I can name drop.

I met Ziggy my sophomore year at a halloween party. He & Andrew, pictured above, were obsessed with "Ting 1 & Ting 2."

Ziggy & Andrew are both from Ghana.

Ziggy is possibly one of the sweetest people. With a killer memory. Throughout the rest of college we ran into eachother at the library a lot. He remembered me every time. It was easier for me to remember him, because let's be honest, it's BYU. There are not a lot of 6'5" Ghanaian men around here.

Anyways, that's my name drop for this week.

For those of you who don't know who Ziggy is, he just joined BYU football recently & this year was the #5 pick of the first round of the NFL draft. It was awesome.

Also awesome is this video Syd & I made that night after the dance party we sweated like nasty animals at.

That was our sophomore year.

Something I love about Weston.

He actually takes and sends pictures like the one in my last post. The last thing I'd be doing at the dentist is taking snapshots. He is so cute. & he had quite a terrible weekend.

Thursday he got cavities filled an Friday morning went in for a root canal.

His tooth was too far gone & the had to REMOVE it. Hillbilly status right there.

Anyways, I was home sick & the Camry was in the garage on jacks from Weston working on it the night before. He was at the dentist for 5 hours on Friday & then had to drive himself home with gauze packed mouth & tons of pain to boot. I felt so bad for him. He barfed all over himself & the dentist & now only has 27 teeth!

I doped him up on narcotics all Friday & early Saturday. Then he weaned himself off onto otc stuff.

He left 5:30 Sunday morning for his clinicals with the Sandy Fire department. This is his 'home-base' station. He has 2 days with them.

He can only eat soft foods for 2 weeks & cannot exercise or do any physical activity for 2 weeks either. Weston's always one to push himself so I was sure to give him lots of scary scenarios before kissing him goodbye Sunday morning & sending him out the door with enough Greek Yogurt to feed an army for the next 2.5 days.  

He's loved his clinicals so far & has had a good attitude about it all. Apparently his tooth damage was from when he got hit by a car when he was 9! The dentist said he's only seen that kind of tooth trauma one other time. I felt so bad for him.

On another note this has been an action packed weekend! In other news my best friend got engaged! 

Yay for Jenna & Garrett! I'm excited for their wedding in July! 

My cousin Jake also got married & we went to his reception Saturday night!

Yay for Jake & Kate!

I also was stupid with a complete lapse of judgement buying a carton of strawberries at Walmart on Friday.

Trying to convince myself "THIS carton won't go bad, I've thoroughly inspected it & there is no mold! 

Just to open them this morning to pack for work and they're all molded.

I forget Walmart produce lasts for 5 minutes a home.

Oh yeah, that's why I never buy produce there.

paoiwvjehg

My parents finished their deck this weekend!

I love them!

My dad has worked SO hard on their home.

Unless you were there & lived at home while he was building that home you won't understand what I even mean by that, so I won't try to explain!

I'm too sexy for my gas mask.

hahahahahha.

Watsername

I have worked at the same job now for coming up on 5 years.

2 employees that have been here for that entire time & who once new and called me by my name, Rachel, have decided within the past year to rename me.

One of them who I talk to EVERY day, but we're not bff's passed me in the hall after I'd been married for a year & said:

"Pretty ring! Did you get engaged?!"

"Thank you! Actually...I've been married for a year"

That coworker has started calling me Brittany.

My other coworker that has renamed me now calls me Heather.

There used to be a Heather that worked with us in reception but left a couple years ago when she had her baby, so I'll cut that coworker some slack.

I didn't realize at first that they were referring to me.  It's very strange learning to respond to a completely different human-non-nickname name. But, give me a Nobel Peace Prize or something, I've done it!

My other coworkers say, "Why don't you just correct her?"

"Uh, because we've known eachother for so long & that's awkward!"

So, call me whatever you want.

Or just "Watsername"

Guilty Pleasure

I love America's Funniest Home Videos.

I am the person that still watches that show. My family watched it every week when I was little! I remember laying on my belly on our blue carpet in our family room with wet hair after a bath watching that with my family! It always brings back sweet memories!

I always watched it whenever I was at the Peach's house, too! 

Such good memories!

Anyways, this show is still one of my top 3 favorites. I watch it alone & laugh extremely loud. BY MYSELF.

That show makes me so very happy.

I felt so guilty when my Child Development professor in college said that was the most violent show on TV when it started.

