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Top 10 Posts Of All Time

top 10 posts of all time

It is so hard to believe that A New Kind of Normal has been in existence for over 10 years (almost 10 1/2!). Since thing were so crazy last year, we never really got to celebrate the 10 year mark, I thought I would take a day out of Bloguary to earmark the top 10 posts of all time here on A New Kind of Normal (well, at least they are the top 10 posts for the last 10 years)!

Here they are counting down from 10 to 1:

10) Things To Say (& Not Say) To Someone With Chronic Illness

9) What Is In Your Flare Survival Kit?

8) Mission Aborted: When Routine Procedures Go Wrong

7) Fighting The Tube: Recovering From Bowel Obstruction Surgery

6) Surgery Survival Kit

5) The Bowel Prep Survival Kit

4) One Little Word For 2014: Fierce

3) A Frozen Birthday & Bedroom

2) My Hair Hurts: Dealing With Tactile Allodynia & Fibromyalgia

and….drumroll please…..

1) The First 7 Days After Bowel Obstruction Surgery

 

I Am Bold

It is hard to believe that it has been over 10 years since A New Kind of Normal was born! So many amazing – and challenging – things have happened along the way but I am excited about what is going to happen this year and hopefully for many, many more years after!

 

Here is to Living Boldly for another 10 years!

bloggingchronic style

Welcome Back To A New Kind of Normal!

A New Kind of Normal Relaunch

Words cannot describe how excited I am to say, “Welcome back to A New Kind of Normal!!!”

It has been way, way too long since I have had a chance to really sit down and write and – excuse my French – damn it feels good! 2017 has a hell of a year all the way around and I am so glad that it is OV-ER and a new year is upon us! I have so, so much to tell you and so, so many things that I want to see accomplished this year but I am learning to embrace moderation to avoid burnout.

I am sorry that this post is so short but so far I have been working on this blog for 8 hours straight! You will be seeing a lot of sawdust as the site is still under construction! I know you saw the Maintenance sign up but what can I say, I am a girl that changes her mind and I just have so many ideas that I want to put into action and I just didn’t want to wait any longer!

Reconnecting

A New Kind of Normal has always been focused on changing the lives of those with chronic illness and encouraging the to choose hope and joy despite chronic illness and to live boldly in spite of it. This will continue to be the driving force behind it but this year the focus will narrow in on reconnecting to our bodies in a positive way and reclaiming our confidence. When you have chronic illness, it can be difficult to maintain a positive view of your body when you feel like it has betrayed you. If I had a dollar for every time I ever said “My body hates me,” I would be living on a tropical island. I hate feeling this way and I know that I am not alone that is why I am hoping to change my way of thinking. Scratch that – that is what I am hoping to change our way of thinking.

Reclaiming

Along with reconnecting, let’s talk about the reclaiming. My family makes statements all the time about my love of makeup as an attempt to feel beautiful when it couldn’t be farther from the truth. I don’t need makeup to be beautiful. God stitched me together piece by piece and He called me beautiful so I can feel beautiful in a glamorous wedding gown or a hospital gown or in full glam makeup with false eyelashes, the whole nine yards or not a stitch of makeup. Now that we have laid that to rest, let’s get to the real reason why I love makeup so much.

The second half of this goal focuses on reclaiming our confidence. Makeup doesn’t make me feel beautiful, it makes me feel confident. It gives me an avenue through which I can express my creativity. I can feel feminine. I can feel edgy. I can feel both. I want for each of one of us to find an avenue through which we can all reclaim this confidence. I want us to feel good about our bodies and feel spunky, sassy, sexy, fierce, creative, bold, audacious, unique, and on and on. I want that for all of us. Each and every one of us deserve to feel like the most rockin’ chick on the planet.

This is what I want for A New Kind of Normal. This new mission statements reads:

to create a community of rebel hearts living boldly to smash through the limitations that chronic illness has tried to build around them with a fierce beauty and confidence all their own.

The five things that I want a reader to feel while she is reading my blog is connected, empowered, inspired, creative, and confident.

Reading these five words get me so excited that my husband is honestly giving me weird looks.

This is just a small taste of what is to come! I cannot wait to finish telling out everything that I have planned for A New Kind of Normal but that will have to wait until tomorrow!

bloggingchronic illness

Awesome Things Are On The Way

New year, new start.

I am well aware that it isn’t the start of a new calendar year but last week I had the “pleasure” of turning 35. I am officially in my mid-30s. YIKES. I had to knock off about two inches of dust from the blog and I’m sorry for being AWOL. The flares got worse and felt like I was in a hole and now matter how hard I tried, I kept falling farther and farther down the hole. It became easier to overlook the computer the to open the lid. It because easier to pretend like I had nothing to say because honestly I had nothing to say. To anyone. I had completely shut myself off from everyone. My family. My friends. Everyone. Its like for a period of time I seized to exist except for breathing, throwing up, and being in pain. I had become encased in a shell because of battling life with chronic illness. That was my whole existence. And to sum it up:

IT SUCKS.

And you know what, I am done. D-O-N-E.

They say the first step to making a change is to admit that you have a problem. I have a problem. I have been barely existing in this sleep deprived blank state for far too long. I have watched too many things pass me by. I went to Disney in September and it was the most alive that I have felt in I don’t know how long (posts will be coming soon sharing all of those glorious details). I planned to get right on it as soon as I got back from Disney but this was the course of action (and I only wish I was exaggerating).

First, I got the typical post-vacation flare.

Then as soon as that lifted, I fell down our back stairs. My face broke my fall. It was bad. One minute I was at the top of the stairs putting my dog on her lead and the next thing I know I am face first in the first crying “ow, ow, ow” with blood streaming down my face, black eyes, scraped shoulder, knees, and elbows. It was not a pretty site.

As soon as that pain lifted, I got hit with this nasty respiratory infection that has not gone away despite antibiotics which require another call to the doctor tomorrow but I am calling it.

Enough is enough.

I am ready to make some life changes with my chronic illness. I am reclaiming my life. Yes, I am sick. It is a part of who I am but it does not have to be ALL that I am. This is my time. I have sat in the dark too long.

I deserve more. More importantly, my family deserves more.

I am stoked. I’ve got my planner ready. I’ve got lists, supplies, and even ordered some camera equipment to hopefully add some videos in here and there.

Change is coming people.

I hope you are as excited as I am. I am crying as I type this because I am so excited and ready. It is time to reclaim my life with chronic illness and it is going to be awesome!

More details to come!

Stock photo by Turquoise & Palm

disclaimer

Information posted here should not be considered medical advice. It is not intended to replace consultation with physicians or other healthcare providers. A New Kind of Normal covers my personal experience and because every person's experience is unique, it should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional healthcare.

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