uggh.

I'm sick and it's ISTEP week. 

Boo to everything.

There is nothing worse than ISTEP.

Except maybe sinus pressure.

The good news is, my gardening and painting is going awesome.

Updates later.

When I don't feel like my eyes are going to explode out of my head due to sinus pressure.

And I miss my husband. 

Lots.

Uggh.

♥

Life lately...

Jamie and I took another impromptu trip to Broadripple!

This time it was my idea.

We ate at "La petite chou" for the first time.

Amazing.

It was literally like being back in Paris. 

I love it, and can't wait to go back. 

I also loved spending the time with my handsome husband.

I needed it.

It's been an adjustment, being married again, as we call it.  

We lived like roomates for almost 6 months, only seeing each other coming and going, and it's taken some time to get re-adjusted to being husband and wife.

I'm so glad we have, though.

On another note, I developed this ridiculous rash on my arms the other day.

Itches. Like. Fire.

Not sure what it is yet.

I'm annoyed that this is coming along right as the eczema on my feet is clearing up.

So irritating.

And, I went out to look at the garden today, and

we have corn!!!

And green beans!!

I'm not going to lie, there was a small part of me that was afraid that we would do all this work, and then nothing would come up, and it would be an epic failure.

Which is why I'm so ecstatic that things are growing!

Off to have dinner with my friend Emily!

I love summer.

♥

Freaked out.

My 5 pound dog jumped out of the window of our moving vehicle today.

I will never forget seeing her hit the ground in the rearview mirror.

I screamed, and jumped out, and Jamie followed.

I got to her and scooped her up, and she was shaken, but we immediately checked her, and by the grace of God she could walk, and had no broken bones.

We got her in the car, and continued to look her over, and soon she and I were both covered with blood.

She has a few little scrapes on her front legs, and one great big giant scrape across her chin, that bled a lot.

We got her home, and as soon as we got in, she ran across the room and jumped up on the couch, reassuring us that there was no broken bones or internal damage.  

We called the vet, and she just said keep the scrape clean and put neosporin on it, and keep an eye on her. 

I was so scared.

My heart was pounding and I was near tears the whole way home.

It is a miracle that we were on a small side street, and not already on 267. 

There were no other cars, and we weren't going really fast.

It is a miracle that her tiny little legs didn't break on the landing.

We are SO thankful.

So for now we are just giving her lots of TLC.

She's moving a little slower, but other than that she seems to be back to her normal self.

Her chin is pretty swollen, and I know it is hurting her, because she lays her head down so it doesn't touch anything.

Now i just have to keep her from licking the Neosporin off. 

Definitely don't ever want to feel that helpless again.

Thank God she is okay.

It's a miracle.

♥

What a week.

My life is insane.

On top of my student teaching this week 

(which we took over all day this week, every lesson is on us. Teaching is exhausting,)

and my work,

my niece got her tonsils taken out on Monday. 

That wouldn't really have affected me all that much, other than visiting her and taking her movies.

But, she spent the few hours after her surgery texting me and begging me to come to my house.

She also wanted to go to my mother-in-law's house.

I talked to my mother-in-law, and she told me that she wanted her to stay at her dad's, but that she was taking her food, and would be spending several hours a day there.

So, that made me feel better, and I drove her out some popsicles and movies that evening. 

When I got up the stairs to the apartment, I walked into:

My mother-in-law trying to coax Nat into swallowing her medicine.

Natalie shoulders heaving, tears rolling, sobbing, from pain.

My father-in-law yelling at my brother-in-law, her father.

Her pain medicine was 2 hours overdue.

So, my mother-in-law and I talked it out, and Natalie spent the last 3 days and nights on my couch, watching movies and sleeping. 

We gave her her medicine every 4 hours for 3 straight days. Including 2AM. And 6AM.

We made sure she ate.

And had everything she needed.

It was utterly exhausting.

She's at my mother-in-law's now, they picked her up today, so things should calm a bit. 

I'm glad to help out, and she needed us and I'm glad we were there, 

but I hate that it had to happen in the first place.

In other news of my life, I have done nothing new or exciting.

Just school and work.

I would love to blab on for hours about how awesome my students are, and how much I love teaching, 

But I could go on for hours about that.
Maybe next time.

My life is so monotonous, now that all i do is work and sleep.

Only 5 more weeks.

 I can do it. 

I hope.

I just want life to be exciting again.

I really miss blogging, too. But when I don't have time to wash dishes, play with my dog, or talk to my husband, I have to prioritize. 

The good news is that I my husband and I get to sleep in in the morning, and it will be the first time in almost a month for me.