Tom Bergeron is the best host AFV has had. Remember Daisy Fuentes & that guy co-host. I liked them hosting even less than Bob Saget. That's saying something.

Anyways, Sunday I saw this clip & laughed so hard I cried, I called Weston out & then he laughed so hard, then we replayed it OVER & OVER.

Maybe I love this video so much because the boy reminds me of Weston in all of his home videos when he was little. Except Weston had bleach blonde hair!

My Best Friend's Wedding....Errr... Engagement!

I am so sucky & have not yet posted some VERY exciting part of my life that has developed recently.

Sean, that pretty awesome fellow my sister was dating, put a ring on it!

They are now fiances!

I'm so excited for them!

But mostly I'm excited for me! I get a fun, BETTER YET, awesome brother-in-law that I know is crazy about my sister & treats her like an Indian princess! 

She's a lucky little Sacajawea!

Danielle's such a great sister & a really caring person over-all.

I love her so much & honestly it's been annoying watching lame boys flow in & out of her life.

I knew she'd get a real catch, because she's a total TEN.

After a little bit of time, & a whole lot of experience, she found the one that really strikes her fancy!

He's also crazy about her.

I knew that this boy she was dating was a REAL keeper when I heard about all the sweet things he did for her.

He surprised her with a Christmas tree.
We're talking real deal Christmas tree here, folks.
He decorated that sucker, too. I knew from then on out that they were made for each other  She loves to do things for the important people in her life. The only problem is, the other guys she dated never liked to return the favor. They were leeches of her love & home-baked goods.
Sean is a smart dude & he has his head on straight and she loves him a ton!

I'm really really excited about this marriage.
Like, surrrrrously.

She's been pretty stressed in her wedding planning, because she has a little bit on her plate.
She's teaching fourth grade full-time, searching for a new job in Arizona for the fall, house hunting, oh yeah, & planning a wedding!  I need a nap just after typing that.

 They are happier than two humpback whales finding a patch of plankton!

I'm so excited for Deej & excited to have something to help me pass my time at work as I try not to rot here :)
Thanks for having a wedding, Deej,I know you're doing it for me. It'll help the beginning of my summer pass so much faster!

Sean proposed inside the Opryland hotel! Uh, total winner proposal. Nice work, Sean. The civil wore proposal also would have been an A+.

He proposed with his grandmother's ring, & it's so gorgeous. 

I can't wait to see the one he bought her, either!

Pictures stolen from here.

She'll be a beautiful bride!

I predict they will look like cake-toppers on their wedding day.

VIA

Congratulations, Danielle & Sean!
6.28.13

I love the weekend.

We were planning on going down to visit Weston's family this weekend, but found out this clinicals start this Sunday & so we wouldn't be able to go. So, as soon as I got off work I headed home and we got all packed up to go visit his parents last weekend instead!

We had so much fun &, as always, got too little sleep, ate a little too much & had so much fun.

 We had a great time at Kellie's boyfriend's homecoming!

I was feeling really sick & conveniently was able to go because it was closer than driving all the way up in one long route.

I told Joan she's starting to look like Cruella DeVil with her tons of dogs running around! hahah

Saturday night there were 4 puppies hanging around! 

 This is Gizmo, the world's second cutest puppy (no one tops Bella-boo!)

 I kind of went a little crazy w/ Joan's iphone.

Toddler style.

 He's such a cuddly little guy!

 This is Sadie.

Tasha & Devin brought their new Great Pyranese to Bicknell with them, too, but I didn't get pictures of her! She's such a cute puppy, too! 

We layed around in our pjs all Saturday. It was amazing. 

 We got to FaceTime with my mom in Europe, too!

I was holding the phone while Weston squatted down to talk for a minute and laughed so hard when I realized his new antlers!

I was so happy to get to talk to my mom! 

We've been e-mailing, but haven't been able to talk for a couple of weeks because she's out of the country! I miss her!

We had a great time and I did not feel very good all weekend & slept a lot of Saturday & a lot of Sunday, too! It was a nice recharge & I feel great back at work this a.m.

Weston's Hard Work!

I AM SO PROUD OF WESTON!

He got B averages & above in all of his paramedic courses & is MOVING ON!

Basically, moving on means he can actually graduate as a paramedic & test in the national registry exam in August! He had to have a B average so we were very nervous & was feeling the pressure this semester. It was a very quick moving program & he was busy all semester.

