What's been happening in my world...

I'm going to go back a few months and fill you in on part of what has kept me away from writing recently.  On Sunday's post that you can read here, I explained the self doubt and fear that has kept me away from writing.  While that has been the main issue, I have also been quite busy!

Our local Hy-Vee Foodstore had been sponsoring and facilitating our group for many years.  I wrote about the night I stumbled onto the group and then became a regular attendee.  You can read about it here in my Celiacs Unite! post.  

As 2017 was nearing its end, the Hy-Vee dietitian who had been leading the group, Corrinna, took a job in another state.  At that time, another local Hy-Vee dietitian, Tessa, stepped up and offered to facilitate the group.  Unfortunately, this was right as the winter weather started to get messy and that didn't make it easy for Tessa to keep the group going.  By May, 2018, she had also taken a different job and would no longer be able to facilitate our group.  Without a leader, I quickly contacted the other regular attendees of the group to see what their thoughts were.  We all agreed that we wanted to keep the group going, that it was important and that we wanted to extend our reach to other Celiacs and anyone else who was gluten free for health reasons who lived even beyond our local Sioux City area.  At this time, leadership fell to me and my friend, Susie.  We worked hard to pull together our first meeting, which was a gluten free potluck picnic in July.

Throughout the summer, Susie and I have taken turns helping our friend, Tina, owner and baker at Better For You Bakery as she has brought her gluten free baked goods to the Sioux City Farmer's Market.  In addition to helping Tina sell her amazing GF treats and mixes, we've also passed out pamphlets and info about Celiac Disease and have met and talked to a lot of people about the disease as well as about our group.  It has been so interesting to listen to other people talk about their experiences with Celiac Disease.  Some have been living with the disease for many years, while others we met were more recently diagnosed.  I was amazed at how many people told me that they thought they were the only person in the area with Celiac and had no idea there was a support group.  FYI - Tina and I will be at the Sioux City Farmer's Market this coming Saturday, Oct. 13th.  It is the Fall Festival and kids are invited to come in costume, trick or treat and participate in various activities, including a costume competition.  Along with her yummy gluten free baked goods and mixes that will be for sale, Tina and I will be passing out treats, including non-edible treats in participation with the Teal Pumpkin Project.  I will have information available regarding the Teal Pumpkin Project as well as information about Celiac Disease and our group.

l to r: Brenda (formerly of Gud n Free), her daughter, Alyssa, me (Margo), Susie (used to work for Gud n Free & my co-leader), Brenda's daughter, Ava and Tina (of Better For You Bakery)

As you can see, it has been a very busy summer!  Besides helping Tina out at the Farmer's Market, Susie and I have been planning and facilitating monthly meetings for the Siouxland Celiac Support Group.  We've been thrilled to have returning members and welcome some new members to our monthly meetings.  We have also created a Facebook Group to be able to stay in contact with one another between the in person meetings.  It is a way to share ideas, recipes, support and encourage one another throughout the month.  You can join the Facebook Group by searching for Siouxland Celiac Group.  This is a closed group to protect the privacy of its members.  To join, you simply need to answer a couple of questions regarding if you have Celiac Disease or another health issue that is aided by a gluten free diet and then Susie or I will approve your addition to the group.

Susie and I have also been fortunate to be able to connect with other Celiac groups across the state of Iowa and, with my mom joining us, even attended the 2018 Iowa Celiac Conference on Sept 29th.  Check out my next blog post for more information about the conference.

Our dream to be able to help many other Celiacs via social media and our local group is taking shape.  With hard work and persistence, I know that we will be able to support and encourage many others living the gluten free life for health reasons as well as raise awareness for Celiac Disease.