Update LONG overdue...

(I'm breaking the promise I made in the last post...some medical issues will be discussed)

We have learned some very important things the last couple of weeks

Numero uno:

I can eat, drink, sleep, walk around without getting exhausted...

But apparently I am not quite ready to walk on the treadmill for an hour

Walk

Very, very slowly

The speed was even under 3.0

I did fine that night, didn't have any problems

But in the morning I woke up ridiculously nauseous

Like when I was sick

I still have some anti-nausea pills, so it didn't stick around very long, but it left me exhausted

And then the rest of the week I became very good friends with the bathroom

Needless to say I didn't get back on the treadmill last week

I tried again on Monday and only went for 30 minutes, which was definitely more manageable 

I still had a tiny bit of nausea the next day, but it was practically nothing in comparison

So I'm apparently not as ready for that part of life as I was hoping

But at least I can do some, which is better than nothing

I'll just have to work at it slowly and try to be patient

Numero dos:

Not all over-the-door shoe organizers are created equal

And not all doors are created equal

In other words, not all over-the-door shoe organizers will work on all doors the way you want them to

The home where we live is built a little...odd

Cramped spaces, not a lot of storage, weird angles...it's just odd

We tend to keep our shoes by the back door, but they just get in the way because the doorway is so narrow and....3ish feet in front of you is the doorway to the basement, and the basement door opens towards you (so outwards) and the back door opens away from you (inwards)....so it's just the most awkward section of the house that I think we have 

And there is really no room for shoes

So we started taking them off by the front door, but that's a small entry way as well, and whenever we had guests over (the missionaries come over pretty much every week for dinner) it becomes very cluttered

Plus in the winter time I don't love having the snow tracked all over our home since it's all linoleum/wood and it becomes super slippery and gross, so I don't want to track them through the kitchen

The point of all of this babble is to say that we don't have a good place to put our shoes

So I found this on Amazon

(image from Amazon)

It's not the prettiest thing, but it works and it was the only one Hubby would agree to

We bought it, tried to put it on our basement door and realized that the functionality of the stupid door made it so that we had to hang it on the back side of the door which is facing the basement which is infested with spiders

So, no thank you

In the end the only door it would work on was the door to our study, so there it sits

But the most frustrating thing about it?

These had been hanging on our basement door

So when I ordered the shoe thing I took them allll down (I'm not wearing many hats right now since I'm not outside very much) and packed them away into storage

(and we're not going to discuss the fact that I took the majority of them down and realized that I never took a before picture, so I put them all back up just so I could take the picture and took them all down again)

So now, after all that, the dumb thing doesn't even work?

Not nice

Very rude

Not my friend

And numero tres:

Might I suggest that you not move twice in one year whilst working on a 2,000 piece puzzle?

Especially when one of those moves is across the country

Otherwise, it might end up like this

I know that's a little hard to see, so here's an edited version

Two pieces missing

Two!!

So not nice

My original plan was to just buy a new one and start over because I really, really want this puzzle

But one of my brilliant sisters (Peach...aka Noelle) came up with a brilliant plan to buy a new one and just find the two missing pieces

That's a whole lot less daunting than putting the whole thing together again

So I decided that's what I would do

I found it on Amazon, purchased it, and one night when the Elders were over for dinner I told them they could help look while we were finishing getting dinner ready

And that's when my hopes and dreams were destroyed into a bajillion little pieces

(literally and figuratively....)

One of the Elders realized that the stupid pieces were cut differently on each puzzle

...seriously?!

That's just downright rude!!

So now I don't have a choice but to put the whole thing together again

*sigh*

I was going to start it right away while it was still fresh in my head, but the Hubster convinced me to wait

And now I'm kind of glad I did because our lives have been so crazy lately

Plus, I'm a little scared that after I'm about halfway done with it, we're going to have to move again, or something like that

Since that's all we've done with that poor puzzle

****

Just for the record? Almost everything written above was from about a month ago

Maybe even longer, I honestly don't remember

That's how long it's been

Bother

I am now happy to report that since my first walking on the treadmill for an hour attempt failed, I have been able to work up to it since then

I haven't tried doing it every day yet, but I know that I can do it a couple of days a week

And that's a very good start

We had a good Thanksgiving

Some friends that we've made here invited us over to their house, which was fun

We had talked about inviting the Elders over for Thanksgiving, but someone invited them first so it all worked out really well

But, since I'm me and I'm really good at making life more complicated than it needs to be, we still made a small Thanksgiving dinner the day before and fed the Elders

But, since I'm me again, everything we planned didn't execute because there wasn't enough time in the day, our kitchen is way tooooo tiny, and Hubby had to work so he wasn't able to help for a good portion of the day

I mean, we even forgot the stuffing

Who forgets stuffing?

So on the Sunday after Thanksgiving we had another pseudo Thanksgiving dinner and made everything we didn't have time to make before

Like stuffing, candied yams...and I'm sure other things I don't remember

We had leftovers for a very long time, it was nice

Other than that things are good

Hubby is still enjoying his job, I'm still working on school, and not too many changes

Besides the fact that I must have slept funny and my back is a little thrown out of whack this morning

So I'm not doing much today...just sitting at my computer, forcing myself to finish this post, and working on lots of school

And listening to lots of Christmas music!!

Because I'm officially allowed to now

It's heavenly

Well, besides the back part

Hmm...what else

We're going home to Utah for Christmas

We'll be there for 2 weeks!! We are SO excited!!