His instructors said on the last day of his finals, "Gentlemen, you can now re-introduce yourselves to your wives & then in a week when clinicals start, you can say goodbye again!"

Weston's base department is Sandy, he's so excited, because apparently that's where the "tough" guys get sent, he's so excited!

I'm so proud of him for working SO hard. His classes were Monday-Thursday 8-5 & he had 2 exams EVERY WEEK. One was 100 questions & the other was a pharmacology test on 6 or 7 different medications (& I mean EVERYTHING about these medications).

He worked so hard & was so very dedicated. He worked 2 days a week & studied every other second from Monday morning to Saturday night at midnight.

I was very bored, yet our house was very clean this semester!

He will be doing rotations in Labor & Delivery, ORs, ERs, Fire Departments & at in Intensive Care Units.

He is so excited.

Ultimately, Weston wants to get on with Lifeflight. This has been his goal & I know he will work very hard to get there.  I am so proud of him & his progress in school & his level of dedication is most impressive! 

I couldn't be more proud of Weston! He's busted his bum and it has really paid off!

I'm excited for graduation in August!

We graduate in April 2014. My goodness. I'm so excited. He only has a few credits he needs after December. I'm so HAPPY.

xoxolightattheendofthetunnel

Dove Knows What's Up.

I love this message!

A great reminder for all of us! 

Like our appearance, we may view the negative things of the world.

Yesterday innocent lives were taken scarred from the attack in Boston.

I know evil people exist. I also know that most people are really, really good.

Though the times are getting rougher & there seems to be a grand canyon between people's political beliefs let us all focus on something far superior to all the horrible things we can see.

There is a kind & loving God who is always watching out for us.

No matter how lonely we may feel, He is always on our side.

Remember, the Savior, Jesus Christ, has been there.

He has felt everything.

& He is our constant companion if we invite Him in.

There is a lot of bad in the world.

There is war.

There is racism.

There is prejudice.

There is hatred.

More than that I can influence the world for good.

I can love.

I can respect.

I can accept & support.

I can stand up for morals.

I can keep the Lord's name sacred & show others that I love Him.

There are some things out of my control.

But I can do my bit.

When I was little my friend & I went to the grocery store & passed the Santa w/ the coin bucket ringing his bell outside.

I remember her mom said "If everyone just donated a quarter, 

they would have a lot of money at the end of the day!"

All of us can give a "quarter" of good & make a HUGE impact.

Always remember that!

I love that Dove is always making such a great stand for natural beauty & doing their "bit" to help bringing body image in the media a little closer to reality.

That's just my two cents!

Thanks for dropping by my blog & I promise to do better & keep you updated w/ my thrilling life.

xoxoprayforboston

ZZZZzzzz

Ever have those days where you feel like you need a spatula to scrape you out of bed? 

That has been me!

Honestly.... But luckily Tuesdays we have the BYU University devotional. 

I took a 20 minute nap this morning & feel 1000% better.

THAT much better.

I have a serious napping gift. I was unaware that it was a gift until some of my friends told me they can't nap. What?!

I'm not a pretty napper, though.

Really, think guppies.

Anyway, I'll blame it on the snow.

This is tomato soup & grilled cheese weather.

Furreal. 

I believe that is what we will have for din din tonight!

xoxobrainless

Fat Kid Diaries

Ever have a fat kid moment?

Yeah, me, too. 

Lately, I have done a terrible job packing a lunch to bring to work.

I have packed oranges & an apple.

Well, the other day I resorted to a bagel from the vending machine at work, which I consider to be a very low place.

I went back to the dietitian's office with my bagel. My WHITE bagel, not even whole wheat, folks. The irony is thick. And that the dietitian wasn't there. Her lazy boy in her office is my favorite lunch-time nap spot.

Anyway, I eat the bagel & go back to work. It's probably 3p.m. by this time.

After work I climb into the Geo & start driving over to UFRA to pick up Weston from school. I looked in the mirror at a stoplight & just about died. I had bagel residue crusted to my face. HONESTLY, this hasn't happened to me in a long time (or maybe it happens all the time & I'm always unaware? Equally horrifying.) I had talked to a ton of patients & other people including my coworkers. Whaaaaa? I guess it didn't cross anyone's mind to say "Uh, you look like a fat kid with all that food residue on your face." 

