Livin' and Learnin'

I love the holidays…Christmas is certainly my favorite. I had a wonderful Christmas this year. Christmas Eve was spent at my Mother-in-law’s house with all of my in-laws. They are awesome. We laughed til we almost cried, and ate and ate and ate. There were so many gifts under the tree that there was hardly any floor left to walk around it! The weather wasn’t so frightful this year (like last year) and all in all, it was a great time and a wonderful night.

Last weekend we went to Savannah to have Christmas with my Dad and my brother and his family. We always pull names around Thanksgiving to see who we will each buy a “gag” gift for. Michael got a gigantic goblet with “PIMP” written with dazzling rhinestones and lots of little sparkles all around it from my brother Eric. That was hilarious…the last thing Michael is is a “Pimp”. LOL

Michael drew my Dad’s name and debated for a long time on what to get him…he decided on a coffee cup that’s in the shape of a toilet! GROSS! The look on my Dad’s face was priceless and quite hilarious…I can’t imagine what it’s going to look like once there’s coffee in it. EEW!

All in all, this was a great holiday season for us. I’m so thankful that I was able to have the time off work to be able to go to the various places to see our families. I’m thankful that our families are all healthy and happy. And I’m especially thankful that my Savior was born on that very first Christmas Day.

I’m looking forward to 2012, and wishing you all a very Happy Happy Happy New Year! 🙂

Maddux with Santa. It’s his first Christmas! 🙂

Bama, our Christmas kitty. Every year she crawls under the tree for a cat nap or two. 🙂

Christmas is certainly my favorite time of year. Sure, I love fall leaves and warm spring days, but Christmas is such a special time. It’s a time of year to love and appreciate one another, and remember the birth of Jesus. I’ve been taking conversion classes at our church since September, and I have learned so much more than I ever have about who Jesus was and what he did for all of humanity. It’s an amazing story of love, hope, and peace. Christmas is a time to remember this and we should keep this story in our hearts throughout the year.

I’ve been listening to Christmas music all week, and my iPod is bursting full of them! 🙂

My favorite song has always been “O, Holy Night” and I have 3 versions of it (the Mariah Carey version is my favorite). I also have the Alabama Christmas album. My mother played this every year when I was still at home, and every time I hear it, I think of her. Of course, there’s Ella Fitzgerald’s “Frosty the Snowman”, and Burl Ives’ “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer”! I bought the Weezer Christmas album and was surprised at how good it is! It gives the classics a nice, pop-like beat. Sometimes they are a little off-key, but I still enjoy it.

Our tree is up, the village is up, and the outside bushes are full of lights. The shopping is finished, gifts wrapped and under the tree, and cards mailed. Now that the hard work is done, I can sit back, relax, and sing the carols!

Merry Christmas to you all!!!

Today I did some iTunes shopping for Christmas music to fill my iPod with songs of the season. I love to listen to Christmas music while wrapping gifts, and decorating. It can certainly could put anyone in the spirit!

I came across a song that I haven’t heard in a long time, O Tannenbaum. After hearing just a few notes of the song, my eyes filled with tears. It’s funny how music can bring back a memory so fast.

When I was in Kindergarden, I learned a song: O Tannenbaum. I was so proud that I learned this German song, even though I never really remembered all the words. I couldn’t wait to make the trip to Ohio to sing it for my Grandpa, I knew he would be so proud of me. And of course, when I started to sing it for him, he joined along. He had the biggest smile on his face as he sang a song that was very familiar to him.

I still don’t know all the words to that song…but today with the power of Google, I looked them up! And I listened to the whole song with fond memories of my Grandpa playing his accordion and singing with all his might. Of course, I bought that song from iTunes, and from now on, I will listen to it every Christmas. My hope is that everyone has a Grandpa like mine. He was pretty amazing.

September is PCOS Awareness Month. PCOS stands for Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome. It is linked to many health problems, most common are infertility and insulin resistance. There is no cure, only treatments available for the symptoms.

My doctor suspects that I have this syndrome. I will go tomorrow for more tests, and I’m hoping for some answers. Good, bad, or otherwise. Just answers. I am looking forward to the beginnings of the treatment, and hopefully, I will be able to beat this. I am so thankful for my husband. He has been tremendously supportive during this time of stress and confusion for me.

Please remember those affected by PCOS this month, and every month.