We leave this Friday, we're driving (another reason I need my back to cooperate) and we'll be back sometime the beginning of January

It's been over a year since we've moved out here, and Hubby hasn't been back since, so it will be good

And I think I'm actually done Christmas shopping!! There might be one more thing I get, I have to think about it....but I'm pretty much done, it's such a nice feeling!!

And now I must go help my mother with some computer stuff

Because I'm just amazing like that

Just not so much with keeping 2,000 puzzle pieces together... 

I promise, no more medical talk after today (maybe....)

So, I'm hoping this is the last of my "oh woe is me and all of my medical problems" posts

The last doctor I met with (well, in relation to the evil sickness) was an infectious disease doctor

Pretty much the first thing he said to me was "I don't even know why you're here"

We went over my medical history

The fact that I don't smoke, drink, do drugs?

All of that worked really well in my favor

He was impressed

The fact that I hardly ever get sick (besides the typical cold) really worked in my favor

Pretty much he told me I was a fluke

He has no idea why my immune system was so shot

(I'm wondering if it had anything to do with the fact that Hubby and I weren't getting decent sleep for way too long....we're night owls, it's a problem)

(and for some reason his body handles it way better than mine...not fair)

He said to me, probably 4 or 5 times, "I'm not worried about you, you're going to be just fine"

He said that while the majority of people have the herpes virus, hardly anyone actually suffers from it

Only about 5% of people, if we're going to be specific

I'm just lucky enough to be one of the 5%

I used to get cold sores pretty regularly when I was a kid, but I haven't had one for years

And that's the last symptom of herpes that I've had

Until this one, anyway

The doctor couldn't even figure out why the other doctor referred me to him

To him (and me, let's be honest) it was the most ridiculous appointment ever

He ordered 2 more blood tests, just so he could cross his t's and dot his i's

(they came back clear)

He told me that the herpes would never leave, but that I shouldn't really be affected by it, especially considering my history

So in other words, I think I'm good

Which is a huge relief

The Hubster is still having a hard time with it, he's so worried that I'll get sick again

It's pretty cute, most of the time

I'm able to eat anything I want again, which is sooo nice

I still am eating smaller meals, but I can handle that when they're not limited

I lost about 20 pounds in the month that I was sick, so I'm trying really hard not to go overboard with the eating and gain that weight back

It's hard when I just want to eat everything that I haven't been able to eat, but I just have to remind myself that the food isn't going anywhere and I don't have to eat everything all at once

This is the first week that I haven't really felt any nausea

Our routine usually consists of Hubby getting out of bed and taking care of his business, and I fall back asleep for about 30 minutes or so

This week we've been focusing really hard on going to sleep at a decent time to see if that would help with the slight nausea that I still get in the mornings and it seems to have helped

So this last week when Hubby got out of bed it woke me up, as usual, and I felt a little bit of nausea

So I rolled over and went back to sleep and by the time I woke up the nausea was gone, horray!

So this is the first week since I've been sick that I've been able to spend all day without feeling any nausea

It's been so nice

So as long as this keeps up, I'm going to start walking on the treadmill next week

Very slowly, because I've been inactive for about two months

But I need to get my energy back up and my body moving again to remind it that it's capable of doing things

I went about two months not drinking soda, not eating chocolate, just eating very basic, plain things and I told Hubby that I just didn't think I would be the type of person that would all of the sudden hate foods that I couldn't eat for a long time

I was right, everything still tastes as wonderful as it did before

My tongue is not as used to the spices and stuff, but it's still just as delicious

Other than that, as far as I can tell, I'm back to being as healthy as possible

(and I completely forgot about this post....so, carrying on...)

We tried the whole going to bed at a decent hour thing for a week or so and the nausea has completely gone away

I'm sure it wasn't just because of extra sleep, but I'm also sure it helped

Other than that, our life has gone back to normal, or as normal as it was before

Hubby works an insane amount, both at the actual office building and here at home

He's salary, so they require him to work 115% which means that he does a lot of work after work at home

When he's not supposed to be working

When he's supposed to be spending time with me

But, it could be a lot worse

And really, at least he's at home working, so I get to see him

And I'm a big fan of his job right now because they approved his time off request for Christmas

So that means we get to go home for Christmas :)

And we'll be home for two weeks!!

Oh I'm so excited I could scream

And I probably have

Cause it's just awesome

And I'm soooo dang excited

Other than that, our lives continue on as normal as possible

Hubby goes to work every day, I stay home every day

Now that I'm recovered and getting my strength and energy back I'm getting back to working on my school and doing little projects around the house

I'm currently tackling making pillows for our couch

I haven't done any sewing since I was in young women and I made my own pajama pants for Girl's Camp

But I want to sew

I want to create things

I want to be my mom :)

She's like the awesomest person I know and if I could have half of her talent....I'd just be the best seamstress and cook and baker and everything else all rolled into one

Anyway, I'm learning

And praying that I don't mess it up because I only have so much fabric

And when I go home for Christmas Mama Smurf is going to teach me to crochet

A lot of learning going on

Really the only annoyance we are dealing with right now is medical bills and insurance companies

There are a few different "offices" where our doctor is and they are all also connected to the ER, so while it's a little confusing, it's nice because they were all interconnected

They do go by different names, but the names are so similar that it's hard to really distinguish them

Because they're all in the same building and they're all connected in some way or another we just assumed that the billing would all be connected too

(i'm assuming that my naivete on major medical problems and billing and how it works comes into play...but if I have to be naive about something, I'm glad it's this)

