Moving Forward

It's been an age since I have written and so many things have come and gone. Birthdays, foster dogs, the end of one and beginning of a new year that slipped through without much more than a turning of a page.

We're moving to Colorado in a little less than a week- four days to be exact.  After 4 years of living in the warmth of California and Florida, we finally get to go home to four seasons! That in itself is a big exciting adventure, but add in my little stint of sleeplessness (well, not really, but I've been getting about 4-5 hours a night) due to a vitamin deficiency. (who knew vitamin B6 could have such an effect on a body- Yikes!  Thanks to my dear friend Dori, I do now)- whew, it's a lot to deal with. We also sent my son out ahead of us to stay with his dad, so he could get settled into school before summer to make friends. My husband travels for work and is on a monthly rotation that brought him home 2 days before my son left, so I gained one, and lost one. I feel like my whole world has been turned upside down and plopped right on top of my head. 

So, this move. It was pretty sudden- we finalized all of this on the 6th of this month. We had a contract on a house here in Florida, but for some reason were unable to secure the funding, yet they strung us along telling us that they were going to see if they could go ahead and get the financing another way. Finally my husband and I had had enough, and told them that we couldn't wait any longer due to our lease ending within six weeks. We had to find a place quick! (we hate this house- the property management company is terrible and never fixes anything, so we didn't want to be stuck here another year). We had talked about moving to Colorado a few months prior, but nothing really came out of that. This time we got a little more serious and decided that it would be best for the boys and us as a family unit. As I stated before, my husband travels for work, so I am left alone for a month at a time- in Florida I don't have any friends- the ones I did have moved away. You see, we live in a tourist area where people come to play, not to live, and the ones that do live here have a million dollars in their pockets... they don't want friends like me (an American girl who likes to garden- not prance around in LouBoutin's). Colorado will give me a good circle of friends and family to spend time with. It will also allow my boys to have both parents close. The move will also be good for my husband as his family is there as well- and he likes the changing seasons. My oldest is 16 and I've missed out on most of his sophomore year- I don't want to miss any more. My youngest is 11 and needs the firm hand of his father, so it all just made sense to do this. We kept shying away from the idea because it's an expensive move, we truly love the beach, and we have a few family members that suck (for lack of a better term). But in this situation all the good things outweigh the bad. We've found ways around the obstacles we were facing and are truly happy about the decision. 

Now onto this vitamin B6 issue. Ugh, I am ashamed to admit that I suffer from occasional sleep disturbances. Mostly when I have something stressful happening in my life (like most other people). This time it has been strange. I feel tired and go to bed only to toss and turn, and when I finally fall asleep, I only sleep for about 5 hours total- and I am waking up during this time. I tried taking passionflower thinking I was just stressed out, and I also tried The Power to Sleep PM, without any luck- I would still toss and turn the same as without them and not sleep any longer or deeper when I did drift off- I actually think it would take me longer to fall asleep when I took those vs. nothing at all. Another thing about me- I suffer from GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) so when I have a few nights of not so good sleep, I start worrying that there is something wrong with me, and I make the actual situation worse. I start being afraid of going to bed at night, for fear that I might not sleep... then during the day I dwell on how much sleep I got- constantly adding up the numbers in my head- what time did I go to bed, when did I fall asleep? What times did I wake up and how long was I awake each time... yeah, it's really ridiculous. These actions then make me feel depressed, like there is something REALLY TRULY wrong with me. I finally reached out to a trusted friend who does holistic health type stuff. I told her what was going on with me and she asked me a series of questions... she came up with a viatmin B6 deficiency. Strange? Yes, but it makes complete sense. Here, I'll lay it all out for you. Vitamin B6 plays a huge roll in sleep- 
'Vitamin B6, or pyridoxine, is an essential nutrient that plays a crucial role in the production of serotonin. A profound malfunctioning of the central nervous system, neurologic disorders, muscle weakness and insomnia can result from a deficiency of this crucial nutrient. The effect of Vitamin B6 deficiency on sleep is similar to the effect of serotonin depletion, in terms of decreased deep body temperature, altered REM patterns and shortening of the periods of deep sleep." (Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2083921)
When she told me this I read about it and looked more into the actual vitamin and found some other interesting information. I had been diagnosed with seborrheic dermatitis about a week earlier, and that is also a  symptom of deficiency  I was excited to hear that I could easily fix (hopefully) this issue and was looking forward to trying it out. Well, that night (night before last) I popped my vitamins and went to bed (along with 1/4 of a unisom natural) and I was up for SO long... don't ever take vitamins before bed. LoL! I wanted to run a marathon at midnight. Needless to say I didn't sleep very well. I got over to the Vitamin Shoppe yesterday and got some B6- took 25mg in the afternoon. I felt great and it didn't cause me any strange feelings. Around 9pm, I went to bed and feel asleep shortly thereafter. I woke a few times and again around 2 when my husband crawled into bed (which I had a hard time falling asleep again) but I finally did and I slept until 6:40 am (with some wake ups in there). I feel tired this morning, but I slept longer than I have been, so it's a start!

Crossing my fingers and praying that our move goes smoothly and that everything settles down soon. I guess I will try to get on here and do this more now, since I will (hopefully) have more interesting things to type about. :)
Philippians 4:12-13 ‘I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.’