Things I love on Etsy

Wedding fever is hitting me hard and I have spent a good portion of the day looking at things on Etsy that I either want to incorporate in the wedding or have in my home after! So.. just for fun:




These custom maps are gorgeous.. I am dying to get some price estimates to see if I can't get someone to draw me one of little ole' Rome!






Also.. I am madly in love with this necklace, for some reason. I always knew I never wanted anything extravagant really, but I've been going back and forth between this and another one (the other being many layers and a bit fancier) .. I won't put a picture of the other as it may have something to do with a surprise soon!






Ahhh cutest cake topper ever! However, it's a bit pricey.. I'm looking at some others that I love, too.. (that are a little more economical) but this is definitely my favorite. Robert and I are willing to accept any and all donations to the cute-bird-cake-topper-fund.



These bridesmaids' dresses are one of my faves that I've seen.. I don't really know if they really will make the cut, but they are adorable.


(Okay, I'm going to just post links because it's becoming far too difficult to post pictures on here)

http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_430xN.82171515.jpg


So, in this wedding planning part of my life, I have come to discover how much I love ring pillows. They are just beautiful! This one is one of the most fascinating I've seen.. but there are a few more as well, so be on the look out.

http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_430xN.82167435.jpg

Don't think I haven't already private messaged this seller about these invitations.

...



Okay, so, work is over.. and I'm going home!

Tomorrow I will be three weeks post-op and I can't tell you what a roller coaster it has been. I've felt more emotions in the last three weeks that I've felt in a long time...

Surgery went well; oddly enough, I really enjoyed being hooked up, taken care of and getting to sleep pretty much for two and a half days straight. No responsibilities, no worries, nothing. Of course, this week I had to come back to the real world.

I haven't been following my "diet" all that well and I am slowly beginning to realize why. But I can't do that anymore, I've got to do it right. I have made myself sick more times than I can count, and I'm going to have to succumb to this lifestyle that I've chosen for myself and obey my body.

Summer school is getting the best of me.. it's hard, and my mind is not in it. But I have to make an A... which I find, is going to be difficult if I don't do my homework.

I think this week I'm going to start exercising. I miss my yoga and pilates, and I think I can get back into that. I can't let the insurance company's $75,000 go to waste, right? Plus... that wedding's just around the corner! ;)

Just three more days...

So, my thoughts are flying to and fro (is that the correct phrase?) and I am so nervous and excited!

Yesterday was my pre-op registration. I went in with Amy and we did all of the traditional questions that I normally ask all of MY patients.. .'Are you allergic to anything? What medications are you on? Who is your PCP?' so on and so forth. It was pretty cool to be on the other side this time, but still a little nerve-wrecking. I had to sign away my life basically, and then Amy gave me my spirometer thing to take home and I have to practice breathing slowly on Saturday and Sunday every 4 hours to try my hardest to avoid getting pnuemonia. She went step by step, like Jason did, about what all will happen the two and a half days that I am here and answered all of my questions.

Then I had to come back to the main hospital to give urine, blood and have an EKG. It took a whole lot longer than expected, but it's done and overwith and now I have only three days left..!

I am, however, very worried... and I will be praying very hard for the next few days and hope you all will, too!

Officially day THREE

Oh boy, guys...

This bariatric advantage stuff tastes awful. I can't drink it. Yesterday I had one, a large glass of unsweet tea, a water bottle with peach tea crystal light, and a "sensible meal" which consisted of a half cup of yellow rice, 3 oz of grilled chicken and 1 cup of boiled cabbage and onions (much tastier than it sounds! haha) and more water throughout the day... I just couldn't stand the protein stuff!

I did, however, speak with one of the dietitians here at the hospital who had the surgery and she said I could most likely mix it with skim milk and it would probably taste a lot better and still be within regulation. She had the surgery four years ago and looks FANTASTIC! She is the cutest thing ever. She has this way cute pixie haircut that one day I aspire to have when my weight will allow me to have such a short haircut.