So we got the first statement, which was not a HUGE amount...more than we would have liked, but it could have been a lot worse

 A few days later we got another statement in the mail, but because I was still slightly out of it I didn't really pay attention to it and assumed, for some strange reason, that it was the same bill as the first one

Last week I was working on paying all of our bills and I left the doctor's bill for the last because I was dreading it trying to decide how much to put towards it

By this point I had completely forgotten about the other statement until I was shuffling through all of our bills

When I saw it and really looked at I just about died of shock

It was definitely not the same bill

It was very much a different one

So add that to the other bill and we weren't too thrilled

But, it was manageable, we would just have to make smaller payments on our other bills and get those out of the way first since they're not as gracious as our credit card collectors

But then yesterday we got yet another bill from one of the same people

Because why can't they just lump it all together so we can pay towards one bill?

Obviously that's just silly talk

Obviously they just need to make life difficult

****

And wow....I just went on and on and on for far too long on medical jargon

Sorry friends

In other news, I finally pulled out the crazy puzzle that I've been working on forever

This one

(I just realized I haven't posted a picture of the puzzle since 2011...wow...and sad, especially when you see how far I haven't come with it...)

So, these are the last pictures I posted:

And this is what it looks like today

Okay, so a lot more progress than I thought

I feel a little bit better about life

It went through a rough life after we got married and then moved

You can tell by the fact that the one boarder in the sky is missing

And the fact that it wasn't missing before

I'm just crossing my fingers that I actually find it

Cause if that one piece is the only one that is missing?

I'm not going to be happy

I wanted to glue this and hang it somewhere one day when we have room for it and/or a spot

So if we are missing any pieces...that just means I have to buy it again

And that's going to tick me off

Because I'll have to put it together again

But, we're not thinking about that

We're just going forward with the hope that I will find all of the pieces

AND!!

Something else SOOO exciting??

I'm an Aunt again!!

My brother Jared and his wife Rachel had their 6th child a few weeks ago

2 days after my brother's birthday, to be exact

World, meet Tabitha Alegreia (which means joy in English...all of their kids have a Portuguese middle name [except their son, who's middle name is my brother's name])

Oh she's so adorable!!

I love having new little ones to dote on, but I hate that I'm not there

And I can't hold her

And I haven't officially met her yet

So sad

It's a good thing we're going home for Christmas

We'll have to get lots of snuggling in

And now I must publish this post

Before it takes me another month to finish

I swear I'm going to get on top of this blogging life again

I hate writing essays just to talk about what has happened in the last three months

It gets tedious

Happy Fall, everyone

I hope you're enjoying your fall clothing, hot chocolate, beautiful colors, and whatever else you love during fall weather

Those are my most important items, including Gilmore Girls

I'm currently on season 3 and I'm trying to decide if I want to speed watch them or drag them out

And if I choose to speed watch them, how reasonable is it for me to watch them again immediately afterwards?

Tough decisions..

A bit of an update

Well, it's been a long week and a half over here, but I feel like we're starting to make some progress towards a happy ending

I did end up in the ER last Monday because I was so dehydrated

We checked in, told them why we were there, they got me hooked up to an IV, which included something for my nausea, and then the doctor wanted to know what was going on, etc

So I told him which resulted in him wanting a urine sample, an EKG, etc

He did come in at some point and said to me "Well, looks like you're a little dehydrated..."

Thank you??

I ended up having 2 bags and they sent me home with a report to give my doctor

It's amazing how much better my body felt with fluids!!

When I saw the doctor/surgeon the week before that to see about a scope (when I thought I was getting a scope and fasted the morning beforehand for no reason...) he changed the antacid I was on to a different one because what I was on didn't seem to be making a difference (either of the medications, honestly)

After I started taking the new antacid things improved

I don't know if it was just the antacid or if my body was starting to heal, or maybe both, but this last week has been easier at least in the drinking/eating department

Of course, that's also when I started getting really nauseous at night and that would stick around until 11:00 or 12:00 the next day

So that made sleeping/functioning fun

Anyway, on the day of the scope I fasted (again) and, fortunately for me, they had a cancellation that morning so I was able to have my appointment sooner which meant I didn't have to fast as long

Hallelujah

They injected me with an other IV (in the same vein, too...my poor veins) and we waited for the doctor to arrive

So I dozed in my hospital bed while Hubby played on his phone

There was a such a party in that hospital room, let me tell you 

They wheeled me back finally, the doctor finally showed up, and the anesthesiologist gave me the drugs to make me sleep

The doctor started talking about how I was going to have to help them get the scope in and not gag it up, etc 

The anesthesiologist rolled her eyes a little and told me not to worry about it because I would be out

The last thing I remember was apologizing to the doctor if I threw up everywhere

And then I got drowsy and the next thing I know they're trying to wake me up, to which I told them (in my head, of course) to leave me alone

I finally gave in and they checked my vitals, etc

Hubby told me he had been waiting for almost an hour before I started stirring

He said the doctor showed him pictures of my esophagus and it was not in a happy state, which allowed me to feel a little bit of vindication

He took a bunch of biopsies of the esophagus and some of the stomach and told us they would let us know

I delayed getting released until my IV bag was empty because I didn't want to chance being dehydrated again

We finally went home and I was glued to the couch (aka my new place of residence) sucking on water the rest of the day

Things stayed status quo for the next few days

I went to bed nauseous, woke up REALLY nauseous, and dozed on the couch until the nausea went away

