Timothy Lake camping trip

At the beginning of September, Rick and I went camping up at Timothy Lake with our friends Ronn and Jenn and their friend Brian (and his adorable black lab-Harley). We had gorgeous sunny weather, but it was FREEZING at night. It was the first real inkling that Fall was on its way! I think we had the best campsite there. It was huge, private and right on the lake! We woke up to dense fog. This was the view from our campsite out to the lake.

A nice peek of Mt. Hood

 Fog burning off

I love this one of the fog and the people on the dock

 

 This little guy was our resident muncher. He was so cute! I love his tiny claws!

 In his little house

 Rick relaxing and taking in the view

 Ronn hanging out

 Harley being a good dog

 Saturday afternoon several horses came down to the lake front and I went over to get some pictures. I don't have much experience with horses at all, and I had never seen a horse with blue eyes!

 Nor did I know that they have horizontal pupils! So cool!

 Wet Harley-man

 Sunday morning we visited Little Crater Lake, a sink hole with crystal clear and very cold water.

And that's it! I am kind of sad looking at these now that its December and cold! I am already excited for Spring and warm weather :) 

Things are good here. I am keeping very busy with my photography business and have three shoots coming up in the next month or so. I hired someone to build me a website so that is in the works. Its all very exciting for me! Rick and I are looking forward to getting through the holidays and planning our next vacation. We are hoping to go to Vietnam in April!

My health continues to be a focus in my life. I will go in next week for my first blood work since my diagnoses. In the last 5 weeks since I was diagnosed with PCOS and Hashimoto's, I have strictly followed my Doctor's instructions. I have been gluten free and taken all of my medications. I haven't noticed any huge differences, but I feel less hungry throughout the day, my itchy foot is much less itchy and my face is less oily. Oh and it seems like I'm not losing as much hair either, which is great. Strange, I know, but that is all I have noticed so far. I will be very interested to see what has changed with my levels once I have the blood work done, and what my Doctor has to say about everything. I believe my itchy foot was due to a skin problem called Dermatits Herpetiformis, and that is ONLY attached to Celiac Disease. My Mom is fairly certain she has Celiac and is going to get diagnosed at the end of the month, and even though I have never had any stomach issues, I think I have it too. So, it sounds like I will likely be gluten free for the rest of my life. It hasn't been as challenging as I thought. The hardest part is when I'm eating out with other people and they're eating things that smell so good that I want! I crave a big juicy hamburger at Red Robin with a big fluffy bun or a Subway sandwich. Luckily, there are great substitutes out there and lots of restaurants in town have options too. 

Christmas will be pretty low-key this year. Christmas Eve at Rick's parents with his sister and her family, and brunch Christmas morning with my family at my Aunt's. And that's it! No home Blazer game this year, which has become a tradition. So, not sure what we're going to do! It'll be nice to relax :) Well that's it for us. I'll let you know what I found out when I have my bloodwork done next week! 

xo, Lauren