DIY Birthday Sign

It's hard to believe our little Jubilee is a year old already! We had a great time last month celebrating her birthday with a British themed tea party. One trend I have been seeing quite frequently on Pinterest is the faux chalkboard birthday sign. Since I love crafty stuff I thought I would give it a try and write a post about how you can make your own! I had so much fun making it, that I made another one for my niece last week. Here they are side by side.

I'm waiting until closer to Olive's birthday to fill in some of the stats.

Robbie's Birthday

That is one happy man right there! Instead of getting a cake for Robbie's birthday, we decided to go to Gluten Escape to get a few cupcakes and some cookies. We ended up purchasing six cupcakes (a mint chocolate, two banana creme, a red velvet, and two vanilla chocolate chip) and four cookies (two Mexican wedding cookies, a ginger snap, and a sweet potato chocolate chip). They were all so delicious, especially the Mexican wedding cookies!

Yesterday, we went to see Man of Steel with two of Robbie's classmates and his classmate's wife. It was slightly disappointing overall, though I did appreciate the nerdy little references they sprinkled throughout the movie (such as the truck with Lexcorp on the side and his childhood friend named Lana). We both felt like the pacing was too quick in some parts of the movie and that the fighting scenes really seemed to drag on towards the end. Honestly, it had a lot of good ideas but just wasn't executed well.


As far as Dental School goes, Robbie had a test this past Monday in Pathology and two tests on Tuesday in Health/Data Collection and Operative Dentistry so last weekend was pretty jam packed with studying. I'm frustrated with the teacher for Health/Data Collections because he seems like one of those teachers who get off on messing with their students' heads and then ripping on them afterwards for not meeting his expectations. Apparently the test they were given had some answers marked down ahead of time ("by accident" of course...) but only some of them were correct so it was making all the students second guess themselves. The average for the test was a 78% but the highest score was only 92% and the lowest was 43%! The teacher recently sent out an email telling them all how he was so disappointed in them and how he had expected everyone to get 100%. I think this calls for the confused Jackie Chan meme.

I honestly would've emailed him back saying, "Maybe if you were a better teacher we wouldn't all have done so poorly," but that's why Robbie is in Dental School and I am not. I think I need to go look at my previous post about how I should respond to the Injustices of Dental School. Okay, I'm done ranting.

We just payed the $345 for Robbie to sign up for the Part I NBDE. I believe he is planning on taking them around July 20th. It seems like he's having mixed feelings on how well the first year prepared them for the material that's covered on the Boards (for some subjects he feels well prepared while others he feels will require quite a bit of study time). He has been using the NBDE app like crazy but he's also been pouring over old practice tests that were released a few years back. I know he is going to do just fine but we are both looking forward to them being over!

Gluten Intolerance

So I just called Gluten Escape (a gluten free bakery not too far from us) to find out how much a double layer 8-inch round cake would be... $35. Yeah, I think I will save $20 and just make it myself.

When Robbie and I first met and he told me he was gluten intolerant, I didn't even know what gluten was. Basically it's a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye that some people's bodies have a hard time processing. There are different types of gluten-related health issues, but the most well known is Celiac Disease where the consumption of gluten triggers an immune response in the body, especially in the lining of the small intestine. Some people with CD are so sensitive that if gluten even touches their skin they will break out in a rash! Here's a snippet from the Celiac Sprue Foundation's website about symptoms:

Common Complaints Include

Abdominal cramping/bloating Anemia Constipation Diarrhea Energy loss Fatigue Infertility

Irritable bowel Joint Pain Mouth sores or cracks in the corners Tooth enamel defects Weakness Weight loss

Common Nutrient Deficiencies in Celiacs

Minerals Calcium Copper Iron Magnesium Phosphorus Potassium Selenium Zinc

Vitamins Vitamin A, D, E, K Folic Acid Vitamin B 1,2, 3, 6, 9, 12 Vitamin C

I just thought it might be good to share this information because it is estimated that 1 in 133 people have Celiac Disease. Around 2 million people in the U.S. have it but don't even know because they've never been diagnosed!

Robbie has a different kind of gluten intolerance which was diagnosed back when he was in high school. His is neuropathic meaning that it affects his nervous system. When he has gluten (which is rare because we are so careful to check ingredients on EVERYTHING), it makes him feel lethargic, foggy headed, irritable, unable to focus, and impatient (all things that are not his personality at all!). When he was having gluten regularly before he was diagnosed, it made him feel depressed. After getting off gluten he felt hundreds of times better and his grades improved.

We know that there is a genetic component to it because his sister and her two sons are gluten intolerant (and we suspect his dad is too but he's too ornery to be diagnosed or change his eating habits haha). It's possible that our children will be gluten intolerant as well and sometimes I wonder how we will handle situations when our children will be exposed to gluten (ie. birthday parties, eating dinner at a friend's house, school lunches, etc). Understanding about gluten intolerance is on the rise and more and more stores/restaurants are offering gluten free alternatives of everyday foods.

One good thing that has come from Robbie's gluten intolerance is that it helps us to eat better. I hardly ever have junky snack foods around the house because so many of them have gluten in them. We eat a lot of brown rice, beans, veggies, fruits, etc. When we are wanting a sweet treat, the main flours I bake with are brown rice flour and almond meal.

Here's a link to my gluten free blog. I haven't added much to it but there are a few of my favorite recipes on there for you to check out!

Fun Summer Happenings

Apparently the gorgeous summer weather as well as the changes in Robbie's school schedule have completely thrown off my consistency in blogging! Once fall semester starts, I promise I will be back on a normal routine but until then my posts might be a little more sporadic.

This past week my friend Jeanette graduated. She is one of those crazy people who love to be in school so it was a little bittersweet for her. I, on the other hand, am totally stoked for her to be done (at least for now) so that I won't have to schedule time with her three weeks in advance!

In other news, I think it's safe to share with the world now (because she has had a chance to tell our relatives) that my oldest sister, Altair, is pregnant and due in November! We don't know what she's having yet, but it's exciting to think about having yet another niece/nephew before Christmas this year. My other sister who is pregnant, Ariane, could seriously pop any day now!

Left to right: Altair (sister), Darcy (Ariane's friend), and Ariane (sister). So much pregnancy in one photo!

Robbie and I have had a good amount of time to spend together lately which has been really nice. While he is definitely working hard in his summer classes and studying for boards, we've still been able to hang out at the pool, go to the movies, and have some nice dinners together at home. His birthday is only a few days away and all that I've gotten out of him is that he wants a gluten free cake. Honestly, Robbie's love language is acts of service so if I made him a yummy dinner and gave him a foot rub, he would be completely satisfied.

Hope you're all having a fun summer!