Dangit. I'm usually pretty good at checking my teeth & corners of my mouth after eating. I failed. 

Miserably this time.

GSA: Grammar Snobs Anonymous

I am a grammar snob. 

Not to the extent of posting a big Facebook status about all the wrong grammar usages you see on Facebook.  That's too much pressure, because I make grammatical errors, too.

Aka: I constantly use the wrong tense of words. That is my grammatical Achilles' heel. 

& then there are just plain accidents, which is why I don't think it's appropriate to publicly humiliate people because of their grammar mistakes. (Plus, I am not one to talk, I don't proof-read my blog posts, as most of you have come to realize.)

However, if they make the same mistakes, go ahead & barbecue them for it. 

That is very appropriate!

Since I've been humble for most of this post, I can brag for a second.

I rock the whole they're, there, their deal. 

I also rock know & no. knew & new. two, too & to, too (you get the idea).

Something that I did not know is when the spelling of certain words changed.

Definitely definitely used to be definately.

At least used to be atleast.

Each other used to be eachother.

All of those old school spellings are currently underlined in red chevron. How hip.

Definitely could have always been with all the i's, but I remember when my friend, Diana, taught me that it's not. Where have I been hiding out my whole life & why didn't I realize UNTIL COLLEGE that it doesn't have an a?

This "at least" business is new, it's gotta be.

And don't even get me started on "each other"'s non compound formation.

xoxowhoknowswhentouseaffectandeffect?

iWants

Well, my birthday is 3 months from today.

So, is our phone contract renewal.

I told Weston that for my birthday I just want an iPhone 5. He laughed so hard.

"Oh, you just want an iphone 5, huh? Anything else?"

Such a goober. 

I don't mind being high maintenance when it comes to the important things in life. 

Like a cell phone.

But seriously, it's $200 for the 5. Which, I hear, is a total steal.

I've never had a smart phone. 

As the only two people in Weston's & my entire family (minus my brother eating rice & beans in Mexico), I'm feeling left out.
Weston couldn't care less.

Not to mention all of my friends that are getting skinny from "this app" & sleeping better because of "that app."

See, dear? It's good for my health.

 or love Hobby Lobby? Download the coupon app.

Uh, how about I bring in the print copy like all of your customers did back in 2001?

I see a whole new lifestyle coming on for me. I'm so excited.

Also, thanks to my awesome sister for lending me her iPhone when I see her, 

I already have Instagram.

Now that you're lucky enough to know that, you should add me. 

So, that when I get back on in a week when I see her, I can follow you, too.

I'm roobrink on there.

I can be funny sometimes, so it should be good entertainment.

And since I don't mind posting embarrassing pictures of my husband, it should also be even better entertainment. 

At his expense.

Who wants to give me a tutorial on how to use an iphone? Seriously, I am skill-less.

I don't even know how to use iPhones, iTouch, iPads. Any of it.

iDumb.

In fact, I think I might be the only person left on this planet that still caps the second letter in iThings anymore.

Is that still how they're written?

iDon't even know.

Anyways, I'm going to go eat some canned tuna.

I know half of you just cringed, permission to cringe. I love tuna. I could have a tuna fish sandwich once a week.

Anyway, have a great day, y'all! Also, if I get an iPhone for my birthday, anticipate a much more exciting blog.  It will be easier & less touristy to document my life now. Therefore, I will be more apt to taking pictures again. So, you can hear about all the new automatic bathroom supply dispensers at my work & other wild things like that.

xoxofeedme

I had lunch with these two cuties & their mom yesterday!

It was a very fun afternoon date with amazing weather, great company & a delish picnic. 

My picnic food of choice was Cafe Rio, of course.

Thank you for the gift cards Jen & my parents! Yum!

When does that filter kick into gear?

I don't think I ever shared this story.

Right after I came out of the OR from my knee surgery, I was a little groggy and definitely drugged.  I told the nurses I needed to go to the bathroom. They helped me get into the wheelchair and with Weston they wheeled me to the bathroom. The Central Utah Surgical Center is a surgery machine, there were tons of little curtain dividers separating recovering patients all along the wall. The bathroom is in the center & the wall kind of curves around the bathroom and nurse's station.  The nurse opened the bathroom door & we were all hit with a terrible stench. 

"Oh, um, nurse so-&-so, will you please grab the air freshner, she needs to use the restroom."

Weston's face showed that he was pretty grossed out, but that he was glad the nurses were proactive about it.