(and no, I'm not pregnant...the doctors tested me and I tested me)

They called back a few days later and told me what I had was herpes esophagitis

Something I didn't even know existed

(so I promptly googled it...apparently it's rare, because I found very little information on the subject)

The doctor called me in a new prescription that I have to take 3 times a day (I'm getting sick of pills) and told me he was referring me to a GI specialist to see if she had anything else she recommended for speedy recovery

The good news out of all of that is he told me that I didn't have to take the "slime" drink I've been taking anymore that was supposed to be coating my esophagus but that didn't ever end up doing anything (as far as I could tell)

It's not very much, but it's awful, just trust me

Anyway, I started taking the new prescription a few days ago and the nausea worsened

Of course, because since my throat doesn't hurt anymore, there has to be something

The day came for the appointment with the GI

Hubby had to be my chauffeur because I was too sick to drive

The appointment was early in the morning, meaning I couldn't go lay on the couch for a few hours and let the nausea subside

Meaning I threw up 3 times before we left for the appointment

It was a rough morning

And, in my opinion, it was one of the most pointless appointments ever

She expressed surprise at the fact that I have what I have

(like I said, it's pretty rare, especially with people my age, especially when you have a strong immune system [which I do, I hardly ever get sick beyond the seasonal colds] and I've pretty much flabbergasted everyone with this diagnosis)

We talked about the nausea and how that's very common for what I have and how the new medicine I'm taking also messes with your stomach

(Awesome. I'm on a roll)

She prescribed me a pill to help with the nausea so I can hopefully get some sleep and function during the day (hallelujah)

And then wanted more blood work done to see if I had diabetes or HIV, because that would explain the herpesness (yes, I just made that word up)

We weren't there very long (which I was grateful for because I was still feeling really sick)

I gave the blood they wanted (I really, really hate needles...especially when I've been throwing up and am dehydrated)

We picked up my new prescription and then Hubby took me home

I took an anti nausea pill and curled up on the couch and slept for a good while

 When I woke up the nausea had subsided a little bit, thank heavens

Someone called from the doctor's office and told me that my diabetes and HIV had come back normal, so I was cleared from those, thankfully

And then they informed me that they were referring me to see yet another doctor

(is this number 500?)

This one is an infectious disease doctor cause they just want to know why I have what I have dang it!!

Seriously....this is getting old

I get it, I want to know why too, but...come on, give me a break!!

That night I took another one before we went to bed and I slept okay for about 4 hours, but at 4 am the nausea kicked in yet again and I barely slept after that

Of course, I had another appointment that next morning with a different doctor (my new primary doctor)

(have I mentioned that I'm getting really tired of doctors?)

Woke up really nauseous, so our plan for me to take Hubby to work so I could just drive myself to the appointment didn't happen

He came home from work and took me to the appointment, which was really just a get to know you appointment and let's talk about your health history and all of the medications you're taking

She and her little nurse helper person (I really don't know what to call them) were, again, both astonished that I have what I have

Neither of them have ever seen it in their time in the medical field

(when I get sick, I really know how to get sick...go me?)

She kept talking about "if this comes back in the future..."

Really?? Now is not the time to talk to me about the potential of being this sick again

Some of the things I've read and the people I've spoken too say not to worry about getting it again, and then on the opposite end of the spectrum there are those that act like the sky is always falling

I would rather be safe than sorry, but I would also like to hear that this is just a fluke and the chances of it happening again are really, really, really slim

Anyway, she wants me to come back because she thinks it's been too long since I've had a physical (she's wrong, it's never been too long for that) so I have an appointment with her and the infectious disease doctor next week...both of them

Luckily, our insurance is pretty epic, there's only been one prescription it didn't cover and we found a replacement for that

Everything else has been really cheap, so I'm grateful for good insurance right now

I'm just not looking forward to all of our bills we're going to be getting, especially for the ER trip

But, it is what it is, not much we can do about it

The last couple of days I've hardly had any nausea, which has been REALLY nice

I slept REALLY well last night, compared to previous nights anyway

So I'm really hoping I'm past the nightmare part of it and making my way to the bliss of not being sick any more part of it

So yeah, it's been a long monthish, but it appears that things are on the rise

My veins are ready for things to be on the rise, that's for sure

ER visit, scope visit, and diabetes/HIV testing (the throwing up had left me extremely dehydrated so it took a couple of times for her to find a vein)

We found that like....7 hours after the fact

I think we missed one

I promise not to gross you out too much (well, I guess I can't promise that...but I hope it won't), but I figured I'd show you an example of the the pictures he took of my esophagus

That's the good portion

And that's part of the bad portion

So yeah, pretty nasty

I'm ready for it to be over

There were two nights that I slept on the couch instead of our bed and that is the first time that we haven't slept in the same bed since being married (minus when we were in different states, of course) and that I don't approve of

I wore my wedding ring yesterday for the first time in weeks because what was the point of wearing it before when I was going to be asleep on the couch for half of the day and stuck to it for the rest of the day

It's going to take some getting used to again, but this is definitely a getting used to that I'm okay with

Anyway, I hope soon to not plague this blog with my illness

It's not very fun to read about, I'm sure

****

I'm excited September is here!! Cooler weather, fall colors, sweaters and sweatshirts, soups, hot chocolate, blankets, blankets, and blankets galore

I love it all

Hubby has today off for Labor Day, which I'm super stoked for

So we are watching the 6-hour version of Pride and Prejudice

He's good to me

We've watched almost all of the Jane Austen movies since I've been sick

There's just something about them

They're perfect "sick" movies

And Hubby loves me and humors watching them with me

He even asked me to read Pride and Prejudice to him one of these days

Well color me shocked

I hurried and agreed before he had the chance of taking it back

We're already reading a book together, but as soon as that's done....Lizzie and Jane, here we come

Anyway, it's getting to the stressful part of the movie, so I better close this before I become distracted and forget to finish it

Happy September!!

