Busting a Gut!

Have you ever laughed so hard that your cheeks and abs hurt? That you have tears streaming down your cheeks?! I love laughing. It is truly the medicine to all sadness and stress. I don't know how people can go through life without surrounding themselves around wonderful friends and family who help to make you laugh and laugh. I have truly been blessed to have these kind of people in my life. Laughing is one of my favorite things to do with them. If ever I am stressed or sad, I surround myself with these people and we laugh until it hurts. This I have found is not only a mild workout, but a wonderful mood booster. As someone who suffers from depression, I have learned that if I can just laugh, it makes everything better for a time. My husband is hilarious! He has a delightful personality and usually in the evenings as we are laying in bed talking, we make each other laugh so hard that our bed jiggles lightly with our laughter! My kids are joy bringers as well. Kids truly say the darnedest things don't they? I have endless memories of the funny things my kids have done and said. I also have the most amazing family and friends. I enjoy nothing more in life than being with them. Spending time together laughing and just plain enjoying being around each other. These people in my life have so magically made my life wonderful. I am so grateful to have a great sense of humor! Both of my parents are funny and delightful teasers. My siblings and I will never forget the jokes my Dad pulled on us on April Fools Day. One April Fools joke my Dad pulled was the ever so tricky sending us to go clean our rooms. As we would drag ourselves begrudgingly towards our bedrooms, the door was slightly opened, we would shove our door open with great force. To our surprise, a cup of water would fall off from the top of the door splashing us with water as it fell to the ground getting us good and wet!! I love this memory and still brings a smile to my face. My Dad is quite the prankster and I love him for it. I am grateful for the great sense of humor both my parents have and that they passed it down to us kids. As it was said in one of my favorite old movies "Mary Poppins", "I love to laugh"! I love that scene where they laugh so hard they float to the ceiling. I always wished that I could do that when I laughed. As I have gotten older though I have realized that laughing like that, you really do feel as if you are floating! If only the world could have more laughter echoing through it with vibrating joy. Let's make it a goal to laugh more.... 

Faded with Tears

So many tears I have shed. So many times I have tried to become colorful again. When you are taken by illness, it changes you. You lose some of yourself. Your color. You try to become what you once were. You shed tear after tear, trying to get that color back. If you could only be what you were. So you try to  overcome. To recapture your beauty. Then you realize that you can't be the same. You will never be that again. You have changed. You have grown into something else. You are refining yourself. You are for a time, an unfinished color. You realize that the trials you face are the very thing that is giving color to your beauty. I see myself as this rose waiting to finish blossoming and becoming a vibrant color once more. Never to be what you were, but in the end a more beautiful version of yourself. Vibrant as ever. Never to be covered in tears again.
By Britney Tyger

Loving Life

I so love getting to spend time with my little family. It is so wonderful taking the kids on outings. We got to go to Lagoon (for those of you who don't know, it is an amusement park), the kids had such a blast. I get so much enjoyment out of watching them ride the rides. Especially because the rides are so much harder on me than they used to be. That is another sad thing about aging. You just can't do the things you used to. I am such a roller-coaster person, and for sure a thrill seeker although the older I get the less thrills I'm able to handle. Such a sad thing.... :(  What can ya do? We had some other members of the Tyger fam join us, and this was so much fun. I always think the more the merrier! My kids are such trooper's they really rode pretty much everything they could. I am surprised at some of the rides they chose to ride. It is really fun getting to ride the rides with my hubby too. We have such a great time together. We are always making each other laugh. I have come to realize how great it is to be able to have humor in life, especially when life gets tough. Just keep laughing no matter how much you are struggling, and even if you aren't struggling! Laugh, laugh, laugh!

Oogling the Goods!

So today my emotions are brimming and spilling all over the place. I have had so many experiences with the Medical Profession and MOST have not been pleasant ones! Today I had one of those wonderful experiences happen yet again! I could write a book on all that I have had to go through and how I feel the Profession has failed me. I will tell you of some of my sad, humorous, enjoyable, disappointing, and frustrating stories another day. Today my tale will be that of an experience I had just after having Caden, my first. I must say it is one of the more disturbing ones. It was when I had male med student or he could have been a student nurse. Which causes further confusion to this tale of why he needed to perform a breast exam on a mother who had just given birth? So he "cops a feel" of my ladyness up top. Saying that he "needed to give a breast exam to make sure that all is well". He said he needed to do this because he was a student and needed the experience of giving a breast exam. HA! Can you even believe this? Is this real life? Why did I let him? Well I was confused, naive, I was so doped up on drugs, labored for 14 hours and then had a C-Section, had just had a baby, and was exhausted! Why in the world would he need to give me an exam right after I had a baby??? Have any of you had this happen to you after giving birth? Um, all I have to say to that is he totally scammed on me and squeezed the juice! Creep! I made Mike stay with me till I knew he was off the shift. So there I was a new Mommie and enjoying the wonder of it all, and I get felt up by some pervert med student! "Special", huh?! I can laugh about this one now, but I was seriously peeved to say the least. He gave me the Hibbie Jibbies....ewblech! I will say this though, no one will be "squeezing the juice" unless I am there for a Breast Exam, by a professional, not a med student! Lesson learned! He probably went home and thought to himself...score! I am sorry to say that he is still out there somewhere ladies, so wear protective armor. If you think this is a good one, I have a million more goodies to share, so tune in... :)

