Here I am!!

We are currently in week 2 of Hubster working nights

(edit...make that week 4 now)

Have I ever mentioned that I don't like the night shift?

Because it's true

I've played that game before and I'm not a fan that we have to play it again

And we didn't even have a fighting chance this time around

The manager of the night shift is the same manager of the night shift at his last job in Utah

And that's where Hubster last worked nights

And the manager was so impressed with him that he wouldn't let any of the other managers even think about having him

He was his and his alone

It is good that he has such a good work ethic and is good at his job...and it's good that the uppity ups like him

But...I don't approve

Especially when you consider the fact that it's getting to be our busy time of year at the nursery and I will be working more

We're never going to see each other!!

But he did tell me something that helps me be more patient

The other night a couple of the guys that work the same shift as Hubby were complaining about how hard the weekends were since they still had families and responsibilities but they had to maintain a similar sleeping schedule

The manager informed all of them that he knew it was hard for those with families and responsibilities and it was his goal to have all of those people change shifts and only people that really wanted to work nights would stay there

He's just waiting for them to hire more employees

Phew!!

Plus, they're just opening up a support site in Ireland, so their goal is to be able to do away with the night shift completely

I can handle it as long as I know it's not a "forever, permanent, the manager wants you and you're never going to escape his grasp" type thing

That's a relief

And it's not all horrible, him working the night shift

He gets paid more working at night, sharing our car is a lot easier since we work at different times of the day, he has a job, that job is located in Utah, he loves his job, it's a good job with great benefits, I'm able to help at the family business again, we're right by our family and friends, and did I mention we're back in Utah? :)

So really I don't have too much to complain about

One day we'll be back on the same schedule and we'll see each other more, until then I just keep counting my blessings

****

I can think of a few things that I still have to count and they most definitely aren't blessings

Spiders

Ugh, I don't think I'll ever be able to get over the evilness of spiders

They will always be my worst enemy

Always and forever

The most recent story?

I was siting on our couch, minding my own, very innocent, business, when I nudged the blanket I was using and out of the corner of my eye I saw a spider

Moving

Across the top of my blanket

Less than a foot away from me

Now, the smart thing would have been to move the blanket slowly so that I could kill the spider and have peace of mind

But this spider was right next to me and that sends all common and practical sense out the window

So, obviously, I flung the blanket as far away from me as possible and ran to the other side of the room

After "yelling" at Aaron (Aaron = Hubby) for not being home to take care of the spider I ran upstairs to hang out with my sister and bro-in-law

They were watching Blue Bloods, which has become my new favorite show, so I stayed up there and watched a couple of episodes with them

I finally decided I needed to do something, I mean, I was working on homework on my computer when I saw the spider and didn't want the evil spider to get in the way of homework, so I had to figure out something

That something equals stripping all of the blankets off the couch (we each have a pile of blankets to sit on so we can reach our desks from the couch), clear everything away from the desks, and vacuum everything!! Even under the couch cushions...every nook and cranny around where I saw the spider

And by this point it was way past my bed time so I ignored it until the next day when I went to work and brought home my hero when Aaron isn't home, spider killer spray, and sprayed it all around the couch and the doors...everywhere

Well, I thought everywhere

It obviously wasn't because a few days later I was making breakfast and saw what I thought was a water droplet on the bottom edge of the counter

I looked away and looked back and it morphed into a spider that was headed straight for my breakfast

I told him to stay away, that he didn't want my breakfast, but he wouldn't listen

So I hurried and moved it and then I grabbed my secondary hero, cause Hubby was asleep, and went to town

I don't think I've seen one since, so hopefully they've learned their lesson

Our temporary home (we've decided to stay here until next year...it gives us longer to save and my sister and bro-in-law told us to take our time...and we know if we move elsewhere rent will be ridiculous [at least compared to what we pay now] and it will take us longer to save to get a place/another car....having one car is working since he works at night, but that's not going to be forever and I don't want to keep inconveniencing my family when I need a car when he works during the day...so, we're staying until next year) is currently under construction

They're adding more storage so that we can move our stuff out of our storage unit and because the previous homeowners didn't do a great job as far as insulation is concerned, so the entryway and the spare bedroom were freezing cold and not really worth using

It's going to be fabulouso because the other bedroom can become our office and we won't need to keep our computers in the living room, which will be nice because as of now it's feeling a little cramped with our desks and computers out here

Plus the couch is so low it's not terribly comfortable to work on our computers

ANYWAY, the point of the construction conversation was to say that as soon as it's done that should help with spiders, and as soon as it's done I am really going to town with the hero spray

And that will be a fabulous day

And before I close, I just thought of one more perk to Aaron working at nights

He's deliriously hilarious in the morning when he comes home and gets ready for bed

Seriously hilarious

And since I'm not a morning person it's nice to start out my morning laughing

Poem she wrote

You know, instead of Murder She Wrote?

