Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Birthday Weekend Mini-Vacation!

My 28h Birthday was the 14th and Rusty arranged for a little mini-vacatin to North Carolina. It was so nice to just get away for the weekend and RELAX!

We left on Friday (the 11th) to make the six hour drive to Lucama, NC where we were staying with our good friends Alex and Freddy. We took our time getting down there, making a couple stops along the way.

Friday evening we went out for Italian food..... yummy pizza and then for some frozen yogurt. That night we spent just talking and making up for lost time.... we all share a love for Disney, so there is never a dull moment in coversation :)

Saturday we headed to the Smithfield outlets to do some shopping, we found some goodies and of course had an awesome lunch at Zaxby's. I always feel like I eat ALL weekend we go to NC, I can't help it.... I have to eat all the food that I can't get in PA!

Saturday afternoon I spent some time reading and took a two hour nap.... I rare event for me, but much needed. We then headed out to eat at El Tap for some yummy Mexican food. I thought we were just going as the two couples, but Alex arranged for a suprise birthday dinner with my friends from college. It was so GREAT seeing everyone.... it has been too long. Here is a picture of everyone at dinner, thanks again to everyone who took time to come to dinner!



We then headed back to Alex and Freddy's house to hang out and play some games, we found a newlywed game online which turned out to be a good time, Ha!

Sunday morning we headed back home but not before we got our fix of Bojangles.... yummy in my tummy (so wish there was one of these in PA!) We then met Kati and Billy outside of DC for lunch, it was good catching up.... it also had been too long since we hung out!

All in all, it was an awesome weekend followed by Monday off for my actual birthday. We met yup with Julie and Danny for lunch at Red Lobster and then just hung out/relaxed at home... nothing too exciting but very relaxing, which is just what I was looking forward to!

Sunday, January 6, 2013

2012 Year Review

Happy New Year! I have been a very bad blogger in the year of 2012. I think I only did like three posts all year long! I am jumping back into blogging and hope to be much better in 2013.

2012 has been a very rough year for me.... more on that a little later. I am hoping and praying that 2013 will be a bit better- although it has started off a little rough so far! I was hoping to have this post done around the 1st of the year but on the 2nd I woke up with the stomach bug and spent the next few days in not so lovely shape and recovering! Then my poor fur baby girl, Sophia, hurt her back again (a flare up from her previous back inury in November when she popped a disk out in her back)- needless to say we have to keep her on bed rest for the next couple of week- which is not easy! Thank god she has to take pain medication which helps to keep her sleeping- a lot!


Back to the main reason for this post- my 2012 Yearly Review. I thought since I was such a bad blogger for the year, I would do a recap of each month to catch you up on our lives.... nothing too exciting but at least we would all be back on the same page. I am not sure how many readers I still have left, but let me know in the comments if you are still reading along!!

January

- Celebrated my 27th Birthday on the 14th with a movie and dinner date day/night with Rusty
- Rusty's uncle passed away on the 23rd from an accident. HIs death was very hard on us and our family. I think its hard when you have no time to "prepare" for the persons death- he was not dealing with an extended illness and was only in his 50's- We miss you Uncle Kenny!

February

- I reached a major goal in my weight loss! Still working on my final goal but I was proud to have reached one of the major goals along the way
- We are not much of valentines day junkies but we did have a nice dinner at home, just the two of us

March

- March is when things starting to go down hill for myself, related to my health and my struggle with endometriosis. I ended up having to have surgery to remove some of the lesions, howerver, it was found during surgery that my lesions are mostly inside my reproductive organs and could not be removed. My condition was much worse than what my doctor was hoping for and expecting
- I spent much of the month recovering from the surgery and disussing my options moving forward

April

- Was the month of birthdays in our family- three birthday parties, three weekends in a row. We started off with my nieces's, Hannah, 2nd birthday party- Minnie Mouse themed. Next was my nephew's Alex's 1st birthday party followed by my other nieces's, Ava, 3rd birthday party, - princess themed.
- We ended the month with Rusty suprising me with a date day in the inner harbor in Baltimore. Completed with an awesome crab cake dinner, walking around the harbor with the beautiful weather, and ending the day with tickets to go see the braodway show Mary Poppins. It was just what I needed, I am not sure how he always knows just what to do to make me feel better ;)