And we are so having pancakes.

Wonderful.

I can't wait.

♥

Poor Minnie Mouse...

My poor pets. 

They have now both had illnesses in the last month.

And my poor wallet. 

It's suffering because of it. 

It's been better now that Emma is finally over her tapeworm. But...

Last week, I noticed that Minnie had strange, wet spots at the very tips of her little ears.

They turned out to be round, open sores, about the size of a pencil eraser on one, and the size of a dime on the other. 

They had pus on them, and were crusty. 

I gave them a little time to heal on their own, and when they didn't, I called the vet today at lunch.

They were able to get her in today, at 5:20.

So, I drove like 80 from the East side to make it, but I did.

The vet took one look, and said "No way!"

Needless to say, I was concerned.

She then said "A week ago, this would have totally stumped me. But, this is the second chihuahua this week with the same thing."

She then went on to tell me that it is a reaction to the rabies vaccine she got about a month ago.

It's a rare occurrence called "Rabies vaccine-induced Ischemic Dermatopathy," and causes hair loss, skin darkening, and ulcers on the skin. 

This explains why she has been so lethargic these last couple weeks.

As seen here.

This vaccine has caused her to feel really crummy, and get open, gross, nasty sores on her ears.

My poor girl.

The vet said it would be no problem for her to continue to get her vaccines, because it could be a one time thing, but all the research says I should get her vaccinated as little as legally possible. 

The main reason it affects chihuahuas and other little dogs the most is because the rabies vaccine is given in the same dose to ALL dogs, whether they are a Great Dane or a Chihuahua. Really? I feel like it should be common sense that different sizes call for different doses.

Anyway, we have to give her antibiotics twice a day for 14 days, and put hydrocortisone cream on her sores.

I'm ready for my poor girl to feel better.

♥

The sick monster speaks..

Blogging while watching Ellen. 

It's a good morning. 

But, it's been kind of a crazy week.

This past friday, we took our kids to the vet.

What. A. Nightmare.

Seriously, how could these cute, sweet, adorable little faces...

Become such monsters!

It was so awful, the vet actually suggested that we "pre-medicate" next time.

As in drug them.

Yeah, that bad.

Minnie (yes, my 5 lb. baby) had to be muzzled, and they had to hold Emma down with a towel over her head. Awful.

But, at least they have their shots, and we don't have to do it again, for a year.

Thank goodness.

On a different note, my husband is an awesome handyman.

We have been wanting to put another counter in our kitchen, so I had more counter space. 

Because I have little to none. When I baked, I would use the stools of our breakfast table to mix on.

So, a few nights ago, Jamie put in our new counter! 

It's awesome, because we can use it like a bar as well, so we still have kitchen seating.

Yes, it's missing a stool in these pictures, I was using it as a table in the living room.

Also, he picked out our new washer and dryer, (because i work ALL the time) and he did a fabulous job. And, they came yesterday!

They are amazing and wonderful! 

They are high-efficiency, so good for the environment, and are practically twice as big as our old ones.

They have digital selection screens,

My dryer has a light in it, 

And it has lots of fun features, like spinning the washer once every hour to keep your clothes from mildewing if you can't get them out right away. 

Wonderful. Absolutely awesome.

On an crummy note, I have been sick.

Really really sick, again. I got a cold on Saturday night, and then yesterday, it was hideously awful.

My nose was running, I couldn't breathe, and it had moved into my eyes, so they were constantly running, and my nose was rudolph red, and painful.

And I still had to go in for a 9 hour shift. 

But, I was working so slow, and my boss, lord love him, came to help, and while he had good intentions, he added about 1 & 1/2 hours worth of things to do. 

It became an 11 hour shift. 

I was absolutely miserable. And then I got in trouble this morning by my other boss(ish), we're technically equals, but she has 4 years seniority, for having help come in.

Well great. Thanks for that.

Anyway, I didn't take a picture of myself, because it was hideous, but this is the sign I made for Jamie as I was falling asleep, hopped up on Nyquil.

We often make signs for each other, as we miss each other due to work, school, or sleep.

And yes, ladies and gentlemen. 

This is how I looked yesterday. At work, and at home.

It was so horrible.

But, today is a new day, and I slept for 12 hours, so I am feeling quite a bit better.

Thank goodness.

One last thing, I got my bridesmaid dress for Amanda's wedding!

It was a lot of fun.

She did what I did, picked color, length, and fabric, and then we picked the style. Here is the dress I picked!

I was the only one who picked a non-strapless dress. This is the sample, so it was a size to big, and was clipped in the back. 