Yeah, I'm clever like that

So

The ornament

And the poem

Which took...maybe 2 days to write?

I was in a bit of a hurry, but I enjoyed it

Enjoy!

Coming Home

Many miles away, o’er land and sea (1,283 to be exact)

In a place that is as dank as can be

Hidden amongst multiple towering hillsides

Lies a city not known far and wide

And dwelling in this unknown land of mist

(Who, fortunately, no longer works the night shift)

A beautiful maiden and her beloved groom

Trying to survive this city of gloom

Buried under piles – no, mountains of snow

They’ve suffered through weather of 0 and below

Warming their bones with gallons of hot chocolate

Stealing all of the blankets from their now barren closet

They can’t ever trust the roads in this strange land

One-way streets as far as the eye can see? Not so grand

Too many hills, their car labors in pain

(It’s exponentially worse with the freezing rain)

I’m afraid by now you think they only suffer

Not so! For their lives are filled with awe and wonder

They found good friends, with whom they smile and laugh

(So much, in fact, it would surpass any graph)

Yet, for all of their friends, the beautiful girl was very sad

For her loved ones dwelt half-way ‘cross the land

And she missed her mountains, so majestic and fair

And the food! So delectable and beyond compare!

“I really don’t like this city” the fair maiden stated

“Except for our friends, all of the people are jaded”

“They’re crazy!” she said “You’ve seen how they drive!

I’ve run out of fingers to count the times we’ve almost died!”

“I miss my family and all of the fun we share

The jokes, the laugher…nothing could ever compare!

I’m tired of this cold and dreary place

I can promise you, I’d much rather be driving a case!”

“I want to see my nieces and nephews grow up

I’m losing my spot as the most favorite grown up!

I’m the entertainment! My family needs me around!

Without my sparkling personality? They’re as dry as the ground!”

Her spouse commiserated, sighed, and agreed

But with no job prospects it won’t happen, they had to concede

So they twiddled their thumbs and they waited

Hoping that, one day, their small home could be vacated

Then, magically, one day out of the blue

The gentleman got some wonderful news

“They’re hiring!” he exclaimed “And they want to converse!”

“Well, I’m not hoping” stated the lady “That would be the worst”

Weeks passed and many talks were had

They hoped and prayed the news wouldn’t be bad

They said not a word as to not raise any hopes

How awful would it be if ended up with a big nope?

Finally, after what felt like eons had past

They had joyous, fabulous news they had to share fast

“This is it!” he shouted “I have my dream job”

“You mean it?” she asked as she started to sob

“We need to tell everyone! Get on the news!

Let’s throw a party! Put on your dancing shoes!

We’re going home! I can’t believe this day has come!

I couldn’t care where we live, I’d stay in the slums!”

“Just take me home, back to my loved ones so dear

It will work out when we arrive, I’d even live with the deer!”

So, the fair maiden and her groom left behind the cold city

Anxious to return to their home, to the land so stunningly pretty

And what said the family of the lady so fair?

With such a surprise, did they do more than stare?

She hopes they’re jumping and screaming for joy

But, in reality, some are crying and others are being coy (dad is obviously the one crying ;) )

But how do they start? What do they do?

They have so many things those who help them could sue!

They’ll start with the biggest and baddest of all

Send it to mom and dad, surely they’ll have a ball

The kitchen sink it is!! It always takes up so much space

And since mom is so practiced with it, she’ll know just the place

As for the rest of the stuff in this house

Hopefully aid will come from more than just her spouse 

It has been WAY too long...I hope you like reading novels

Didn't we just celebrate 2014 as the new year?

That's what it feels like to me

To say or write 2015 feels odd and yet it feels like I've been saying it forever

It's a weird feeling

Christmas break was amazing

It was so nice to be back in Utah and be with family and friends that we haven't seen in ages

While we were there we took family pictures

We ate at too many restaurants 

We sang family songs

We got my ring cleaned 

The Hubster visited his favorite massage therapist, after which he was very sore and happy

(he's a weird duck and likes pain)

We spent lots of time with my family

We heard my nieces sing along to Frozen pretty much perfectly

(I hope you can see this video...)