We get happy and sad all at the same time today, folks

Friends, I feel like I need to show you something before we get down to business

Remember this picture and how I talked about Hubby and I keeping stuffed "animals" on the bed?

Since then he has informed me that the stuffed Jack is no longer allowed on the bed

It was loosing it's form

Which means there's really hardly any difference

But to him it's huge

And he loves his Jack stuff

Plus it's from me, which in his mind makes it even more special

So it sits on the little table next to his side of the bed until we get a shelf or something it can sit on

I happen to love that Hubby of mine

He's pretty cute

****

Our lives the last couple of weeks have been a little more hectic than normal

The Hubster has been on call at work

Which pretty just means we have to always be at home

And if we aren't home and he gets called (which fortunately has never happened) we have to book it home pronto

And he's been on call for what feels like ages

He was on call for a week or two, and finally got off, and then due to stupid scheduling conflicts at work he's on call again for two more weeks

Rude

Last weekend I was sick with a migraine on the couch all weekend

This weekend Hubby had to work and HE is miserable with a horribly bad headache

So yeah, we're doing life really well lately

But next week things are going to change

We've gotten into the bad habit of staying up late, partly because of his work

So I told him that was changing next week, as much as possible anyway

We can't do much about his work keeping us up

****

When I was home in Utah I went and visited one of my favorite book stores and stalked up on books since said bookstore doesn't exist in Iowa

I do this thing where I think I have more room than I do and I think I'm going to read 6 books in a 2 hour flight and for some reason I think I'm going to love carrying two different large carry-on bags on a plane

Part of the problem is just I really just always have way too much stuff cause what if for some reason I need 4 extra shirts

Or what if for some reason I need lots of different shirt options

Or what if for some reasons I....I don't know, insert crazy answer here

Problem is, because of all of this, I stuff my carry-on bags way too full and all of the sudden my flight becomes cumbersome and obnoxious because I'm lugging heavy, annoying things everywhere

Normally it's not a big deal because I travel with hubby and he helps me lug all of my stuff around like the awesome husband that he is

But the last two times I have flown I've been solo, which has made it EXTREMELY only slightly more annoying

Anyway, point of the matter is my eyes are always way too big and I thought I had more space than I did, or that the books would take up less space than they actually did

One of the two

So Mama Smurf suggested that I keep some of the books there and she would send them to me

don't we love how smart and awesome moms are?

Anyway, I ended up leaving 4 books behind, which ended making a huge difference in the space that I had

She mailed them through the post office shortly after I left and they said it would probably take a couple of weeks

So I waited and waited and waited

And waited some more

And started to get really anxious because I didn't exactly remember the books that I had left behind, and that would mean I wouldn't be able to remember which ones to repurchase

And that bugged the OCness in me

I began wishing I had taken pictures of the books before I left, and was honestly really surprised that I didn't because I'm a little overcautious like that the majority of the time

Mama Smurf went to the post office to get it checked out, they tracked it for her, and it hadn't updated in tracking since it said it had left that post office

Which was weird to all of us

The guy at her post office thought it might be at my post office and they just hadn't updated it yet

So I called them, and no they didn't have it and they had no idea where it was

She got insurance on it, but we had to wait until the package was way past due in order to claim it

And that required me remembering which books I had left there because I didn't keep my receipts from the book store (another shocker...I always keep receipts until I'm triply sure I won't need them or the time we had to return the item has expired)

So I did my best, found the statements on my bank account and sent her all of the information

Monday came and she was going to go to "war" with the post office (as she put it, I think...it's been awhile now)

This was about a week-a week and a half after I was supposed to have received the package, so we both counted it as a loss and figured I wouldn't be getting it

I went outside to check the mail that day and noticed something on the porch

What do you know, it was my package!!

The box was pretty beat up and a little worse for the wear, as were a couple of the books inside, but I was so happy I actually got it it didn't really bother me (too much)

I called Mama Smurf right away and told her what I had just found on my front porch

And she just about died from laughter and shock

And relief cause she didn't have to deal with the post office anymore

See, here is one of the boxes

Very bent and faded

Not how they normally look

And the book

Not horrible, but still

(oh, and by the way, I was only right on one of the 3 books...the others I left behind were books that I had brought from Iowa to Utah in case I had time to read...which didn't happen, but that explains why I couldn't remember what the other books were that I had purchased but didn't have...at least I'm not TOO delusional)

****

Are you guys ready for another Oreo review? :D

Oreo numero uno

So, as discussed with previous "sour" flavored Oreos, I am not a fan of sour

But, I did like these more than the lemon, because they were sweeter

A little too sweet, maybe, and definitely not my favorite ever, but they were decent

Definitely a good choice that they picked the vanilla cookie for this

Oreo usually doesn't disappoint, only once (I'm looking at you, cookie dough), maybe twice, and I wouldn't say they "disappointed" with this, it's just not my favorite

But still, it had a pretty good flavor

I give it a 6/10

And numero dos

Now this one, my friends, I was WAY excited for!!

