Lots of Changes!

Holy crap! I didn’t realize it had been so long since I’ve written here. There have been lots of changes in my life since I was here last, some good some not so good.

• In the fall I was invited by the makers of my Remicade to an event in Toronto. The event was kinda like a brain storming session on how better to get information about IBD out to other patients as well as the general public. I had the opportunity to meet with other IBD’s from a cross the country as well as the head of Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, top doctors and of course Jansen (makers of Remicade). I loved being part of this group an am looking forward to working with them again in the coming months.
• In September I had the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica to photograph the Roar conference. The conference was incredible. I loved listening too and chatting with writers and bloggers from Canada and the US. If you have ever thought about traveling to Costa Rica just do it. It is so beautiful. I’d be lying if I didn’t mention the fact that I’ve been dreaming of the warmth while we were there. I’m so ready for this winter to end.
• Just before Christmas I had the opportunity to again talk about my crohns and how it’s impacted our family over at The New Family | 1000 Families Project. 

Now onto the more personal things.

• Our daughter has been accepted into all her programs of choice for college next year. She has decided to head to Seneca for Cosmetic Techniques and Management and we couldn’t be more proud of her.
• Our Son started at Mohawk College and is taking two courses this semester and like our daughter we are very proud parents.
• I started taking care of myself better and have started working out and eating better. Although it’s something that i’ve been wanting to do for a while it just kinda happened. After New Years when Andy and the kids were heading back to work and school I needed something to do to occupy my thoughts and working out three days a week with a trainer and three days a week at home plus planning meals seemed like a good choice. I started on the 6th of January and although I don’t have a scale I did measurements on the 13th I’m happy to say as of February 13th I am now down 13.5 inches and feeling stronger all the time. (I’m be writing more about my weightloss in an other post)
• The biggest and hardest change for me was the death of my brother James. On December 21st James died from an accident. I still have a hard time accepting that it’s true as I just never in a million years imagined my life without him being in it. He was such a great person and loved by so many people that somehow he just always seemed to be bigger than life. I still cry lots and think of him multiple times in a day and i think that will continue for a long time. It’s really hard to imagine our family events without having him be there. His smile and laughter were always infectious. His caring ways were life changing really. I always knew he was a good person but at his wake and funeral the numerous stories that were told to us about him helping out people when there was no gain for him was incredible. He never talked about things that he did or expected anything in return he just wanted to help. It has been 17 years since our mom died an i had honestly forgotten how much it hurts.