May

- Started off with me tripping over Snickers at the top of our steps and taking a fall down ten steps- rolling head first to the bottom! I ended up with a broken left wrist and a badly bruised leg.... and a lot of pain! I was actually very lucky since I hit my head/neck/back the whole way down.... It could have been much worse. I spent the next couple of months in a cast followed by 4 weeks of physical therapy to get my wrist back to "normal"
- To end the month, I started my first non-hormone therapy injection- called Lupron. It is a nasty injection that I had to get monthly for the rest of the year, in hopes to shrink some of the lesions in my reproductive organs. The injections tricked my body into thinking that I was in menopause- including all the symptoms: hot flashes, insomnia, mood swings, anxiety, fatigue..... let me tell you, it was a whole lot of fun! I told you this year was not very kind to me!

June

- Poor Sophia's allergies hit her very hard this month and she ended up with a severe hot spot on her tail.... she had to have her tail shaved and had to wear a cone around her neck for about one week until it was able to heal. You would have thought this was the end of the world for our little diva ;)
- We spent a great deal of time out on our deck at night, listeing to music and watching the stars. Trying to relax our minds and body from the stress of the above months!

July

- We celebrated Rusty's 32nd Birthday July 3rd, Rusty had to work on his birthay due to the holiday the next day but we celebrated that evening with dinner at his favorite mexican place and dessert at Chili's!
- We traveled to Southern MD for Nicci's wedding- it was an awesome time! It was great to get away for the weekend and re-connect with some of the best friends a girl could ask for! I miss my college buddies all the time- I wish we all lived closer so we could hang out more!

August

- I went on a weekend beach trip with a friend from work to Ocean City, MD. I had not been to the beach for about 3 years.... it was nice to finally see the ocean water again, even if we didn't have the best weather!
- I had my 4th injection of Lupron this month and was full blown into the symptoms, making it a very long and HOT summer but I was determined to stick with the injections with hopes that it would bring positive outcomes!

September

- Was a very slow month, nothing too exciting happened. We enjoyed the last bit of the summer out on the deck, one of our favorite past times is sitting out on the deck at night with the radio playing and candles just enjoying the view!

October

- We got new cell phones: Samsung Galaxy III- we love them! They take awesome pictures, which I promise to post more on the blog after this post!!
- We celerated our 4th wedding anniversary, howerver, I was sick with bronchitis, sincus infection, and double ear infection: talk about Happy Anniversary to me!
- Rusty's brother was able to score two tickets to the Cowboy/Ravens game in Baltimore, if you know my husband you know he is a HUGE cowboys fan. He was so excited to go to the game with his brother. That morning at 2am, Snickers had a seizure. Once of the scariest things I have EVER gone through in my life- I thought that he was having a stroke or worse. We ended up having to take him to the Vet ER in York- only for them to not know what exactly was going on with him. Thank god our regular vet is family member and she saw him on Sunday and ran some blood work and determined that he had a seizure. We still are not sure of what caused this, but we thank god every day that he has not had any more! I made Rusty still go to the game, but needless to say he was not really able to enjoy himself fully due to the stress on his mind.
- I celebrated a good family friend, Gail's, 60th birthday at a tea room. The ladies tea was a great time- I want to go back to another tea party!!!

November

- We started off the month going to Rusty's brother's band, Liguid Lucky, first concert since they got back together this year. They are an awesome band and its always a good time watching them
- Sophia injured her back on the 12th- we are not sure exactly how she did it but she popped one of her disks out in her back. Our vet thinks it might have happened when she jumped up or down from the couch or bed but luckily it went back in but she had to be on two weeks of bed rest and some pretty strong pain medication to get her through the worst of the inury- poor baby! It was not a good year for our pups either....
- I received my last Lurpon injection, they did some image studies which showed that there was no improvement from the injections and the lesions actually got worse. I was crushed- I had 9 injections and went through all the symptoms for what seemed like NOTHING. My doctor was unsure of what direction to head next and wanted me to ses a specialist which was arranged for December 17th
- Rusty and I went out for our yearly ritual of black Friday shopping- I am happy to report in 24 hours we got all of our Christmas shopping done (other than gifts for each other!)
- On the 30th we left for our Disney trip for eight wonderful days.... one day just the two of us and the remainder seven days was with Rusty's mom, brother and sister in law and their kids, sisters in laws sister and her husband and two kids, and our sister in laws parents.