Here is the dress in the right color, on the size 2 (barf) DB model.

I'm excited.

School starts next week.

Trying to enjoy my time as much as possible before that. 

Here we go.

♥

The Christmas of 2010

In reference to my last post...I'm trying.

Anyway, this past saturday, Jamie and I hosted the Rutan/Buckley Christmas.

It went really well, 

which I didn't really expect in all honesty. 

Last year I cried after they left.

seriously.

But, this year things went much better.

(and the big glass of wine I had right before everyone got there may have helped. Just saying.)

We had 5 more people this year than last.

It was crazy.

I made the ham, homemade mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, little smokies appetizers, and christmas punch.

It all tasted great, I was really proud of myself. 

 We had 15 people, and this is what we had to do to our great room to fit them all in for dinner.

 Shawn and Tami told everyone to wear red so we could take a family picture. This is how Shawn and Jamie dressed (completely coincidentally). You can tell they are brothers. 

 Richie brought his 14 week old puppy, who was the same size as my fully grown Minnie. 

The puppy also pooped behind our Christmas tree.

Fully potty trained, my butt.

 semi-decent family picture. 

 Shawn and Tami got all of the men matching hat's and scarves, and the women matching scarves and gloves. The pictures turned out pretty cute.

Jamie and i in front of our tree. Love him.

I guess I should finally just blog about this.

My grandpa Blankenship has been in the hospital for almost 2 weeks.

It's just been a lot to process, I haven't felt like writing about it.

Long story short, his blood thinner made his blood too thin, which caused bleeding on his brain, which made him disoriented and confused.

They took him off the blood thinner, and drilled 4 holes in his head to drain the blood.

He was on the mend, and then because he was no longer on the blood thinner, his blood got too thick, and he had a stroke. 

The stroke affected his speech. He recognizes everyone, and can smile, but his brain is not telling his mouth what to say. It could be months before it comes back, it could be never.

This has been a nightmare for my family.

The last major sickness in the family was my dad, and he died 3 minutes later.

I know this is on all of their minds, all the time.

It's on mine. My grandpa is the closest link I have to my dad.

My grandma and uncles have essentially been taking turns living at the hospital. One of them stays all night with him every single night. 

My grandma is exhausted. They have been married 58 years. This is an unbelievable strain on her. 

She is very stressed about Christmas. Christmas and family gatherings are of utmost importance to her, and she is determined to still have Christmas.  So, to help her out, I went over last night, and we held up our annual tradition of making Christmas mice. 

I spent my entire evening over there yesterday, and we worked on them.

Or really, I worked on them while she dozed on the couch, but it was all the same to me, she's exhausted. 

They are my favorite Christmas treat to make, and they taste amazing. 

If you're interested, you just melt almond bark in a double broiler, dip a stemmed cherry in it, then lay it on it's side on wax paper. Stick a chocolate kiss to the front, get sliced almonds for ears, and then use red gel icing for eyes.

She is taking some of the mice to my grandpa today. 

Hope he likes them, they were always his favorite too.

I'm going to go spend the morning with him tomorrow. 

What a way to spend Christmas, huh?

In a hospital bed, unable to speak.

♥

Eventful Weekend

Well Hello there.

Much has happened since my last post. 

I guess I will go chronologically, since that seems like the most logical way to do it. 

So, here we go.

I had mentioned in my last post that we were going to Wal-mart at midnight for my $9 tupperware, and that was the only Black Friday shopping that we were going to do.

Well, I was half right. 

We got to Wal-mart at midnight, and there was literally no place to park. Jamie dropped me off, and I ran though the store, under the caution tape, through the clothes department, and grabbed the tupperware.

Then, I went back the same way (yes, back under the caution tape) and got in line.

I was way excited.

This is me in line at midnight. You can see a glimpse of the madness behind me.

Well, while I was waiting in line, Jamie noticed a Blu-ray player. For only $70. But...not until 5 AM.

I said "Yeah Right." 

He said "No, we can wake back up and come."

I said "Sure babe, I'll come with you."

Now, let me clarify that I only said "sure" because Jamie is the worst person that I have ever met about getting up for things. Sometimes I literally have to drag him out of bed for important things, like work and school. So, in saying yes, I did so with the knowledge that when his alarm went off at 4:30 AM, he would just shut it off and go back to sleep. 

Problem solved.

So I'm sure you can imagine my shock and horror when the lights flipped on at 4:30 AM, and he hopped out of bed, and said "Come on!"

So, unable to go back on my word, I got up, and we drove to Wal-mart and bought a Blu-ray player.

