Tammy Time

In October of 2017 I began a new journey in my life. I was talking to a friend of mine who was in dialysis. It was just a normal conversation, nothing out of the ordinary. I had been friends with this person for some time, and was friends with him when he was diagnosed with ESRD (end stage renal disease). For months I watched as he went to dialysis three times a week, having to change his schedule to fit with the 3-4 hours it takes for dialysis. When he finally got on the transplant list, he was told 6-8 years. He was going to have to wait that long for a kidney before he could get his life back. One day, I remember sitting up in bed and thinking, I wonder if I could be a donor? It seemed so far fetched to me. I met this guy on the internet. But, I got up and called my friend and asked him, who would I call to find out if I can be a donor? He was like, are you serious? I said sure, why not, give me a number and I'll see what it takes. So, I got the number and made the first c

I have been trying a lot of new recipes lately that I find on Pintrest and thought I would share and review my opinion on a few of them that I have recently made.... Starting with, low carb bread . So one thing on a low carb diet, bread is pretty much out the door. I don't really miss it as there are a lot of substitutes that work great for bread, but every now and then I want an ooie gooie grilled cheese sandwich. Not having bread makes this a bit difficult. So I looked up a recipe for a low carb bread and decided to give it a try. As you can see, my bread turned out pretty nice. Had a nice brown crust to it, my toothpick came out nice and clean, sure looks like bread! I dumped it out of the loaf pan and onto a plate so I could cut it and store it easier. It came out okay... I probably should have greased the pan a bit better, it did leave some of the bread behind on the bottom, but that's ok, I still have a good looking loaf of bread that I can eat! I get everyth

I am not sure where I originally found this recipe to make this easy delicious banana poke cake, but the first time I made it, my family fell in love with it! Now, I am on a low carb diet and trying to stay sugar free, so I had to make some changes to this cake to at least fit the sugar free part of it. I am sure if I made a cake from scratch using almond flour or something I could reduce the carbs as well, but, this is my birthday and I am allowing myself this little special treat. You will need: Vanilla cake mix (I used a sugar free cake mix) Instant banana pudding mix (I couldn't find sugar free in banana so I used sugar free vanilla pudding) Cool whip - defrosted (Again, I got sugar free cool whip) A couple of bananas 1. Start off by preparing your cake mix as directed on the box (or if you are making it by scratch). This cake is easiest to do if you make it the 9x13 cake size. And bake it! 2. After your cake is done, set it aside to cool for about 15 minutes.

Today is my birthday! I can't hardly believe it, I am 44 years old today and feel half that age! My celebration started last weekend, Saturday we had a gathering of friends and family. My parents, my brother and his family, my best friend and her husband and another friend from the club I'm a member of came over, in addition to the 7 in my family alone. We sat around my new fire pit area complete with benches that my husband built for me for my birthday! Had a few drinks, some appetizers and had a good time. This year for my birthday, my oldest son took me out to lunch and then bought me a new hummingbird feeder that I wanted. And the hummingbirds enjoy it too :) Then my oldest daughter took me to Kohls to buy some new shoes that I needed to have for working purposes. Following that, she took me to Bed Bath and Beyond where I got some nice smelly good stuff, and then we went to Starbucks where she treated me to a pumpkin spice coffee that was delicious! My you

Today marks my 1 year to date since I had my surgery. I thought this would be a great time to share some of my experiences during my first year. Sept 9, 2016 At the beginning of this crazy journey, I weighed 333 lbs. I was on a downhill road to what I was sure was an early death. I had been diagnosed with sleep apnea, diabetes, could barely walk, I was a mess. Just doing regular daily things like taking a shower, going to the store, tying my shoes was a chore and wore me out! I knew I had to do something and I had to do it fast. I had tried dieting, I was on weight watchers, I tried Atkins, I tried just eating healthy, but I was on the yo-yo string and going up and down. It wasn't working. I started doing my research on bariatric surgery, the different types, the pros and cons, what was safest, what was most effective? I finally decided I wanted to have the gastric sleeve so I scheduled my appointment for the seminar in Oct of 2015. After the seminar I got all my pap

My birthday is coming up Sept 13th. My family keeps asking me what do I want for my birthday! So I decided to make it easy, I'd just put it all out here.... (not necessary in this order) 1. A glider bench for my front porch Something similar to this 2. An Air Fryer 3. A movie projector so we can watch movies in the back yard. 4. A projector screen to go with the projector 5. Anything for my yard, such as yard decorations, plants, lights, etc.... 6. To get my fire pit area built complete with the benches Something similar to this 7. A futon so we have an extra place to sit and also to be used for sleeping/guest 8. Gift card to Kohl's so I can buy some nice clothes for fall! 9. A gym membership!  10. A real popcorn machine !  11. Nice set of casserole dishes 12. Tickets to the Renaissance Festival for this year.  13. Tickets to see a Chiefs game!  14. Evanescence concert tickets 15. Good smelling candles