December

- We spent the first week in Disney- We stayed at Disney's Old Key West with our family and had a WONDERFUL time. The weather was great!!! I didn't want to come back to the reality of the real world...
- When we returned from our trip, I went to see the specialist only to find out she too was not sure what direction to head next. We were running out of options and things were getting bad, quickly. I was informed that more than likely I would need to have my uterus (the worse of the organs due to the endometriosis) removed and that I would not be able to carry my own children.
- This was the worse month yet this year. I have kept a lot of this "hidden" because simply put.... its hard to talk about. But I need to start healing... which means that I need to accept what is happening and part of that includes talking about it, I am hoping it will help more me along in the healing process
- We celebrated Christmas with both of our families and of course the pups- who we made sure got extra spoiled due to their hard year as well
- We ended the year celebrating New Years Eve with our best friends- Danny and Julie.. We went out to dinner and came back to our house to hang out- awlays a good time

Well- there you have it, our year in reivew! I told you it was not a very good year for us! I am hoping and praying for a better 2013. As far as my endometriosis is concerned- I am meeting with two specialist coming up this month- I am hoping for some more answers and a more detailed plan moving forward. My wonderful husbad, Rusty, has been a rock for me through all of this- supporting me every step of the way. I am not sure what I did to deserve such a wonderful person in my life! Thank you to all of my other friends who have all texted, called, sent cards, etc to support me along the way: you all are wonderful and know who you are!
Sorry again for being so bad at blogging this year, I really hope to get back into blogging on a regular basis this year!
Happy New Year!!

Monday, March 19, 2012

Healing Time!

I am recovering from my surgery and have had a lot of time on my hands! My surgery was a little bit more involved than what I was thinking.... a lot more pain, pressure, and larger incision than I was hoping for but at least I am on the mending side. I had the surgery last Wednesday and was hoping to return to work today but will be out a couple more days than planned. The first few days were VERY rough.... lots of pain and pressure. The surgery didn't go as well as planned. They were hoping to go in and remove endometriosis which they thought was building up in my cervix. When they went in for the surgery they were not able to find any endometriosis in my cervix, instead it is behind my uterus and possibly involved with my colon too :( Not a very good outcome from the surgery- they were able to cut and remove some pain fibers which have grown from the edometriosis so the surgery was not a complete waste. They also took a biopsy of my uterus since it didn't look "normal"- I am still waiting for those results. I will have to see a GI doctor for more tests regarding my colon and develop a plan with GYN doctor on how to proceed. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers, I am nervous about the outcomes. I have been doing a lot of laying around, watching tv, and napping. I tried to read some, but always found myself falling asleep- I think I have the pain medications to thank for that! Speaking of, I need some good reading recommendations- any ideas? I promised that I would include a picture on this post- haven't been up to taking many pictures but I did have these two cuties to hang out with while I was recovering. Not to mention a lot of help from the best husband and Julie who came to sit with me while Rusty had to work! Thanks for all the cards, texts, and goodies- they have been much appreciated!

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Random Post- but At Least I am Back!!