Then my drug-induced word vomitting began (this is better than normal word vomit w/o narcatic induction).

"WHEW, THAT SMELLS SO BAD! Whoa!"

The nurse: "Don't worry we sent another nurse to go get something to clear out the smell"

By this time all the recovering patient's "support persons" were laughing.

Me: "Oh no, don't worry, (pointing at Weston) I live with him, I am so used to bad smells!"

The whole room was rolling & Wes was as red as a tomato.

Whoops.

I love you, dear!

My latest DIM

Oh, you've never heard of DIM? It's kind of like DIY, except I did it myself, instead.

I'm pretty sure it'll catch!

All cell phone pictures, but I was very excited with how it turned out.

I painted on Saturday & then assembled on Sunday.

What you need:

Webbing (mine was 1.5" from Joann's. I looked at Joann's and Hobby Lobby, but this was the thickest webbing I could find. I wanted something wider, if you know if any places w/ wider webbing, please let me know!) 

Masking Tape

Acrylic Paint

Craft Glue

Metal Hook (I got a set of swivel ones from Joann's)

Paint Brushes

Newspaper (or in my case, wax paper) to cover your work surface

Metallic Vinyl

Step 1. 2. & 3. tape a pattern onto the webbing. Let paint dry. Peel tape off.

Step 4. Admire

Step 5. Measure, cut, & glue metallic vinyl to the webbing & attach the hook.

Also, Weston likes to use my hand to practice IVs.

I got 3 pokes last night, but he got an IV going! That blue blur in the center is a fatty bruise.

I think he hematoma-ed me.

Also, Weston has not been feeling well lately. This is what he looked like all day yesterday.

Bundled up on the air mattress in the middle of the room looking mostly pathetic.

He's been really nauseous. We're pretty sure he's pregnant.

Hi, there!

Howdy!

It has been ages since I have avidly been blogging.

Well, here's why.

Weston & I tried to get pregnant starting at the end of February 2011.

We haven't had any luck.
I've kind of been on a hiatus from the blog world for a while because A. the mommy blogs I loved reading were starting to be too hard to read B. I had a hard time blogging about things when my thoughts were constantly on something else C. We do not have the internet at home.

If you want the details,
here's a watered down version of what's up.

I have a weird Uterine anomaly that we were told puts me at a high risk for second trimester miscarriage.
So, we started trying just in case we have some miscarriages before getting a baby to hold.

We have had no luck.
We have been in & out of doctors offices for 2 years.
My OBGYN that has been over my "uterus stuff" for the past 3 years started the fertility testing & all of that early, because of my uterus issue. He said no concern is really given regarding fertility until a couple has been trying for a year or so.

We have had every lab test & infertility treatments that I think exist.
I even had an exploratory surgery.
None of the tests showed any cause for not being able to get pregnant.
My complete septate uterus (google it) should not be keeping us from actually getting pregnant.

We have done 4 cycles of Intrauterine Insemination.
Failed.

Nothing has worked. It's been an exhausting process & at times I've gotten pretty discouraged about it. I have tried every folk lore you can think of to try to get pregnant. I have also heard some pretty weird remedies from acquaintances of how to fix our "infertility."

February 28th this year I searched for a research study that covers the costs of IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization).
This procedure is generally between $10,000-$20,000 on average.... per cycle.
My mom nicknamed it one expensive lottery ticket!

I swear it was a whisper from heaven the day before to search for a study.
I searched and found a study in NYC that covers all the procedural costs of the IVF.
We pay travel/accomodation expenses & the costs of the medications involved.

I took all the preliminary screening questionaires & submitted my complete medical history.

We did all the prescreening labwork.
This study has been going on for 5 years & it ends in June. JUNE.
Wow, answer to prayer? Yes.

I received an e-mail last Friday that we were accepted.

We fly there minimally 3x in the next 2 months.
Please please keep us in your prayers!


We fly out on Wednesday for our first visit & will be in NYC until Sunday the 31st!
Weston will have a 26th birthday to remember!
Starting in NYC & ending in UT!

I would love any New York tips & tricks that you might have!

xoxoNYCbound

STOP THE SNOW!

Where's the love for the great quality of these photos?

One night it snowed in Salem. 

We live down a private drive that does not get plowed.

Oh, thank goodness for a willing & able man.

xoxoIcouldlivewithoutthatwhitestuff

Rub Some Dirt On It!

