My apologies for being MIA AGAIN on my blog for almost a year....the best made plans of mice and men.

I imagine 2020 was about the same for many of us. A year filled with disappointment, loss, pain, fear, diagnoses.

Our year started with an earthquake in Puerto Rico on January 7. I believe it was around a 7.5! Hubs and I were to fly out a week later on January 14 for none other than Puerto Rico. As we woke to the news of this devastating earth quake we both felt the Lord's leading to STOP! We'd already been praying and seeking God in our travels. I was already having visions of an earth quake that sunk the island. SO, we decided to STOP and not press this issue. We canceled our trip. We bought travel insurance but it did not cover "Acts of God". Later that day, January 7, my oldest crown broke....shattered! I called the dentist and the soonest they could see me was January 14 at 3pm. 

Long story short, we were reimbursed nearly 100% of our travel loss. 

The lesson learned was LISTEN when the Holy Spirit prods. 

Then you know what hit the news in February....although we were following the virus story...I'll refer to it as CV....my mom was hospitalized in mid January with an oxygen depleting virus. She was treated and kept for 4 days and released with oxygen. Mom is 86. We do believe she may of had the CV. Who knows....they weren't testing for it. 

Plans to visit Mom in March....CANCELED!

Plans to visit Grand Littles in May...CANCELED!

Frankly, at the time I was glad for the rest. I was feeling totally drained, burned out from traveling and the sickness that always accompanied it. In 2019 I had walking pneumonia in June and a wicked upper respiratory in October. I'd taken 2 antibiotics within a few months and can't even begin to remember the last time I'd had one. 

*********************************************************************************************************************************************

Then came my big bottomless pit.

I was finally diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in April. By the time of diagnosis, I was pretty far gone. I wasn't sure if I would crumble into a ball of nothingness in the morning when I tried to stand. It had progressed into secondary progressive MS from years and years of undiagnosed Remitting Remission MS. 

SO, we were up against a giant! There were lots of tears of fear. Lots of pain. Lots of what if's. 

Then, my man went to work for me....2 are better than 1!

We found the work of Dr Terry Wahls; The Wahls Protocol. For 30 days Hubs spent day and night researching for cures and those who had healed or stayed in remission. 

​My last worst day involved lots of pain, lots of MS hugs, lots of nerves just about ready to jump out of my body, constant vibrations and electrical shocks in my spine, an MS gate that was wide and wobbly, lack of mobility and control in my right side, not being able to hold an ink pen....let alone a paint brush. Lots of tears. More tears. More fear. 

Every Sunday, I asked for prayer.....not for healing, but for me to have the grace to hold my head up so my crown didn't fall off. Grace to accept whatever God's will was.

*********************************************************************************************************************************************

My healing started 1 day at a time. It didn't come in a full wave of healing. It came day by day. First it was 5 good days.....now it's been nearly 9 months!!! I can't even begin to write the JOY that is in my soul. I can't even begin to express to you the gratitude I have to God for leading us to the foods that heal.

What are they.....FAT!

I was starving my brain on a plant based diet...one that excluded added fat. My body finally started to scream at me and I listened....I'd of had to be deaf not to.

SO.....as everything seems to go full circle.....here I am back to eating an ancestrol diet. One filled with lots of healthy fats; butter, bacon, egg yolks, meaty/bone broths, fermented dairy. 

Hubs discovered the exact nutrients I needed to rebuild myelin in my brain....and so everyday....whether I like it or not, I eat manna. 

I decided early on that the Wahls Protocol was not for me...not exactly. After being plant based for about 2.5 years my body had OD'ed on Oxalates; spinach, blueberries, black pepper, turmeric...kale. 

I'd been struggling for over a year with an extremely painful rash on my inner calves, upper Chest and bend of both arms. It felt like shards of glass breaking through my skin. What must be similar to a shingles rash. I asked the doctor about it just a few months prior and she shrugged. Typical reaction to my mysterious symptoms for SO very long.

Anyway, the elimination of Oxalate foods has caused this rash to eventually disappear. It could take up to 10 years for it to all come out of my body, but for the first time in over a year....it is gone! SO, I know it's not a scientific conclusion but it works for me! 

What does my day look like? Pretty much the same every. single. day.

