Transition..shmition

Goodbye Oahu!

Transition is a light and fluffy word to describe my last year. What do you call (in order of events) getting dream pt job at Whole Foods, finally getting intergraded into a Hawaiian community, depression, visions, got SOZOed, hubby applying for grad school/jobs, getting rejected from grad schools, packing up/ getting rid of my apt to move, not knowing where we are moving to, in- laws visiting for the best hawaiian stayca ever!, quitting my dream pt job, hubby graduating college, hubby getting a summer position at Niabi Zoo, moving off MY island (still not know where we are going to live), spent the summer with Shiloh in San Diego, Nate got a full time keeper position at Niabi Zoo, packed up trunk of the Element with everything that has value to me to move to the Quad Cities, moved in with the in-laws, massive depression, house hunting,sister came to visit at Thanksgiving, Mother in law is suspected to have ovarian cancer, closed escrow on our house, moved in to our house, CHRISTMAS, mother in law has massive surgery, Nate is getting a lot of divine opportunities with work, ovarian cancer stage 3C confirmed, signed up for my CNA class and testing, may start our farmers market stand?.... Needless to say tax season is quite an undertaking this year.

• Insert frolicking along Hawaiian beaches and botanical gardens to the first half of this.
• Insert teaching myself to crochet and sew into the second half of this.

Some lessons I have learned.SOME.

1. I have to be intentional about community. I have to be intentional about life. 

2. When I gave my life to God I said yes to adventure. Adventure isn't predictable and one must be flexible. I told God to change my heart for all of these unknowns. Literally one day I HATED the idea of moving to the Quad Cities, but I asked God to change my heart if that is where He wanted us. The next morning I woke up with excitement and ANTICIPATION for the city I am now in. Allow Him to change your heart. It's super fun!

3. There are always obstacles and challenges to face. Always conquer them. They are NEVER impossible to overcome or too large to get in the way of your dreams!

Starting Here

Where the heck do I start? I don't know if this is normal when starting a personal blog, but I have put off starting this blog for almost a year! Tonight I am fed up with this procrastination and burdened by all the writing going on in my head so I will make it easy on myself by just starting off with tonight's baking endeavor. 

As a Type 1 Diabetic, I am hyper aware of what is going into my mouth... Except in the dessert department. I never EVER say no to chocolate. It is just rude to refuse such a beautiful craft. I do eat it in moderation and I stick to dark chocolate because it satisfies my cravings with one (& 3/4) pieces.

My Diabetic Baking Habits:

• I don't use artificial sweeteners (most are bad for the body and they make me feel funny)
• I like whole wheat flour because it doesn't "spike my sugars"
• Honey and Applesauce are wonderful sweeteners
• I'll cut the amount of sugar in any recipe and so far it hasn't altered it

I am embarrassed to admit but I have not touched a diabetic cook book... Until this week. The anguish of seeing the ugly word "DIABETES" printed on the front of a "dessert" book, with artificial sweetener recipes tucked inside. Too much to handle frankly I'll shoot up for the real deal instead!

Fatefully I was at the library this week and came across a massive collection of diabetic cookbooks. I picked up "Diabetic Desserts" By Betty Wedman P.H.D. published in 1996, a year after I was diagnosed and I was curious about the "ancient" baking methods for diabetics. To my delight she used sugar in all of her recipes. Tonight I made the chocolate chip cookies. These babies are so yummy and of course the batter is even better. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies 
3/4 cup oil (I use olive)
3/4 sugar
1egg
1 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder 
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1tbs coco powder

Set the oven to 375F. Cream together oil, sugar, and egg. Add flour, coco powder,baking powder, chips. Mix well. Add 2 tbs water if batter does not stick. Spoon onto a lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 min.