WOW, LIFE is a whirlwind!

K, so I had knee surgery back on November 30.

I have a knee condition called Patellofemoral pain syndrome. It's known as "Runner's knee."  

I jogged lightly in high school and ran a little in college, and I started noticing this pain during my freshman year in college.  I didn't worry about the pain because it only hurt me when I biked. Which was everywhere. My bike was my transportation.

Oh, I love my little pink bike that my dad bought for me from Walmart my freshman year of college. It has served me so well. It has also caused me many headaches w/ the frequent flat tires.  

However, my cousin Keith and various other mechanically-minded friends would help me with regularly.

Well, my knees would KILL me when I was riding my bike. I played it off. I grew up in a house that rarely went to doctors.  I think I remember going once when I had to get a shot in my thigh to get healthy before my sister's birthday party in elementary school sometime and I think I went for a physical sometime during middle school for a sport's tryout & then besides that a few other times for strep throat. Other than that the doctor was foreign to me, and quite frankly freaked the A;SLKDFJEIVJH out of me.

I trained for the Nashville Country Music Marathon in April 2010.

I didn't run for a while after that.

Then after Weston & I got married at the end of the summer I started running again. Every time I jogged, I'd have to ice my knees. I also went to the gym & would do weight training exercises.

Well, in the spring my knees started hurting me so bad. This time it wasn't only when I ran or rode a bike, it hurt to sit. Seriously?

So, after a few weeks of knee pain, I was at the doctor for a recheck for other things & I just casually mentioned that my knees had been bothering me, he did a few tests & told me what I had & prescribed me to physical therapy.

I did physical therapy w/ little improvement.

The sitting pain left, but not much else happened.

I had reached my out of pocket limit from my surgery in April.

So, thankfully I was able to do all the physical therapy & my insurance covered every cent, other wise, I would not have been at physical therapy all summer.

I was still hurting in November & feeling VERY frustrated with my limited exercise abilities.

I tried a new physical therapist in November who told me it'd probably be a good idea to meet w/ an ortho, because as far as he could tell I needed surgery.

I scheduled an appointment the next day because I was running out of time before the new year (aka out of pocket limit to start over w/ a new insurance provider) I met w/ Dr. Carlson who had just been out of his fellowship and working for 1 month.  He knows his stuff & is a great doctor, too. I met w/ him just to discuss what I should do.  He said, because of all the physical therapy I'd done w/o improvement that surgery would be a huge benefit. They took Xrays of my knee & this is what they looked like.

source

This is what my left knee looked like. Only a little more severe and my right one is a little less severe.

The angled line going through the kneecap is the angle the kneecap is sitting at and the one running lengthwise of the xray is the angle it is supposed to be at.... did I explain that well enough?

Anyways, so the pain & the grinding & popping all those years was my knee cap grinding on my femur. Gross, huh? And apparently it would swell up & be super painful from the cartilage getting all destroyed.

So, they did the surgery.

With a scope they went in through three holes filled my knee area w/ saline & then cut the outside tendon that was pulling on the knee cap & shave down/carve out the cartilage that was destroyed between the knee & femur. Surgery was an hour and quick quick!

Weston was hyper vigilant about asking about how to avoid a blood clot because his family friend died in the summer from a pulmonary embolism after a knee scope this summer. The nurses kind of laughed when he asked what to do to avoid a blood clot. "Just get up and move around and you'll be fine." Warning signs of a blood clot are tightness or pain in the calf, etc, etc, etc.  I felt great that day. I hobbled around the apartment that day because Weston had to go to work. I even didn't use crutches sometimes. I felt great & knew it'd be a quick recovery for me. That night we went to Walmart because I felt  cabin fever. HA, I'd been on the couch for a whole day & we needed some meds or something.

The next morning after I woke up and got going a little, I passed out hahah oh man, and I mean for like for a few minutes, I woke up on the floor w/ Weston there...he was a little freaked out. I promised him I was fine though. He told me if ANYTHING else happens we are going to the ER.

My sister & her boy came over to hang out and go canoeing in our little baby pond that morning, too.  That night Wes helped me wash my hair in the kitchen sink. Afterwards I felt the tiniest little tinge in my muscle, I mentioned it to Wes & then went to brush my hair & get ready for bed.  

Weston comes to me with his keys in his hand & fully dressed. I had just taken out my contacts & brushed my teeth for bed.