"Evil Dr. Cop a Feel"

Discouraged

So this is me with a friend at a get together. I had spent so much time picking out the perfect stylish outfit, trendy jewelry, the right shoes, all the right little things together so I could look perfect for the evening. My hair was cut, colored, and styled just for the occasion. Some of the people at the party I had not seen in over 9 years. I know that I had put on weight and I was self-conscious about it, but I thought I looked pretty good. Well we took pictures and after the party I  looked through the pictures and cried. I did not look even slightly how I had imagined myself. How is it one day I can look in the mirror and feel that I look pretty decent and other times I look in the mirror or a picture and feel I look horrible. I realize I am overweight I am not in denial about this, but sometimes in my head, I think I see myself in the way I used to look. Then when presented with a picture, a mirror, or reflection I am reminded of what I have become. Other times I feel so bad at how I look that I see myself double or triple what I am. I am so tired of these mind tricks. I can tell that I have a pretty face and I really love my eyes, but they get lost in the fat on my face. I want my features to be what people notice, not the fat and then the possibility of beautiful features if I could just lose some weight. I want to know what I would look like with a tight trim and toned little body, with a pretty face and hair to match. I remember what I used to look like when I was younger, but then I was too self-conscious to notice how beautiful I really was. Now I have the realization, but not the figure to match. Now though I have grown up and have matured physically, and I bet I would look all that much nicer, if only I could lose the weight. I want to do this before I get older and it is too hard to keep the weight off, and the wrinkles set in. No matter how much I want this I just can't seem to get this. The past week has been hard to keep my goal to lose weight and become a more healthier me. I really want this, so I continue to try. Making and setting the goal to remain positive and steadfast. I must continue on.... Definitely in need of some encouragement.....   

The Great Outdoors

We are taking the kids camping this weekend for one last camping trip of the summer. I can't believe how fast this summer has flown by. The weather has really only just begun to be summer weather, so even that feels like summer should just be starting not coming to an end. What can ya do? I love camping. Getting into nature is such a great way to relax. It is so peaceful in the woods. I love going exploring, and seeing all the beauty around me. There is so much to offer outdoors. My boys are so excited to go fishing, this is actually the first time we have even had a chance to take them this summer. I am so glad my kids love to go camping getting a chance to be in the great outdoors. It is a great way to spend time together. Getting them away from technology, and letting them actually use their imagination that kids are so greatly blessed with. Sometimes you just need an escape from the world and all it's hustle and bustle. I have prepared healthy alternatives for myself so that I can stick with my "lifestyle change". I find that when I am prepared I have an easier time sticking to my goals of eating healthy. Usually in the past, I do really well at home and then we go somewhere. Like camping, visiting family or friends, vacationing, etc... That is what seems to get me off track. So I have discovered if I am prepared with what I need to be healthy, I stick to it so much easier. There is the occasional time when there isn't much you can do, so I just try to only have small proportions of those foods. Sometimes this works and sometimes I give in finding myself overeating. I have mentally prepared myself to be good so we will see how it goes. Here is what I keep telling myself, "I am going to succeed! No matter what happens I will remain positive and not beat myself up. I am determined to be active, enjoy myself, enjoy my family, and eat healthy." :)

A Better Day

Last night I broke down.... I cried myself to sleep. I have been really struggling with not being able to have any more kids. I had a dream that I was pregnant, and the feelings I had were so strong. I really thought I was for a minute, then I remembered that I can't and I became so sad. I really am so grateful for my darlings and that I even got the chance to be pregnant. There is something inside me that aches though. I have been really wanting another baby. I don't know that I could adopt because I have so many health problems, and I need to be a mother to the children I have. I guess sometimes I just need to mourn my loss and then move forward. Lately I have been worried about my health. I have had headaches every day for some time now. Sometimes they are really bad, other days they are just semi-annoying. I also have been getting vertigo when I move my head. More so while I am laying down. I am hoping that it is something minor and that can be fixed. I never worried about health issues till my accident. Ever since then I worry that I will have to go through something awful like that again. Needless to say, I have been under a lot of stress lately. I think that may be why I gave in to pie the other day. I needed a release I think, but I don't want to use food as an escape. I guess it is good I recognize that. Now I can see that when I am feeling stressed or sad, I can turn to something healthy instead. I realize that I need to focus on good, positive, and healthy things. When I am sad, I need to mourn but then quickly move forward. I know that I have a tendency to get stuck on unhealthy thoughts. I recognize this about myself, and I am working on staying focused on the good and healthy. I am determined to have a better day! :)