It sucked.

Then we went home, back to bed, and both got up for work at 9 AM. 

Gross.

That Friday evening, though, after a gruesomely long day of work, my mom took me to Keystone mall, and to Teavana, and bought me a new really cute tea tin, 2 oz. of Ayurvedic Chai White Tea (thanks, Misty,) and 2 teacups for my birthday! She's so sweet.

Afterwards, we went to Beni Hana, and we had a glorious, amazing, delicious dinner.

It was nice to spend time with her.

And then Saturday morning, Jamie was sick.

Again.

He stayed in bed all day, nauseous, and had to miss Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family, which is his favorite. 

So, he was bummed about that, and so was I.

But, my mom made me an amazing coconut birthday cake, because it's my favorite!

It was so delicious!

And then on Sunday morning, I let Jamie sleep, because he hadn't been feeling well.

And then when he got up, and was feeling better, we decided to be productive and go Christmas Shopping!

So, we started at Mass Ave, then went to Keystone Mall, then to Michigan Rd, and then back to 3 places in Brownsburg!

We shopped ALL day.

It was exhausting.

But, at the end of the day, it was really exciting, because we got all but 3 presents!

That's amazing for two huge procrastinators.  I was proud of us.

But then we got home, and realized that since we haven't done our christmas decorating yet, there was no where to put the presents. 

Oops.

So, here is where they are for now. 

Poor Jamie has had to significantly reduce his homework space.

We should be fixing this sometime this week, though.

And, we got Minnie a cute new Christmas Sweater, and Emma a Kitty Condo. 

They are both so cute!

But, then the day turned bad.
Really bad.
I started having really bad heartburn. I don't ever have heartburn, but I just assumed that's what it had to be.  I had an intense, burning pain from my stomach, behind my sternum, to about my collarbones. I just decided to try and sleep it off, and hope it was better in the morning.
Then, at 3:30 AM Monday morning, I woke up in serious pain. It hurt so bad behind my sternum that it was hard for me to breathe, especially deep breaths or yawns, and my shoulders hurt, and BOTH my arms were tingly and numb all the way down to my fingers.
I was concerned, but I've never been one to just rush to the hospital for every little thing.
So, I called a 24-hour immediate care hotline, and described my symptoms to a nurse.
And she told me to go to the ER.

So, Jamie drove me to to ER, and we got there about 4 AM Monday.
I was concerned about my heart, but they did an EKG, and ruled that it definitely wasn't that.
Which was a relief.
They also did a Chest X-ray, took blood twice (and missed once,) and did an ultrasound of my internal organs.

It was a rough 5 hours.
Finally, around 9:30 AM, the nurse comes in and tells me that it was a severe acid reflux episode, and that they are prescribing me Prilosec.
But, they still couldn't tell me why my arms went numb.
Which is weird.
But, I guess I should just be thankful that nothing major was wrong, and they've given me a clean bill of health, other than acid reflux.
It just sucks that we had to spend 5 hours in the ER to do that.

I will say that I am so very overwhelmed by my husbands love for me.
He spent 5 hours laying across 2 wooden chairs in a 4 foot wide space to be with me.
Even though it totally de-railed his Monday.
I am so appreciative of that.

So, finally after all of that, this week has gotten back to normal.
and by normal, I mean crazy busy.
I have two major homework assignments due within a week of each other.
And by major, I mean can decide by themselves whether I pass or fail this semester.
So, I am going to focus in on that for a while.
Just saying.
I will be glad when school is over, and I don't have to be a lonely, homework driven, hermit.
Seriously.
♥

Smile with your eyes....

Still sick.

In fact, I am sicker than yesterday.

It sucks so bad.

I woke up this morning for work, and had absolutely no voice above a whisper, raging headache, throat and lungs on fire, and you don't wanna know what was coming out of my coughs and nose.

I had to call into work, which really sucks, because it was a big training day for me.

I felt really bad.

But, I have slept a lot today, drank buckets of tea, hacked up a lung, and am starting to feel a little better. 

(the lung thing was a joke...sort of.)

So,  I thought I would share some of the joys in my life for the last few week or so.

My husband loves halloween, and this year he decided to dress up for the trick-or-treaters.

This was the end result.

hahahahaha, I love that man.

He makes quite the lumberjack.

As I mentioned yesterday, our washer bit the dust.

Considering that it is 20 years old and was a garage sale purchase, 

I am not surprised.

This is what I came home to.

The washer was in the garage, and there was a wet towel and hammer in its place.

Jamie is making his first trip to the laundromat tomorrow morning. 