"We're going to the ER"

"You're kidding..."

and off to the ER we went. I felt ridiculous being there & I was so tired. It was midnight at this point.

We waited for a while for an ultrasound tech to get there, because they were suspicious of a blood clot.

about 3 in the morning I got an ultrasound of my leg.

Sure enough, there was a clot in my calf. 

The U/S tech was shocked. The ER doctor wasn't.

So, then we waited at the ER for a couple hours waiting until they could contact the on-call orthopedic doctor to find out how he wanted to treat it. He prescribed me Xeralto. This is often a drug used to prevent blood clots, but just got FDA approved to treat blood clots.  We went to Walgreens at 5a.m. and they filled it for me, but it was $75. 

Eh, WHAT????

That was with my insurance.

Long story short, we went back to the ER several times that weekend to get the pills administered to me because my insurance was covering everything at 100% at this point and then Monday morning we called a special phone line to get approved for discounted prescription. Basically, you can't be on any government support to be eligible. 

Hallelujah, the prescription was then $10.

So, I took that blood thinner for 2 days until I met with my ortho doc & he did a follow up & got me fitted for a compression sock. OW. but YES!

By this time I was in so much pain from the clot.

Sunday I was flat on my back w/ my foot elevated.

Monday was the same story.

Basically this would happen every time I was up for 30 seconds:

 Basically all the blood would flow down to my foot but couldn't leave my foot bc of the major vein was plugged up w/ the blood clot!

After seeing my ortho doctor he switched me onto coumadin instead of Xeralto. Coumadin is also paired with a fun shot to to the stomach that you have to do 2x a day for a week. They'll tell you it doesn't hurt. 

It does.

 I was so happy when that stuff was over with, bc it made me sick, too.

This is my swollen knee. Look at it next to my right knee. The band-aids cover the scope holes. They're seriously so small, one of the completely disappeared & the other 2 are hardly noticeable! 

The second ER doctor recommended using a heating pad under my calf. Oh my goodness it helped with the calf pain. My calf hurt so bad.

This is our third Christmas tree since being married!

I met him on Christmas day in 2007!

This is Weston & I in front of our Christmas tree that we decorated at midnight the night before my surgery. I told him nothing big bc it's in the middle of our family room & I didn't want an obstacle course....we found the perfect tree! :)

Also, that thing on my knee is an awesome electronic ice pack!  It plugs into a hose that goes into a pump in a cooler & it constantly pumps cold water. AWESOME.

Anyways, so it's been 6 weeks post op & I'm still doing physical therapy 3x/week & it's expensive, but my doctor demanded that I do physical therapy to compensate for healing lost when I got the clot. It's been swollen longer than it should've been and the healing was slower because I was on crutches for longer than I should have been & I was on my back longer than I was supposed to be. He said I'd get 85% range of motion back w/o physical therapy & 100% w/ it, so I've been doing really well and pushing through physical therapy! Woo!

Also, to all you people who have been on crutches for an extended period of time, my hat goes off to you. They are a complete nuisance!

I'm doing so much better now, though!

Also, as unnecessary as I thought it was, it's a good thing I have such a great hubster who listened to his gut & took me to the ER that night.

Thanks for reading & I'm sorry for falling behind. I will work on updating the blog this week!

Take care!

xoxoluckytobealive!

Ah, ah, ah, ah stayin' alive. Stayin' alive.

I am alive. I am working full time, selling donating plasma in 2 evenings/week. TRYING to be a good cubscouts leader (I'm not) & of course having husband time.

I try to work out & do my best to sometimes eat healthy. I'm not doing too well, but I'm working on it.

Sometimes, I have days that I think, gosh, I'm tired of being the bread-winner; I love my job, but I'm tired of the monotony.  All the time sometimes I want to have babies & be a mother & make pretty things with my sewing machine & bake home-made bread.  

Sometimes, I'm really good at getting myself out of that thinking rut. 

And sometimes I just need a brownie (or 3).

Then, sometimes, I read pop-up notes that I put in a patient's chart & then I remember that, sometimes, I'm really funny & I remember life is so very sweet.

Also, I remember that complaining is annoying & pointless.

"11/14/12 I believe on the phone this girl said she has "the plague" I'm not exactly sure what she meant by that, but it sounds serious. She said her main symptom is a cough; don't forget to give her a mask! rsb"

xoxolgbaby