highs and lows..

i have been dealing with unexplained highs every night this week. thanks to 300 and 400s i have also had ketones every night. (why is it that the work "ketones" is not in the spellcheck dictionary?)  blel! thanks to the extra insulin for highs and ketones i end up low in the middle of the night.

 i am trying hard not to be too frustrated with my CGM but it has only caught one of those lows, my parents and my service dog in training caught the others.

just another reason i still live at home. i am not a fan of 

the high-low coaster...and the very groggy and tired feeling i have once i get off the darn thing!

i am hoping diabetes plays nice this weekend as it is my birthday and i 

have lots of fun things planned!

good intentions are still just intentions.....

and i have lots of good intentions....

but i am going to work on making those intentions

actions.

happy singles awareness day!

buy yourself some sunflowers and a coffee

and dance to some of your favorite music cause its 

just that kinda day

giants...in smaller forms...

the countdown to my birthday has begun. in a mere 16 days i will turn 23. in some ways i am facing a few giants on that day, but to my joy some have already been defeated for me.

giant #1: ever since i graduated high school -no, even before that- i have dreaded turning 23 because i lose medical insurance. being a college student with a very minor income AND no insurance, AND very expensive med supplies is not a pretty combo in my mind. to say that i have stressed, prayed, figured, and worried (lather, rinse, repeat) is an understatement..

everything that my parents and i had tried to figure was still going to cost more then i had and there just was no easy answer. military insurance is just plain awesome and nothing was even coming close. last thursday i had what was supposed to be my very last pedi-endo appointment (yes, i am 22 and yes i still see a pediatric endocrinologist. it's rather funny when i check in and go sit in the little brightly colored chairs and watch cartoons..tehehe) with the best Doctor in the whole wide world! i adore my Dr. S. She is just super duper fabulously wonderful and i was on the verge of tears about this being our last visit! till my poppa called with some wonderful news! he had found an extension  program for military dependents with chronic illnesses that will cover me for 36 more months! THAT'S 3 YEARS! same insurance, same Doctor, same everything!

God is just so amazing!

giant #2:

so most of y'all know from either talking with me or reading my blog that singleness has not always been (ok, almost never) a place of contentment for me. almost all of my local friends and *all* my childhood friends are married with kids, and while i enjoy being "auntie shay", i just felt like i was being left behind and really struggled with it.
 till a little over a week ago. something just kinda clicked. my attitude did a 360*. i am happy to be single. i have such great opportunities to serve, help and love in ways that i couldn't were i married. and that made me HAPPY! do i want to get married? oh yes. want a family? oh please! but not right now. i am happy to be where i am. i have growing to do first. i have things to do, places to see, degrees to finish, people to help and life to live.  i am content to let friends be friends, couples be couples, singles be singles and most of all God be God. He knows far more then i do, and His plan is far better then mine could ever be. in that area and every other, even if that means being single for a year, 10 years, or even the rest of my life. i am 100% ok with that. the feeling of release was beautiful. and so another giant in my life bites the dust.

wahoo!

"Wahoo?"
"When's the last time *you* said Wahoo?"
"Well I'm *sure* I don't know."- I.Q

I went "wahoo" tonight! I love seeing a big brown truck pull into our drive because there is almost always something for me! Between school books and diabetes supplies anyway..but both are fun. Anywho, it was diabetes Christmas for me cause insurance approved a new CGM transmitter for me! WAHOO! Mine has been on the blink and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get another one. God is always faithful.. :-D

more beach

Blue Crabs...(male and female)

*sigh*

Sunrise on the pier

Baby sand crab

Dickens on the Strand and Sunrise on the beach

Shells..

Skylar and I at Dickens

Sisters!

Family Christmas Picture

Sunrise on the beach.

It was one of the most wonderful mornings I had in a long time.

So calm and beautiful

I loved getting to be one of the only people on the beach that morning.

and the world spins madly on...

Happy first day of February! Can you believe I forgot I had a blog till a few days ago? Yeah...just a few bigger priorities I guess. When I disabled Facebook, and almost all of my other social networking outlets, I though I would have more time for blogging. Guess not! 

January was a busy month and one full of changes, both big and small. At the beginning of the new year I decided that this was going to be a "back to the basics" year for me. One of my biggest goals had been to regain control of my diabetes. After years of playing at being a "normal" college student I bit the bullet and have been working much harder at doing all the little things I know I have to do. I am proud to say that after only a month of working at it my daily blood glucose (bg) average is down about 20 points! I still have many months of hard work ahead but I was so encouraged by that! I also have been wearing my sensor almost constantly AND HAVE NOT HAD A SITE IN MY BELLY FOR 3 WEEKS!  That is huge for me! I have always preferred my stomach area for all my sites, shots, and sensor for almost 15 years. You can't imagine the scar tissue I have managed to build up...yuck! I have been enjoying reading the blogs from some people over at the DOC and was inspired to try putting my sites on my lower back and hips...wow! I can't understand why I was so scared to try it till now. I haven't had a single problem wearing them back there, even with my sensor that is a little annoying to wear. Although, I have had to ask for help inserting and taping them...which I also NEVER do. I have always been very independent when it came to giving myself shots, finger sticks and inserting sites..oh well. 

I also went to a diabetes support group meeting last night! Its been years since I had any want to do such a thing. I even went by myself and only contemplated running out the door one time! ;-)  I was a little disappointed when I walked in only to see about 25 men and woman over the age of 60! Great...all type 2s...*sigh* I sat down anyway and was trying to listen to the CDE talk about pumping..and to not roll my eyes..when I heard a pump go off. Of course I looked down to check mine and then looked around the room to see another 20 something girl doing the same! I wish I could relate to you the excitement that was on both of our faces! There is just something about meeting people that know exactly what you are talking about. Don't get me wrong, my friends and family try very hard relate but its hard to understand what it feels like when my bg drops too low or the frustration of rolling over on my pump only to have it vibrate an alarm and scare me awake. Anyway, I was glad I went, and even more glad to talk "diabetes" with someone who had been living with it as long as I have.


Speaking of living with it for so long, August 15th will be my 15 year anniversary! I remember that day so vividly. Wow.. So in "celebration" I am planning on going to Friends For Life Diabetes Conference in Orlando! I am applying for a scholarship and trying to figure out some fund-raising so I can go!  Here's hoping! 



Golly this post got long and diabetic-y :-p. Guess I will just have to blog some more later..