Additional challenges...

I took advantage of my day off today to take my dog for a walk - we both desperately needed it... Although I immediately regretting it afterwards... My RA does NOT like the cold and by the time I got back home, my joints were stiff and my whole body felt like it had been put through the ringer... I know it is because it was around 25 degrees today... Movement is supposed to help the stiffness, not cause it!

With my additional life changes, and these new challenges that seem to affect my mobility, I have some difficult choices to make in the months ahead.

I am planning on moving out of Juneau and back to the "lower-48" by the end of summer... This goal gives me some time to take care of things here and save up some money for the move...

But, after today, I'm wondering if I should change my plans to someplace that stays warmer during the winter... I know that this change will make it so that I am practically dying in the summer (I don't handle heat well either), but I need to be able to move... If a warmer climate will help me to be more active during any time of the year, I'm willing to try it...

As luck would have it, I have a friend that may be moving to the Dallas area. I'm contemplating living with or near her, as she is currently pregnant with her first child and her husband is in the aviation industry (which means he won't be home a lot to help with the kid)... If I move to Dallas with them, I can help her with the baby and be able to keep my expenses down at the same time...

But, I know next to nothing about Dallas... I do know that Aaron and I tried to live in Texas twice (and both attempts failed miserably)... But, that was west Texas... Not Dallas... hmmm....

Other areas up for consideration are Denver and Salt Lake City... SLC is warmer, but it can still have some really cold winters... Denver too...

Maybe I should move back to Hawaii? I know that I didn't feel the RA pain as bad when I was there... I could probably put up with the constant summer if I am not experiencing constant pain...

Maybe I should look for something overseas? In another tropical area? I'm just not sure.. I'm just tired of being in pain all the time..

What do you think?

Getting back on my feet...

Since my last blog post, life has turned upside-down... My husband and I have seperated and are in the process of getting a divorce. As you can imagine, I haven't really been focused on "me" or "my health" for a while as I deal with this new adjustment...

I am getting settled into my new place (I rent a room from a nice lady) and am getting myself familiar with her kitchen. Last night, I was inspired to actually cook a meal (as opposed to just boiling a pot of water for pasta and adding jarred sauce to it)... It was very tasty and quite healthy, using quinoa and spinach. I posted the full process on my food blog that I share with my good friend, Jessie. It is an easy recipe and I recommend that everyone try it.

Today, I am focused on staying warm and fulfilled... It has been snowing here for 3 days now, so I decided to make soup at my office. It's another recipe I found online that I made a few tweaks to. I hope it is good (it is cooking right now)... Since it makes a LARGE crock pot full of soup, I decided to share it with my co-workers. Look for the recipe for the soup on the food blog. I will post it tonight or tomorrow...