It has been over a month since my last post. I have just been in a blogging funk.... I don't know what to write about anymore. I am open for blog suggestions, just leave them in my comment section :) But here is a random blog filled with all of the random thoughts in this wonderful hear of mine! - We have been some birthday junkies lately....it seems like a lot of our nieces and nephews were born around the same time of the year. Last weekend we had Alex's first birthday party, this weekend was Ava's third birthday party, and this coming weekend will be Luke's fourth birthday party! Super fun times with the family but I have had to "just say no" to the cake and ice cream at each party!!!!!! - Speaking on saying no to the cake and ice cream, I am still working on the weight loss. It has officially been one year since my "lifestyle" change of eating healthy and working out! I am down about 90 pounds, about 20 more to go!!! These last few pounds are slow, but I am determined!!! - Who else was super depressed that they were not able to attend "One more Disney Day"??? Magic Kingdom being open for 24 hours straight, I know I was super sad that I had to miss leap year day in Disney!! I hope they plan to do this every Leap Year, if so I am planning my trip in four years. - I have been having some medical issues lately....you know the female kind. Unfortunately, things are not getting better and I have to get surgery. I will get my surgery date at my appointment with the surgeon on Tuesday. I am nervous about the surgery but hopeful that it will help to correct some things and help my pain/discomfort and fingers crossed will not reveal any other problems! - Rusty and I have started to watch Nurse Jackie on DVD. We have finished Season one and two and are working on Season three now. We really love the show, she is very witty. She makes you really like her personaly, hard to remember that she is a drug addict! - We got an invitation for a wedding of one of my friends from college and guess what.... it is at the beach!!! I am excited for a trip to the beach in NC this summer :) - I got my first gel manicure yesterday, I love it so far. Makes you nails so smooth, thick, and hopefully the color will last a lot longer than a regular manicure! Well I think that is all the random thoughts for now.... I promise to add some pictures next time :)

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Funk!

I am in a funk.... there is no other way to say it! I will be back when I have something nice to say..... or at least worth reading :)

Sunday, January 22, 2012

27th Birthday Celebration!

Last Saturday was my 27th Birthday.... I am a little behind in reporting my current events! It was a wonderful birthday weekend.... full of lots of fun, relaxation, and celebrating!!! I had off all weekend and Monday....a three weekend (a rare treat for me!) Rusty took off on Saturday, so we had lots of time together. We both work six days a week and every Saturday.... I am jealous of people who have off two days each weekend! Anyway, back to the birthday celebration! Friday night we headed out to dinner with Julie at Chilis for some yummy food and then to the movies to see Beauty and the Beast in 3D.... I loved it! I love anything Disney and this happens to be one of my Disney favorites.... I am a sucker for the love story :) I also was a sucker for the butter popcorn too.... not the best for my diet, opps!
Saturday we slept in and just took it easy for the morning. We then headed out to run some errands and some some shopping...I ended up with some new clothes which is much needed right now (not a bad thing since everything I have is so big!) We ended up at Chipotle at lunch, my kind of b-day lunch, I love me some Chipotle! We then came back home to relax some more and watch some tv, we are into a new TV show- Nurse Jackie. We are wathcing season one on DVD, pretty good show. We then headed out to a local coffee shop for a drink and talked about planning our next Disney trip which will be in December :) Next it was off to dinner at C & D Bar and Grille- our new favorite restaurant! It is a locally owned place with great steaks and seafood. We both got the stuffed shrimp with crab imperial- super yummmy and of course we can't forget the crab dip as an appetizer and chocolate peanut butter cake as dessert (lets just say it was not a good diet weekend!) Here is a picture of us before we headed to dinner :)
Sunday we ran some more errands in the morning (exciting trip to the Farmers Market for some veggies) and then ended up just hanging out at the house most of the day. While Rusty watched some football, Julie and I headed out to get our nails done. Thanks Julie for the b-day treat!! The best thing about Sunday was knowing that I had the next day off! Monday was spent at the doctors office in the morning for a routine physical and follow up and then cleaning the house.... still it was a good day off! Hard to believe that I am 27 years old.... that means only three more years to the big 30!!!!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

"Ugly" Sweater Bowling Night!

Rusty and I headed out to lightening bowling at our local bowling alley with some friends Saturday night(several of Rusty's co-workers and Julie our best friend came along). The guy who planned the whole event requested that everyone wear an "ugly" sweater, it was a good time.... funny to see what everyone decided to wear. The whole concept oif lightening bowl was fun, lights were turned down and they had the music up loud.... a first time for us :) Rusty and I made a trip to the good will to find our "special" sweaters as like to call them.... you can see pictures below, how do you think we did..... they are pretty ugly, right?
Rusty and I
Julie and I
The Whole gang, minus me (I was taking the picture)..... please note Rusty's pose, I have NO idea what he is doing!!!