Autoimmune Disease: My Journey Back to Health

It is sad to me how many people are sick and told by their Doctor’s they either have to do extreme things or that there is no hope and they just have to accept living like this for the rest of their lives. 

SUPPLEMENTS I TOOK To detox: http://bit.do/ebzJE - I took 3 tablets before bed To Heal the Gut: http://bit.do/ebyHV - I took 1 x 3 times a day (if out of stock so try these: http://bit.do/edUoV ) For the AutoImmune: http://bit.do/ebyH3 - I took 2 x 3 times a day

After one phone call with my Functional Dr and two days after starting on the above 3 herbal supplements, I was back to 85% of my health through nothing but herbal supplements and diet.  Food is the answer! I want to put the word out so that everyone knows not to give up hope. You can get your health back!  I wish you good health. xoxo

Elle's Life March

This heart was on top of the yogurt my sister took out to Olivia by the pool - and seemed to capture their visit....love.

It was amazing to have my family here. 

I noticed so much change in Olivia from when we last saw her. She has grown into such a beautiful young woman inside and out.

I also had the opportunity to get together with these two fabulous Youtubers:

Joye Smith and

Melissa Parada

I hope that you had a wonderful March and that April is off to a fabulous start!

 Elle

Elle's Life February

For a short month, I feel like we packed a LOT in.  I spent a LOT of the month working but, as always, I live by the motto of working to live so I made sure to go to bookclub, out with girlfriends as well as having time with Mark.

Our weather was absolutely amazing with temperatures near 90! We got in an amazing bike ride.  I feel so blessed to live in a place where we can bike in February when most of the country is having rain or snow. 

I love flowers and color in the house. Trader Joe's had these cool tulips in a jar. You just keep water in the bottom half and they were beautiful for a few weeks.

We had a wonderful Valentine's dinner of filet mignon, brussel sprouts in pomegranate and yukon gold scalloped potatoes along with their amazing Yorkshire Puddings that bring back childhood memories - yum!

When it starts to get warm, I give Ozzy a good trim. It is amazing within a day or two how he fluffs out and looks like he needs another haircut.  I sent the below picture to Mark and said that I had gotten a new puppy and his name was "Shaggy"! lol

For our date, I went with a black and white theme....

Including my earrings. I mixed and matched a pair of black and a pair of white earrings that I got off of eBay.

I hope you had a wonderful February filled with much love.

Elle 

Elle's Life January

I have been so busy, with work and travel, that I wasn't able to get in for my bi-weekly manicure.  With gel nails, it doesn't look pretty when they are growing out and you are in desperate need of a fill.  After I painted my nails, to disguise the 'gap' by the cuticle, I painted it with a light glitter polish to look like it was glitter falling.  I actually think it turned out cute

We went out to a little brewery place called Fate 

that serves pizza and salad. I am not a big beer drinker except when we go here - they have a knack for always bringing me a beer that I love (this time it was a hefeweizen - not too hoppy and just a hint of sweetness).  

Everytime we go there we are struck by their AMAZING service (the wait staff is always so nice). They do an amazing job with their food. I had the caesar salad which had just a bit of basil pesto in it - try this at home and let me know what you think.  Yum!

Mark got the house salad which was fresh and tasty.

We split a mushroom, pepperoni pizza (I got ham and sausage on my side) which was woodfired.  So delicious.  If you are in Arizona, I definitely recommend you go by one of their locations and check them out.

We traveled and ate out a lot!  Sometimes I was healthy like with this Shrimp Lettuc Wrap

and other times I was not...like with these Flautas (SO filling and good)

I was only able to make it to one of my two bookclubs this month, but had a fabulous time.  I was also able to get together for lunch with three fabulous girlfriends that I haven't seen in way too long (one of them I hadn't seen in 5 years! Yikies).

I hope that your year is off to a great start! 

Elle 

Elle's Life December

I absolutely love Christmas - having the tree up, the lights, the music and it just feels so cozy.  Mark & I drove around and saw lights and we had Christmas music on all the time at home - as I said, I love it all. Having time off of work when everything slows down is also amazing!

Right before Christmas, a dear girlfriend sent me this gorgeous Amaryllis plant...she timed it perfectly to bloom for Christmas. It brought us both so much joy every day to see how quickly this plant grows and to think of our wonderful friends.

Mark & I at a Christmas party:

Olivia is doing well but has had to juggle chemo treatments to make it so she has a space where she can feel good to do well on her Provincial exams.  Here is her school photo and I promise to include an update on her in January favorites.

For New Years, we did a dressy but still comfortable attire (I love those black suede shoes with the gold heel!)

     

We went to one of our favorite little Italian places and had the most amazing dinner.  Then we went back home and watched a movie snuggled up together on the couch....the perfect way to usher in the new year.

May 2016 hold fabulous things for us all! ♥

Elle's Life November

I am so blessed to live in Arizona.  We had one of my book clubs sitting outside at a place called "The Perch Pub" They have birds everywhere!

They also had really good food:

My girlfriend got some goats for her granddaughter and this little guy was SUPER friendly!

Every year I look forward to Thanksgiving.  I absolutely LOVE all of the delicious food as well as remembering to be thankful for the MANY blessings we have.  In case you haven't seen how to carve your turkey, Mark always does a marvelous job of carving the turkey:

I love this time of year so much.  It feels cozy and joyous and so wonderful.  I hope, no matter where you are in the world, that you have MUCH to be thankful for.  Big hugs from our house to yours!

Elle's Life October

Part I:

Part II:

I am so fortunate to have many fabulous girlfriends in my life who take the time out of their busy schedule for us to connect. I met this girlfriend for a relaxed Sunday brunch at one of our many fabulous resorts.  

We ate out on the beautiful relaxing patio 

and enjoyed mimosas with our lunch.

I am trying to eat healthier.  I think it is pretty funny when you compare my meals to Mark's

My Thai Seafood Stew:                  Mark's Fish & Chips: 

My Ahi Tuna Tacos:                         Mark's Burger & Fries

         

My Jicama Seafood Tacos:       Mark's Chicken Enchiladas:

                

My amazing Waldorf salad:       Mark's Chicken & Potatoes:

Olivia is playing hockey with a boy's team.  She won't have the same fun as she did on a girl's team but....

She will definitely make them take notice!

Olvia went to Brooke's memorial service (see Part II of my October favorites for more on this)

She wore a Vancouver Canuck's Jersey in honor of Brooke:

They released hundreds of balloons at the service.

This is what Olivia wrote about Brooke:

may you rest in paradise my beautiful best friend. Brooke A Malakoff today, you grew your wings and made your way up to your new home in heaven. there, you'll be pain free and no longer have to suffer. you fought so hard and I will never ever forget you. I will always keep you in my mind and close to my heart. I'll never forget how loving, kind hearted, and genuine you are. you always have a smile on your face when I see you, whether you were in pain or not. thank you for being not only my inspiration but my best friend. I love you Brooke and I can't wait to see you again.