This is the marriage of two of my favorite things in the whole world

And they did not disappoint

I am in love

I love that they used the chocolate cookie

And I think they did a very good job at executing the flavor

I read an article saying that the two companies worked very close together because they knew this would be a huge deal and didn't want to disappoint

And disappoint they did not

Especially dipped in milk!! (Thanks Kris, for that idea)

Seriously, love them

And now I'm wanting them

Lots of them

This is definitely one I could eat a lot of (which is not a good thing...)

Anyway, I'm in love

This one most definitely gets a 10/10

There is another one out, Root Beer Float, but I haven't been able to find those yet, so I can't talk about those

Hopefully they'll show up soon....

****

So this week has been a crummy week in this house

A few nights ago I started getting this really weird pain in my chest and I started to feel awful, so I told Hubby we needed to go to bed pronto

So we did, and I slept horribly

Woke up with a terrible migraine and a HORRIBLE pain in my chest...like it was in my esophagus

I couldn't drink without pain, couldn't eat without pain, couldn't really swallow without pain, couldn't breath/cough without pain

In other words, anything that had to do with my mouth caused me pain

I had a horrible fever, and I just did not feel well at all

Hubby texted in and asked if he could work from home so he could take care of me and they said that would be fine

So he took awesome care of me and tended to my every need

We eventually went to the instacare that they have here and the doctor, while very nice, wasn't really listening to me when i was giving the pain symptoms, he just heard sore throat and tested me for strep

I didn't have strep, got told I had a virus and there was nothing they could do for me (since it was a virus), and sent me home

That didn't really sit well with me, but there wasn't much I could really do

That night was awful as well, but not QUITE as bad as the night before, and I woke up with an AWFUL migraine

Hubby was planning on going to work that day, but as he was getting ready I started dry heaving (since I didn't have anything in my stomach since I couldn't eat) and a bunch of blood came up

That was not a good sign in my book...I don't remember having ever thrown up blood before

So I texted Mama Smurf, she suggested I call the doctor's office back and see what they wanted me to do

After I was treated like a moron by the person on the phone, they told me I might as well come in and get reevaluated (how much blood? I can't tell you what's wrong without looking at it. It could still be viral, you know. There are plenty things that can cause a person to throw up blood)

But here's the thing lady, I know my body better than you, and this isn't normal

I've had lots of experience throwing up and never has it included blood

So, we went down right away, first thing that morning (cause Hubby worked from home again cause he's awesome and his work is super nice)

We were seen by a different doctor

I told her what happened yesterday with the other doctor, told her where the pain was, and she rolled her eyes and said something to the effect of obviously it's not strep, strep would not be that low and this sounds like it's in your esophagus. I don't know why he tested you for strep...

I told her that I've had a hard time swallowing food for awhile, and I easily choke on it

And that my doctor in Utah thought it might be something to do with heartburn type issues

She agreed with me and wanted to run a bunch of tests to see what was going on

I've had mono before, so she wanted to rule that out as well, just as precaution, and I honestly don't know what else they tested for

I didn't really care, I just wanted to know what was wrong

I had to get my blood drawn (I hate needles, but this phlebotomist was awesome and got in on the first try...and that's even with me super dehydrated) and give a urine test (they had something called a "clean" urine test...never done that before)

And then comes the horrific part

They sent me back to get what I thought would be a scope

Turns out they just wanted to x-ray my stomach to see if they could see any blockages or lumps or anything like that

That in and of itself wouldn't be so horrific, but they made me drink this barium thing (thanks Peach for helping me remember that word), which is awful. It's chalky and thick and just nasty

And then I had to drink something that was similar to Pepto Bismal to give more air down below

Well, that plus the barium junk didn't go over well

I don't think my throat loved acidity of the pepto-like stuff, since it's ridiculously sensitive right now

And I had to throw up again

The little nurse lady was nice and gave me something to throw up in and held back my hair and then gave me a wet washcloth to wipe my face...but it was awful

Needless to say, I didn't have to swallow that again, but they did make me do more of the barium

No blockage, no lumps, no tumor, none of that...which is good

Although a blockage would definitely have been the easiest thing to cure I'm sure

So we went back to the waiting room, waited for the doctor to look at the x-rays, and we got called back

Turns out what I have is esophagitis

Inflammation of the esophagus

Not in the worst stages yet, but if left untreated it could turn cancerous

(but, honestly, I might end up in the hospital from dehydration first)

So basically it's a good thing I went back when I did and I'm glad we saw a different doctor who actually listened

Although really with the pain I have I don't know why anyone would not want to treat this...it's awful

So she set me up an appointment with a surgeon next week to get a real scope done, and to see if he needs to get anything for a biopsy

And then we'll go from there

She did give me some medication, one to coat the esophagus and one to help keep acid down, and said they would help with the pain immensely

I haven't noticed a difference yet, but it's just barely been 24 hours so I'm still hoping....

Luckily the fever seems to have at least calmed down a little

Although, ironically my throat is sore now

But I think that's partially due to the throwing up yesterday

My ears are starting to hurt, but I slept very well last night so I haven't had too much of a headache today

I also haven't had too much to eat cause I've noticed it doesn't like extremes..super hot, or really cold

Which is too bad because the really cold items (smoothies, ice cream, ice, slush, water...) sound soooo good to me right now.....