We got to see quite a few friends

(albeit not as many as we wanted to)

We went and saw the new Annie and The Hobbit

(both of which we enjoyed)

We spent lots of time just staring at the mountains

We met new babies that we had only seen pictures of

I read a LOT, which was nice

The Hubster didn't touch work once and I didn't touch school once

(both of which were very much needed)

Mama Smurf helped me sew new pillows for our couch

We made and decorated sugar cookie bars with some of my nieces and nephews 

(one of my new favorite recipes....it is to die for)

We caught up on sleep 

(VERY important)

All in all it was a very good trip

We survived the drive both ways

The way to Utah we stopped in Lexington, Nebraska to get a few hours of sleep

Although I almost wish we had just gone straight through

So on the way back we did just that

We just wanted to get home to our bed and to our house and be done

And then something crazy happened

Wait, wait, wait

We need to give you more information first

Once upon a time, just before Thanksgiving, Hubster got an email from a recruiter about a position working with a company back in Utah

(the same company I talked about here...that he wanted to work at since before we moved to Iowa)

He hates recruiters because, typically, the jobs aren't steady and you're not as valued as a regular employee

You're the first to get a pay cut, the first to be let go, etc

But this time he really felt like he needed to talk to this guy

They exchanged emails back and forth, and just after Thanksgiving he had his first interview with Pure Storage

It was just over the phone, but he felt like it went well

But if you'll remember from the previous post, we thought that first interview went well also

A few weeks later he had another phone interview and he was very pleased with how this interview went

When they found out we would be in Utah for Christmas they took advantage and had him come in for a face to face interview

At this point he felt so good about how everything was going that he was quite convinced he would get the job

But we were convinced we would get it last time as well, so there was no way I was getting my hopes up

We were hoping to hear by Christmas so we could have it be a Christmas present of sorts

We had it all planned out

We purchased an ornament with a sink full of dishes on it and we were going to give it to my parents telling them that we had brought home the kitchen sink and they would have to help us bring home the rest

But we still hadn't heard by the time we left, so we didn't say anything

We didn't want to raise expectations for anyone

We went back and just 9 days later, I was walking on the treadmill, just minding my own business, when Hubster told me he had some news

And what was that news, you might ask?

WE GOT THE JOB!!

So, you know, nothing big :)

We got the job, he got a raise, and he had to start in 3 weeks

On February 2nd

*sigh*

Oh boy, we can never do anything slow and easy

It has to be ridiculously crazy, fast-paced, and complicated

So, we sent the padres the ornament along with a poem (I'll share that in the next post)

Papa Smurf smiled, Mama Smurf cried, and our world turned topsy-turvy

We requested the help of one or both of the padres and Mama Smurf agreed to fly out and help us for 4ish days

And let me tell you, that help was exactly what we needed

We wanted to travel to the Nauvoo temple while she was with us since it's only 3 hours away, but there was a storm that might hit on Saturday, which is when we were going to travel, and we still had a lot to do, so we didn't risk it and stayed home and packed some more

Yay?

We did get to take her to a friend's house for dinner, which was a nice break, but other than that we kept her very busy

But she was a miracle worker, I don't know what we would have done without her

She left on Monday, the day the trailer was dropped off at our house, and we loaded it on Tuesday with help from our ward, which was GREATLY appreciated

We loaded everything but the cleaning supplies and spent all day Wednesday cleaning and trying to gather everything that was going in our car

(next time we do a big road trip/move, we need to have a bigger car....Hubster's is way too small for that)

I wanted to be all done on Wednesday, but it just didn't happen

So Thursday morning we got up at 6:00 so we could finish cleaning, pack and lock the trailer, turn in our keys, turn in our cable box, pick up my medical records, and fill up our water bottles for the trip

By 1:00 the car was full of gas, we had lunch ready to be devoured, and we were on the road

And we both said "Didn't we just play this game?"

We decided to drive straight through, no stops

I'm pretty sure that wasn't the smartest idea we've ever had when you take into consideration the fact that we woke up at 6:00, but we just didn't want to stop

We just wanted to be home

And we got home at about 6:00 in the morning

Taking into consideration the time difference, a 25-hour day

And boy were we tired!!

We crashed for 5 hours and got up for the rest of the day

But that meant we got to go to a play (Aladdin) that my niece and nephew were in

(nephew was Iago, niece was a member of the town)

(The little ones with Papa and Mama Smurf...Papa Smurf was "scared" of Iago)

They did a wonderful job!! It was a ton of fun

And....we've just been trying to settle in since then

My sister is letting us stay with her family until we find a place (where we stayed before we moved to Iowa, ironically)

Our trailer showed up on Tuesday, we unloaded it Wednesday, and they came and took it away on Thursday

It's been a bit of a whirlwind week

We have a lot of our stuff in the storage unit and we're still going through some boxes trying to decide what we need for however long we're staying with them

It's kind of crazy, we've been gone for a year and yet it feels like nothing has really changed at all

We've just fallen back into rhythm with life in Utah and it's been a decently smooth transition

I don't love the fact that we had to pack up our whole life in less than a month, it makes going through boxes complicated, but I'm grateful for this new adventure we're beginning

The timing of all of this has been miraculous...but I'll discuss that in another post

This one has been in draft mode since....the end of December, so it needs to be done

And I need to go through boxes and try to organize our crazy life

But don't worry, the Oreos were saved from going into the storage unit and are sitting in our kitchen

At least I know I have the important things

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!!