I start off with 1 or 2 Bulletproof Coffees mostly because I love the taste and coffee acts as the carrier for the fats that my brain must have. We use an organic Ruta Maya. In my blender I use 2 Tbsp (although I don't measure, I just use a chunk) of grass-fed butter, 1 raw fresh egg yolk, 1 scoop of collagen, and 1 Tbsp of Bulletproof MCT oil. I usually don't use all these ingredients in my second cup...just the butter and raw egg yolk. 

I keep fresh meaty/bone broth in the fridge and have actually switched up my protocol since around Christmas. I eat 4-6 Cups of broth every day with a chunk of fatty meat, another raw yolk and a scoop of fermented dairy....usually sour cream. I heat the broth and then stir the egg yolk and sour cream in. 

That's about it. Somedays I'll have some bacon and or yogurt after my BP coffee. 

I'm pretty content. After 9 months of eating strictly 0 carb, Carnivore, I just felt like my gut wasn't healing along with my brain. Mostly because any attempt to fast past 24 hours sent me out of "remission" into imbalance and dizziness. SO...after listening to an interview Kelly Hogan (carnivore for about 11 years) with Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride, I ordered her new GAPhysiologS book and decided to tweak things. I have tracked my ketone/glucose numbers for a couple months now and seem to stay in ketosis which according Dr Nally, is required to heal from MS. My fasting ketone numbers are through the roof good, but I can't handle it right now. SO.....I'm not fasting for the sake of my brain.

Prior to Christmas I was eating 0 Carb Carnivore; BP Coffee in the morning, meat for noon meal...usually steak or fatty pork like ribs. I usually fasted from noon meal to noon meal. According to Dave Asprey, fat fasting allows the body to remain in ketosis.....and for me it does! So I'd fat fast for 24 hours. But now I'm having more healing broth with some fermented dairy and a raw egg yolk. 

*********************************************************************************************************************************************

SO....here we go into a new year. It's just a marker of time.....there's no magic or power in a day or time. I'm reminded by God's Word which has been my source of strength and power in the past 9 or 12 months....really the past 50 years!!!

Psalm 46 was the exact Scripture God gave me the morning of January 7, 2020!!! God IS our refuge and strength. 

1 God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging.[c]

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
    God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.
8 Come and see what the Lord has done,
    the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
    to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields[d] with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

The good news is God has healed me to the uttermost. He has restored me. He has chosen me and called me....I'm teaching Bible Study, leading young women to hunger and thirst for His Word. I'm painting beyond what I could have  dreamed of.

Matthew 6

I'm taking what seems to be a gazillion art classes this year....and I say year because at least 3 are 365 days long! 

That's unprecedented commitment for me!!! I am ever the optimist! 

The class that started yesterday is The Documented Life Project 2016 The Unplanner!!!! 

Oh my goodness...if that doesn't fit me to the T!  I thought of all the years in my life....I need this NOW!!! I need it to document what's going to be a C R A Z Y ride!!!! I'm all in....all 2 feet jumped in for whatever God has in store for us this awesome new year!!!! 

I have never had much success with "Planners".....seriously who does? Ok...maybe you do, but I usually fly by the seat of my pants and am so spontaneous that planning just seems to get in my way. As I write that I think....hold on there cowgirl, that's not entirely true. I do like a little planning. I suppose I like "knowing" what the future holds....enough that I can at least be prepared.

Anywho.....this is my Unplanner!!! It's extremely whimsical artsy craftsy......almost to the point of overload for me!!! I do like most of my life...except my art room to be organized...you know....organized chaos! I can truly only take messes for so long....then it's a major overhaul!

So my Unplanner is not too much slap here and slap there kinda artsy craftsy....it's got a little bit of Zen going on and I incorporate what I've been learning along the way by some awesome teachers...that's what it's all about.....then you form your own style. Therefore, my cover will stay as simple as possible....with my reminder to Embrace this new year!

But the inside cover shows my true colors!!!! Because I am Wild At Heart!!! Ever seeking the one who holds my life in His hands. Desperate for Him.

With my monthly goals right there to pursue......this ought to be interesting!!!! Goals?

My daily devo inspirationals tucked away in my bi-monthly envelopes for me to dig out and remind myself that "it's going to be ok".

And of course the monthly schedule...so I don't ask too many questions!!!

Just keepin it REAL! 

xoxo Diane

I just added 5x7 Notecards to The Shepherd's Studio!!! 

Go ahead....have a look!!!!