Links to info on PCOS:

http://www.pcosupport.org/what-is-pcos.php

http://pcosjournal.com/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001408/

9/23/11 update: They took 8 tubes of blood from me, and did an ultrasound of my ovaries and uterus. There were no cysts seen on my ovaries (YAY!), however, the doctor told me that just because there are no cysts doesn’t mean that I don’t have PCOS. It will take up to three weeks for the blood work results to come back, and I will go in to talk to her about the results. The wait is terrible. I want to know NOW. But, the Good Lord has given me patience and I will use it to my fullest! <3

9/29/11 update: My doctor called this afternoon and confirmed that I do, in fact, have PCOS. She is going to call Monday with information on the meds that I will have to take. I wanted answers and I got them. I have faith in my doctor and in the Good Lord. I think that we will make an excellent team to get this problem under control.

Well, it’s been quite a while since I’ve blogged. I’ve had a very busy winter season. Thanksgiving and Christmas went without a hitch and I had a wonderful holiday! A new year is here and I am on a mission to “fix” the things that need fixin’. The first step is to finally have the surgery on my spine that probably should have been done last year. I didn’t really want to do it, but after a year of suffering with the pain, constant numbness, and most recently, the gradual loss of strength in my left arm and hand, it must be done. I went to my amazing orthopedic surgeon who has been amazing during this process and he told me that since the conservative treatments didn’t help, it is time to go to a spine surgeon. He referred me to a doc that he was once in a group with and that he said he trusts to do a great job. So I made an appointment for the following week.

Mike went with me and when we walked into the waiting area of his office, the walls were covered in very nice frames filled with letters and cards from patients thanking him for the amazing work he did in helping them. There was a letter from a solider that said that two weeks post surgery he was jumping from airplanes with no pain. Sounds amazing, huh? We were soon called back and Dr. Keem came into the exam room. He was very nice, well spoken, and seemed to genuinely care about my pain. He checked the strength in my arms and legs, and without looking at my MRI, he asked if my problem was C5 C6. I was pretty impressed, because that is EXACTLY what my problem area is! He explained what the surgery would entail, how long it would take, and what the recovery would be like. I could tell that he was a very smart man, far smarter than I am, but he was able to explain what he can do in terms that I could understand. I really really liked him.

His staff is working on getting an OR date and time for me. It will either be February 14th or 16th, and I must admit that I am a little nervous about this, but I know that ultimately it will be worth it. I should only be in the hospital one night, thankfully. I really can’t wait to get this disk out of my body. It has caused me more pain than I ever thought I could handle. In a nutshell, it has slowed me down considerably. I never want to go anywhere or do anything because I know that the next day I won’t be able to move. I have taken more Motrin and Aleve that I probably should have, and I’m sure my kidneys are angry at me because of it. But I wasn’t raised to be a cry baby. My Gram always said, “Ya gotta be tough.” And I hope that’s what I’ve done, and will continue to be. Tough.

Here’s one MRI pic of my problem.

I know it’s hard to see, but the line down the center is my spinal cord. About half way down there is a little “dent.” That “dent” is where my disk is herniated and pressing on the spinal cord. That disk will be removed in surgery, a spacer put in it’s place, and a metal plate will be screwed in front of the vertebrae to hold it all together.

I was thinking today about our reception…and what a great time it was! It was so good to see faces from far and near, and to see all the smiles! It was a wonderful time that Mike and I will always cherish. I thought I would post a few of my favorite pics!

Dancing with my Daddy

Mike dancing with his Mother

Dancing with the wedding girls

Just after Amanda’s great toast!

Our friends, The Wilkies and us

The bells were ringing alot that day!

See what I mean?

My family from Ohio!

Sarah is quite the dancer! 🙂

“Tweens”

Alex caught in the act. hehe

I LOVE this pic! Look at that smile!

Alex was upset. He wanted Mike to give him the garter.

Another of my favs! Uncle Jim doing the “O-HI-O”!

The entrance gates outside the Marlow House

There were over 700 pics taken by our photographer, and it is so hard to pick just a few. If you want to see all of them, go to hamptonstudios.net and click on “gallery”…Enjoy!

We did it! The day we’ve been waiting for had finally come! It was the most amazing day ever. So many people came out to help us celebrate our big day and we had the BEST time! The wedding was so beautiful…and the reception was so much fun! I looked at the “official” pictures today and saw nothing less than smiling faces all around. A big THANK YOU to those that attended and celebrated with us! Thank you for your kind words and generous gifts also! We love you all and we will never forget the love and support everyone has given us.

Here’s a few pics from the big day! (Our Wedding Party, and our Families)

LOVE YOU ALL!

Dana

Yesterday I watched several news reports and read just as many news articles online about the oil spill in the Gulf. It completely sucked me in and occupied most of my day. I became almost obsessed, reading anything and everything I could find about it. I can see two sides to this story.