So we're trying to figure out things I can manage to get down

So far cream of wheat is a decent choice

Little snack puddings seem to be okay

We're going to try scrambled eggs tonight

And Hubby got some chicken noodle soup at the store tonight

I typically prefer tomato, but that's more acidic and not as good cool as the chicken can be

Oh, and yogurt

I'm going to try jello, just cause it's smooth going down

And he got some apple juice too, since Sprite (to help calm my stomach) is a definite no (any soda really)

I tried a small sip last night and regretted it forever after that

I have a bunch of Gatorade to help try and keep me hydrated

It's just annoying to drink and eat because I have to only take tiny sips/bites and wait for a good amount of time afterwards before I can go again

If I go too fast I put myself in a lot of pain for too long

Tylenol and Advil seemed to have helped make the pain tolerable (probably because Advil is an anti inflammatory), but I don't want to take it on an empty stomach, so I'm trying not to rely on it...I haven't had any today and I can tell

Hubby went back to work today, since I'm going to need him to come with me when I get the scope because I'm pretty sure they put you out for that (at least they did the last time I had one done...)

And then I have a follow up with a different doctor the next day

So yeah, lots of visits to the doctor's office (which he hates cause he has a negative history with doctors cause of all of his health problems)

But if this can get resolved, and if I can stop choking on food and eat and drink normally again, I will do whatever it takes

I just need the pain to go away sooner rather than later

My head doesn't tolerate lack of food very well, so it'll be interesting to see how long I can go with this before I have consistently major headaches

It's crazy to think that just a week ago I was eating and drinking without a care in the world

And now here I am, feeling like I'm wasting away

I was diagnosed with gastroparesis in my senior year of high school (my stomach couldn't digest fibers, meats, or a whole lot of dairy...), the medicine they gave me didn't help so I had to let it "run it's course", which led to throwing up a lot over the next several years until it finally went away. I still have to be careful to not eat a HUGE amount all at once, and occasionally I still throw up a little, but not nearly to the extreme as before

So I'm wondering if this is, at least in part, repercussions from that

That can't have been easy on my esophagus

Anywho, that's an update on our lives

Hubby is off now for the weekend, so it'll be nice to have my caregiver back

And I'll just sit on my new place of residence (the couch) before we move into the bedroom for the evening and pray that I get LOTS of sleep tonight since Hubby's alarm won't wake me up at 5:30 tomorrow

I'll let you know what we find out next week

If you don't mind keeping me in your prayers/thoughts, that would be wonderful

I'm not doing too hot and I need all of the help I can get

(this is also why I've been a little vacant...and that might continue for awhile....)

****

Once last thing and then I'll be done

 I don't usually talk publicly on the passing of celebrities, but Robin Williams was a little special

I will miss him, I grew up watching his movies, especially Aladdin and Flubber...I love Mrs. Doubtfire and Bicentennial Man and Patch Adams...he was an amazing person with an amazing gift for touching people's hearts and lives

My heart hurts right now for his family and loved ones and what they are going through

And I hope that he can find the peace that he has not been able to find

Hubby went through a severe depression phase before (his health was getting bad, he had just had to have spinal fusion surgery, leaving him incapable of doing anything, and his parents were getting divorced) and seriously contemplated suicide

He had the gun out, his family was gone, and he was going to go through with it

Fortunately (especially for me) something stopped him and he didn't actually do it

He decided he didn't want to live like that anymore and chose to look for the positive and be happy rather than dwell on all of the awful things that were going wrong in his life

Every time I hear of someone committing suicide, my heart breaks for them and their loved ones, yes, but I can't help but feel an extreme gratitude that he never actually went through with it and that I am able to have him in my life

****

And now I'm going to attempt to eat some chicken noodle soup

Wish me luck

(I find it ironic that earlier in the post [which I had written before I started getting sick] we were going to get lots of sleep, and not keep our bad schedules anymore....and then the sickness happens...life is really good at throwing curve balls, isn't it)

(I'm really going now, bye!)

Don't die of shock, I'm posting again. A house update and an Oreo review, all in one post

Where does the time go?!

The older I get the less time I seem to have

Father Time and I need to have a chat I guess

It feels like our house is really coming together

There's still a lot to do, but it's better than where we started

I'll find my pictures and post them for an update

That just requires moving from my laptop to my real computer

And as I'm currently watching Glee that won't be happening yet :)

Okay, I am on the beast

Which is what I call my "real" computer

Cause it's awesome

And it's a beast

Hence the name

Since I'm sure you wanted to know the nicknames of my electronics...

Pictures!

Here we go

Kitchen:

Before:

It makes me laugh that it got messier before it got better

After:

Obviously we still have to get curtains...and the walls are very boring still, but it certainly looks better

I'm just glad the KitchenAid has a home now

And the Oreos

Two of the most important things :)

I'm not 100% satisfied with the kitchen, but it's doable and livable and I can accept that for now

Now, the living room:

Before:

It's funny to watch the different pieces of furniture get moved to different spots in the room throughout the pictures

They were kind of like nomads at first

After:

Yay it looks soooo much better!!

If it were up to me, that LoveSac would be far, far away (on Judea's plains...)

Just because I don't even want to think about having to think about sitting on it for a VERY long time to come

But we feed the missionaries pretty much every week and one of the Elders actually likes to sit on it

So we left it upstairs for him

Again, the walls = boring, I know

We'll work on those, but first priority was the furniture

And hanging the TV

Some of the pictures I honestly just hung to get them off the floor and there were nails just scattered around the walls

So they all won't even stay where they are

Except for those by the front door

I like their placement

Hmmm...the study and our room honestly haven't changed much

They weren't as important because we don't have people coming back there

But, they have changed a little so....

