What Have I Been Doing??

  
My followers might have noticed I have been absent from the bloggosphere for the past couple years. What have I been doing all this time? Well, we made a major cross-country move, started new jobs, settled into a new church, bought a house, started a small urban farm, went through a few health relapses, experienced improving overall health, and a thousand other things!
   
We have been on the GAPS diet now for 5+ years. The improvement in health we have seen during that time has been really amazing overall, although we continue to have health challenges that will likely require chronic management. I received additional diagnoses of MTHFR gene mutation and chronic EBV infection in 2017. In the past couple years, I have gone through some intermittent periods of relapse and even had to go on partial disability for a time. I continue to experience occasional intermittent chronic fatigue flare-ups. However, compared to where I was in 2013 at my lowest, I am MUCH improved.  I can live life mostly normally now as long as I manage my stress level and stick to my GAPS diet regimen. I no longer maintain a ketogenic diet, but I still practice some low-key intermittent fasting and remain fat-adapted.

Most amazingly, my husband's ulcerative colitis was declared to be in remission in Feb 2018 due to diet and lifestyle factors alone! However, the colonoscopy he had to confirm his healing irritated his newly healed colon a bit, and he has experienced some mild return of symptoms since then... Sigh. We have regressed him to the intro diet and will keep persevering. It is not always easy to keep UC in remission, however the fact that my husband remains completely medication-free with only mild UC symptoms more than 5 years after diagnosis is still AMAZING. His GI doctor was very surprised to see him in remission based on nutritional therapy alone.

We have a full life between work, church ministry, part-time home health nursing for me, and part-time farming for me as well. I spend a lot of time outside and grow pretty much all of our produce. I grow a little extra to share on a suggested donation basis or just to give away for free as well. Starting this year we also produce all our own eggs. We are thankful for the large lot we found near our city center that has provided such a healthful and bountiful supply of sunshine, exercise, and food for us (Yes, all these pictures are from our little "farm").