One. I lived in Mobile, Alabama during my teenage years and early twenties. I know the beauty of the Gulf, the warm breeze on a summers day that comes off of it, sea gulls flying low to the ground at the edge of the water’s crest. I’ve swam in the warm Gulf waters, I’ve laid out on it’s beaches from Pensacola and westward, Gulf Shores, Biloxi Beach, and even in Galveston once. I’ve seen the shrimp boats leaving the docks early in the morning before the sun rises, and I’ve watched them come in well after dark. People live on these beaches, and people support their families catching the shrimp and fish that live deep in that muddy water.

Two. I am studying Emergency Management, and from what I’ve read, FEMA and the President aren’t really doing much to help this situation. It took the President ELEVEN days to react to this problem. I also read that there has been no Federal mitigation for disastrous oil spills. I wonder if the newest edition of my text books will have anything about oil spills…

Well, I made this my cause. I have 25 days until my wedding, and I’m taking up a cause. I guess I am a little crazy, but I couldn’t sit back and do nothing. I feel so bad that I can’t be down there helping more, but what I CAN do is collect the hair clippings and pantyhose and pack it all up and send it south. And that’s what I’m going to do. I’ve made contact with someone that is willing to accept my package, and make sure it gets to the right place. I’ve got a local hair salon, PetCo, and my vet collecting hair for me. All I have to do is drop by and pick it up. I’m asking everyone I know for pantyhose. (Which gets some strange looks, until explained.)

I guess what’s really important is that I feel like I’m doing something for the greater good. If I ever have children, I want them to be able to experience the Gulf in the ways that I have. I want the threat to the sea life to be as minimal as possible. I want our world to be a better place. That’s the dreamer in me I suppose, but why not try?

Last weekend I headed to South Georgia for my nephew’s fifth birthday party. Lots of screaming kids, but I had a wonderful time with my little buddy. After the party I went to stay with an old dear friend and we stayed up until the early hours drinking some wine and talking about good ol’ times. He is quite a character, and he never fails to make me laugh. NEVER. I can’t wait for my family and new friends to meet him at my wedding. He’s pretty awesome.

We were talking about how things were when we were kids. It doesn’t seem like it was THAT long ago that I was running around Mrs. Crosby’s yard with the other kids she babysat. But the other night made me think…It’s been almost 30 years! 30? Really? YES.

Mrs. Crosby was quite a character herself. She was an old lady back then (and I’ve recently learned that she is still alive) and she smoked the longest cigarettes I’ve ever seen. She would hold them in her between her lips while she yelled at us. She had talent. HA! She locked us, literally, outside all day during the summers. Her yard was a pretty fair size, with a chain link fence all around it.

There were other kids there too, about seven in all, and we played outside all day in the South Georgia heat. None of us ever had a heat stroke. We played football, baseball, and kickball. The boys would tackle the girls just as rough as they would the boys, and we never cried, because we didn’t want to be the “crybaby”. We played without pads and helmets, and we never ended up seriously hurt. We learned what it’s like to lose. We learned how to be nice to the losers when we won. We had wonderful tans, and since we never used sunblock, our noses were red most of the summer. We played Red Rover, Mother May I?, Red Light-Green Light, and Simon Says. We learned how to take turns, and be respectful of the “Mother” and, of course, “Simon”. When we were thirsty, she would tell us to drink from the hose, but somehow we managed to never get sick from it. At lunch time she would let us come in long enough to wash our hands and face, then out we went. She would bring us a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and if we were lucky, some Kool Aid. We ate at a big picnic table in the backyard.

We thought she was just as ruthless as can be. The meanest lady in the world! But in hindsight, I think those were some of the best days of my childhood. We didn’t have a care in the world in that backyard. And now, we live in a different world, where kids can’t go outside unattended, for fear they may be snatched.

Hopefully, if I ever have any children, I will live somewhere where they can run around outside and enjoy the same games that we played, and be as worry-free as we were.

Last week I told Mike that I wanted to start a blog. It seems like everyone these days has one, and I thought it might be an easy and fun way to share and document my thoughts and adventures in my life.

Life sure is busy these days. 33 days until our wedding, and there is so many loose ends to tie up! I’m very excited and very stressed at the same time! I’m excited to see family and friends, and to meet those in Mike’s family that I haven’t met yet. I am hopeful that all the planning and hard work I have put into this wedding pays off, and hopeful that it will go as planned. I have been told by many people that if it doesn’t, that noone will know except me, but it still worries me. I’m sure that everything will be fine. It will be fine, right? haha

There we are! Look at us! Do we look as excited as we are? I’ve never been happier. I’ve never been more hopeful. I’ve never felt so blessed! Life is good. Very good. (or as they say in the South, REAL GOOD!)