Study:

Before:

After:

So yeah, really not that much different

One of these days we'll find homes for all of our nomad furniture

And the master bedroom:

(don't judge)

After:

So exciting, I know!!

Oh well, progress is progress

At least most days our bed gets made

That is definitely a good thing

And yes we put stuffed "animals" on our bed

We're awesome like that

Really that's about it

We've added some stuff into the hallway

Before:

After:

Nothing exciting, but we found a place for the jackets

And as I we have a lot, that was important

So, the main changes are the living room and the kitchen

We felt like they needed to be the focus since people actually go in that part of the house

So, it's coming along

Slowly but surely

We're the tortoise in the race

But at least the the main things are taken care of

****

I had a birthday almost a month ago

(which is now...3 months ago...)

Which is crazy cause it feels like it just happened

It was on General Conference weekend

(this awesome thing that happens in my church twice a year)

Because it was on Sunday that makes it complicated to go out and celebrate, and there's always a meeting for the guys the night before, so that doesn't help

But it is nice to be able to chill at home, watch conference in my pajamas, and spend the day with Hubby

Having a birthday on conference is a pretty awesome present

The Hubster gave me...

My Harry Potter books have gone missing over the years and have become tattered and in the end I don't have a complete set and what I do have isn't matching

So he got me that cool set of books which I'm super excited for and a game we've both been wanting but hadn't splurged on yet

I also got...

From my sister

Not gonna lie, I cried when I read that little sign

So cute

AND who doesn't love Piglet?

AND an Eve mug!!

She spoiled me

And from Papa and Mama Smurf....

That, my friends, is a rice bag

For my shoulders

Super excited about that

And the rest of it, of course

She knows me well

We found a Mexican restaurant near where we live that we went to

And we were both very, very impressed

Which says a lot about Hubby cause he's super picky

I loved the atmosphere

To be honest, I didn't know how I would feel about it because the outside of the building was small and strip-mall like

It was a little run down looking

And while it was small inside, it was awesome

The employees were all Latinos, and they actually used a little bit of Spanish when talking to the customers, which I thought was awesome

And the food was as close to authentic, in Mexico, in a village food you can get

Super good

We will definitely be going there again

We also went and saw the new Captain America

SO good

I loved it

It was weird not being home, in Utah, for my birthday

But they did call me, which was nice

And...I didn't get a birthday cake, because The Hubster hates to bake

Ever

Period

There was some leftover mint cake in the fridge that I made once when we had the missionaries over for dinner, but it was just on the edge of still being good and going soggy

Plus...that's not what I would have wanted for a birthday cake

Chocolate cake with chocolate icing please

Or at least chocolate cake

I was going to make one, but it was a rough couple of weeks with not feeling well and migraines and stuff

So we had invited the missionaries over last night for dinner and I figured that was the perfect time to make my cake

Exciting

And the cake looked awesome

And then one of the Elders had to go and get food poisoning

Rude!!

So...now I'm stuck with a whole cake all by my lonesome

We'll see if I can get Hubby to eat a piece

*************************************************************************************************

Well, that cake is long gone

Hubby force fed it to the missionaries after I left

They said it was super rich

Which it was

But I told them that beggars can't be choosers

And they said "Thank you Ms. Hannigan"

And

"We love you Ms. Hannigan"

Or something like that

****

As you can tell that post is a little old

But since it had some worthwhile information I figured I would leave it and just add to it

Really though, I had spent all of that time typing it all out...and didn't want to redo it

Call me lazy

****

So, it's been awhile since I've done an Oreo review

It won't have the two most recent "releases" cause I have yet to take those pictures, but I'll do that maybe next week

First we have....

I have to admit, I had a lot of expectations riding on these

I'm a cookie dough lover in all forms

Cause really...who doesn't love cookie dough?

Anyway, Oreo didn't quite meet my expectations with these

I was a little disappointed

They were good, and they had "chunks" in them which were fun

But they tasted a little too much like coffee to me

Hubby likes them, but says he could only eat 1 or 2 of them a year

Anyway, this is not a package I could have out and just snack on, not realizing what I'm doing

It would be a deliberate "let's pull out a package and eat a couple" type thing

So I give it...a 7/10

Next we have...

I REALLY liked these!! 

I thought they did a really good job with the whole concept

I love that the creme has "krispy" things inside

And I love the flavor

I don't think I could eat a lot all at once just because of how sweet they are, but I do really like them

And Hubby really likes them

He said he can eat 4 of them a year

Dork

Anyway, I give them a 9.5/10

And last but not least

I wasn't sure about these, cause I'm not a huge fruit punch person

I've just never really cared for the drink

But I should know by now that Oreo is really good at not making the flavor overpowering 

I was pleasantly surprised

They're probably not my ALL TIME FAVORITE...

But I genuinely liked them

I feel like they did a job well done with the flavor

I could definitely snack on these

Probably not a ton at once, yet again, because they are pretty sweet

But again, very good

I'd them a 9/10

All in all, I would give all of them a try

If you like coffee, I'm pretty sure you would love the Cookie Dough

I'm just not a fan of coffee 

The other two I would definitely recommend

Although I don't think you can find the cookie dough or marshmallow krispy anymore

So there's that

Fruit Punch is still available, at least in Iowa and Utah it is

Try them

Do it now

If you can find them, anyway

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find me a Daddy Warbucks and try and sway him with Oreos to give me all of his money

Wish me luck