The Hiccup Miracle

Before I go into my story, I have to recognize my blogging milestone. I reached 100 followers!!! Thank you to everyone who is following and reading my blog posts. I greatly appreciate it. 

In other blogging news, I will be taking part in a HUGE giveaway later this week so be on the lookout for that as well as I will be hosting my own double giveaway next month. I also will be kicking off a new project that I am very excited about next month. So, there's lots going on and I hope you will participate in all of it.

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Last night, I had the misfortune of getting the hiccups. I HATE, no LOATHE, getting the hiccups. Because I have such a paranoid mind, I'm always thinking What if they never go away? What if they stay for days, weeks, months and I end up being one of those people in the Guinness Book of World Records?  I try to start concentating on my breathing. Breathing in slowly, holding it for while, then exhaling. 

That's not working and it's only making me more frustrated. So, I try to just go on with my life and forget I have them. I focus on watching TV and reading and replying to emails. But they're still there and I know it because my lovely husband is laughing every time I hiccup. 

Speaking of my husband and laughing, he's the reason I had the hiccups in the first place! He did something that made me laugh, then I got choked up and my laugh became a cough. Then, I had that dreadful feeling. I could tell I had swallowed too much air. I could feel them coming on....and sure enough there they were...hiccups.

As the minutes are passing by,I still haven't gotten rid of my hiccups. My lovely husband then tells me that he has class early in the morning so if I don't get rid of my hiccups, I can sleep on the couch so I don't keep him awake. I'm glad he's concerned about me. He makes me realize, though, that time is ticking away. It is getting late. I am on my break from school, but I'm still not a night person. I don't stay up late. I was going to be ready for bed soon. And if there's one thing more frustrating than getting the hiccups, it's having the hiccups when you're trying to sleep.

I try to breathe slowly and hold my breath again. It's still not working. I tried drinking some water. Sometimes that has worked for me in the past. That wasn't working either. Lee went to bed. I was getting a little desperate. It had been over an hour since they started. I turned to the only thing I know to do in a crisis situation-Google search.

I searched 'how to get rid of hiccups.' Many of the standard things I had tried already were there. I looked at some of the others: swallow a spoonful of sugar (no thanks!), massage the roof of your mouth with a cotton swab (I have a terrible gag reflex!), swallow a spoonful of vinegar (ew...no!), stick out your tongue and pull on it a little (weird, but I can try that.......nope didn't work),eat a spoonful of peanut butter (I love peanut butter...this I can do!).

I went to our kitchen to retrieve a spoon and the peanut butter. Our peanut butter jar was nearly empty, but luckily there was just enough for me to get a spoonful. I began to eat it and instantly I could feel a difference. I tried not to get my hopes up in case I was wrong. I continued to slowly eat the peanut butter while trying to keep my breathing nice and even. When I finished eating the peanut butter, I waited to see if they were truly gone or if they'd be back. 

After a few minutes, I determined that the peanut butter had worked! The hiccups were gone! I was cured! I would not be setting any world records!

Why does this work? Well according to my Google research, sticky food like peanut butter stimulates the vagus nerve causing your diaphragm to constrict. Yea...I don't know what all that means either, but it worked!!!

Peanut butter is the hiccup miracle cure! At least it was for me last night...

6 Places

Happy Tuesday everyone! Time to link up with The Austin Family Diary and Life. Love. Lauren. for the 10 Day You Challenge.

Last week, I enjoyed reading everyone's wants. This week is 6 Places. I feel like this one can be interpreted different ways. Some people may write about places they'd love to visit. I'm going to take a different route and write about 6 places I love.

1. I love my home. I am definitely an introvert. I love to be at home in my comfy clothes with my stuff. I enjoy traveling but it's always good to be home.

This was our living room shortly after we moved in. It has been rearranged a couple of times since then. So, it no longer looks like this.

2. Even though I've moved away and I do like where I'm living now, I will always have a heart for my hometown in "sweet home" Alabama. I have many fond memories of growing up here and always enjoy visiting. Of course, it is also where most of my family and friends are.

My town's square- This isn't a good picture. The grass is usually cut...I promise.

Me on my grandparent's land

Me at my family's pond behind my parents' house

Lee and I took engagement pictures at my family's pond also.

3. I love Hobby Lobby. It is my favorite store to visit. I could spend hours in there and way too much money! Unfortunately, the closest Hobby Lobby is an hour away from me. :(



4. My favorite vacation spot is the mountains. I love how the weather is cooler. I love the culture. I love the beauty of nature. I don't care what state the mountains are in...I love them all. I used to dream about living in the mountains...maybe one day....

5. Disney World has to be one of the most fun places to visit. It's so magical. There's so much to do. I went to Disney World when I was younger and Lee and I went for our one year anniversary. I would go back every year if I could.

My family at Disney World

My brother and I with Goofy

Lee and I at Disney World

Lee and I with Tigger

Me at Disney World

6. My favorite school is definitely Hogwarts. Okay...so maybe these aren't all places I've actually been to physically. But, I've been to Hogwarts plenty of times in my mind. Minus the whole being worried about being attacked or killed by Voldemort thing, it would have been a cool place to go to school. I guess the closest I'll ever get is visiting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios.

What is your favorite place?

Who Do I Blog For?

My blogging journey began about 2 and a half years ago. I was a few months away from getting married and moving away. I wanted to keep my family and friends updated on our lives. So, I started a blog. I would blog 1-3 times in a month. I posted my blog posts on my Facebook for people I knew to see. This worked for me for 2 years. 

Then, earlier this year in March, I decided I wanted to do more. I was consistently reading my Bible and praying. I was listening to sermons on my ipod and reading nonfiction, Christian books. I felt like my relationship with God was growing. I felt like He was leading me to expand my blog beyond my friends and family. I felt a desire to use my blog as a way to share my faith as well as a way to help others. I not only had this desire, I was bursting at the seams to share my passions with others.

Things started off well. I posted about other things from my life, but most of my posts revolved around my faith. It was also easy to post about my faith when I went on a mission trip this summer or when my husband was not doing well with his stomach issues.

However, recently I feel like I have drifted away from my original intent and purpose for my blog. I have become a little obsessed with trying to get new followers and write things people will read. I want to participate in all the link ups and blog hops. I want to comment on other people's blogs who participate in the link ups and blog hops. I want to read and comment on the growing number of blogs I'm following. I want to respond when people comment on my blog. Now, I know that many of these things aren't bad, but I feel like I'm often doing them for the wrong reasons. 

I know that the main reason God isn't flowing out of me into my blog is because I'm not saturating my life with Him. I can give you many excuses for why this has happened, but none of them are worth mentioning. I also have become more interested with growing my blog than just doing what I felt called to do in the first place.

I know I'm not the only one this has happened to. I have seen many people write similar posts about how they got more caught up in the numbers than the original reasons they started blogging. They usually conclude by reminding themselves that they blog for themselves. They don't blog to please others. While to a certain extent, I do blog for myself. It is a great stress reliever and "escape" from my hectic life. I have been so blessed to connect with others. In the end, though, I need to remember that I don't blog for myself. I've been blogging for myself for a few weeks now and I feel unfulfilled and discouraged. I blog for God. He lead me to expand my blog and He needs to lead the way I use it.