes in my diet and life. My doctor told me, and here is the really good news, that if I could lose about 50 pounds, she thinks I can reverse the diagnosis! Well... I took that very seriously, and I have lost 19 pounds (as of this morning) so far! I have changed my eating habits by eliminating all obvious sugar. I also eat smaller portions, and more frequent small meals. I have limited carbohydrate intake and am careful to choose foods that have a low glycemic index. Mike has, of course, been totally supportive! Even while on our honeymoon two weeks ago, I did pretty well with the new eating habits and maintained my weight loss!

On our honeymoon, Mike and I realized that we NEED to follow our dream of moving to Oregon. We spent the week in Yachats, Oregon, and we absolutely fell in love with the area. It is the spot for us! We have already started planning what it will take for us to move out there, even if Mike doesn't have a job there! We've been wanting to move for quite some time, but haven't taken the leap. Well, we are both ready to leap now! The ocean is calling us! We're going to listen! It may take a while to be prepared, but we're planning and I just know it will happen!!