It's going to be interesting.

I also got some of the pictures back from Holly's yesterday.

We had a lot of fun doing it, we kept making "Tyra" and "Smeyes" references.

We are such dorks.

But here are some of my favorites.

It was fun, and we are already talking about doing it again.

Last but not least, Minnie Mouse has been very sweet while I've been sick.

And by sweet I mean smothering and needy.

This is where she has insisted on staying. All. Day.

But, I don't mind (too much.)

She's a sweetheart.

Well, off to do the 62,794,153 things I have to do for school.

♥

Oh life, why are you so difficult sometimes?

Much has happened since my last post. 

I'm super tired, so here are the highlights.

Worked a lot.

Had Tim and Misty over on Sunday and had lots of fun.

Looking forward to doing it again soon.

They are very pleasant, and it was so nice to have good company.

And then I got sick.

Really, really sick.

I just went to CVS and got an antibiotic filled, kleenex, cough drops, and vaseline for my poor nose.

Ugggggh. 

I have absolutely no voice.

None at all. 

And of course, I was leading a lesson with my small group for school today.

I pulled it off without any real problems, but  It wasn't pleasant.

Even so, I still went and helped Holly with her photography, and modeled for her.

We basically played ANTM for an hour.

It was awesome.

Can't wait to see the pics.

Oh, and our washer finally bit the dust.

Not really surprised about that one. 

Going to bed now, trying to sleep off this cold. Have to be at work for a movie move at 8 AM.

Dang it.

♥

I've been sick, not pregnant, okay?

Just now starting to feel better.

I think I caught a bug from a friend at church.

Same symptoms, same forever-long duration.
At least now I know that the speculation and jokes of my classmates and co-workers about the "P" word will stop. It's gotten old.

Had Red Mango Tuesday, because my boss and I were scoping out a potential FamVid spot in Broadripple.

It was glorious.

Class on Thursday was pretty cool.  

I get to teach a science lesson to a group of 10, 

and meet with my "focus child" every Thursday.

I really enjoy it.

It feels like I am finally almost a teacher.
That evening I watched a re-run of one of my all-time favorite "The Office" episodes:
The one where Andy finds out about Dwight and Angela's affair.
Epic.

I actually had Friday off! 

It was awesome for me, but Jamie still had to work.

Lame. 

So, I set out to clean. and clean. and then clean some more.

I started on the kitchen and the great room, and I cleaned like a maniac.
I even moved all the furniture out, set the couches on end, and hand-mopped the hardwood.

It was crazy.
But, after I did all that, I had zero energy for the rest of the house, so the bedrooms and baths are still pretty rough.
I will get there though.
Really.

Saturday I worked, and then we went out with some of Jamie's friends from work.
We went to the Vogue in Broadripple, which was the first time I had been there.
It was awesome.
I didn't drink, because my stomach hurt, but I had a phenomenal time dancing my booty off.
Not really, it's still there, but  I can dream, right?
Emily and Karen
(These lovely ladies)

met me there, and we had a blast.
The are so great.

The furry children have been very lovable lately.
Minnie is not a fan of winter. So, she has been taking every opportunity to cuddle with us or under something.

She is so stinking cute.

Emma tried to help me do my homework.
And by help me, I mean eat my computer cord.

It was so cute though, I couldn't help but laugh.

Sunday morning was very bittersweet for me.
First off, Rachel was SO sweet and brought me a box of the tea she knew I liked.

I was so surprised and flattered, and felt very blessed to have such people in my life.

But at the same time, someone who has been with our church for a very long time that I have always respected and loved since I was 15 has made some decisions that I don't understand that ultimately have led to his decision to leave the church.
It makes me so sad, disappointed, and just unsure about what to think. We actually sat down and talked about next steps this Sunday, and it really got to me.
I am still pondering if I want to send him a message, and what to say in that message.
It's just hard.

It was also nice because Tim, one of our pastors, was back from Chicago.
I hadn't realized how different it would be without him until last week when he was moving.
I'm glad he is staying.
But, the lovely, wonderful, awesome Misty that I missed a lot was not there.
=)
But really, I missed her oodles and oodles, and can't wait to sing with her in a couple of weeks.
She is a really great friend to me, and I hope I am half as much of a friend to her.
I really want to maintain that friendship even though she lives in Chicago.

Jamie and I are on fall break, and he took the day off tomorrow, and we are spending the
WHOLE
day together!
We are going to Chateau Thomas Winery to spend the gift card we got as a wedding present, and Jamie says he had a surprise for me.
Really ready and excited for tomorrow.
I love him so much.
♥