Robert and I are making our way to Kentucky this evening. We are leaving about 7pm and will probably get there very late, but that way we don't have to drive butt crack early in the morning tomorrow and can wake up with everyone else. I am extremely nervous about meeting his dad, don't be fooled. Robert always seems to set up these parental meetings in the form of a long weekend trip so I am totally immersed... is it so I'll love 'em, or so I can't run away!?! Haha.. no, but for real, I loved Joe & Anne .. and from the description, Bob's house will be very quaint and relaxing.

I might take some of the carnation instant breakfasts to KY instead of my protein junk, because that way, they can go in the fridge and be good to go.. and hopefully, it will be tastier.

Bariatric Advantage

So, I have taken my first giant leap towards bariatric surgery!

Yesterday was my pre-op visit at Dr. Scott's office. I sat with Ginger, the bariatric coordinator for a while and we discussed me pre-operative eating regimen and post-operative as well. She also said that Amy, the coordinator for Floyd, would be giving me a call to schedule my pre-admission appointment. (So exciting!) I had very few questions, so I went on to the little room and waited for the PA, Jason, so come in. I had a ton of papers to go through and initial that had all of the possible risks and possible additional things that could happen with surgery and so on and so forth. Very scary. But he was SO nice and Lauren is certain that despite the fact that he's married, he will be the father of her children, haha!

Anyhow, he went through the whole procedure, step by step, exactly what I would be doing on Monday, through the whole day, Tuesday, and Wednesday. It was extremely professional and helpful. I am extremely excited and nervous... he said I would have two IVs and a catheter cause they want me to walk as much as possible. Ahhh!!!!! I've never had surgery before, so, basically, I'm terrified. BUT SO EXCITED! I want it to be here now!

I have started these protein shake meal replacements.. they are not appetizing in the least, but, you do what you gotta do, right?

So, that's the update for now. I've got to start getting some exercise in, as well, as soon as possible.

The story really begins

Some of you may or may not know (that is, if anyone out there reads this) that I'm soon going to begin a couple of different adventures. First of all, I'm going to be having surgery on July the 6th, Lord willing, and I will be marrying the love of my life. These are two BIG changes to the way my life will work, but both for the better, and both towards the best life I can possibly imagine.

So, as a warning -- this blog will become a haven of post-bypass rantings and wedding plans.

=)

Currently, the wedding does not have a set date.. due to a lot of circumstances. First, I'm not entirely sure how this wedding will be funded. Robert and I are not expecting much help, if any, from family members, so we are toiling on in our little savings fund for the future. We'd really like to have as much saved up as possible for our little apartment-to-be and a possible honeymoon, but we also don't want to run down to the courthouse and jump the broomstick... if that makes any sense. So, keep your fingers crossed and say an extra little prayer for us as we begin this journey. We'd really like to tie the knot sometime towards the end of September 2010.

Trailing that thought, however, I was very much blessed the other day by a little place called Belle Terra that Lauren and I stumbled upon while on the internet being wedding silly. I'll be sure to post the pictures that I took because it is magnificent and not entirely expensive... it's my own little Eden that I honestly believe God sent me.

Long day

I've been sitting my lazy bum here at work all day.. I've seen two patients, which is enough for me to make some okay money while not exhausting. I've also got a bit of a sinus headache that's kind of nagging.. but aside from all that, I'm feeling pretty good. Especially since I'm off tomorrow, wee!

I was walking down the hall earlier and I was admiring (once again) my ring and I thought to myself, hmm, how weird that this, along with my wedding band, will be a piece of jewelry that I will wear forever! It seems more of a strange thought than being with one person forever, although they are technically the same thing.. I don't know if any of that made sense.. my brain is a little foggy due to the sinuses, so my grammar and eloquence may not be shining at its full potential this afternoon.

Anyhow.. I'm looking for a haircut, because I need to do something with this hair for summer, otherwise it's going to sprout legs and arms and suffocate me.

Forgetful Lucy

So I know it's been a while. Since I last updated I've had about a million finals, then vacation, and then TONS AND TONS of extra hours at work.. which, is great, more money, but sooo exhausting and very little sleep!

However,
We went out west for a family vacation. It was fantastic! We flew into Denver on Tuesday morning.. wayyy early morning, haha, but I slept pretty much the whole flight. We had a slight delay in plans because we technically missed the cut off for the flight, so we sent Momda and Zad ahead without the luggage, and we took it ourselves. It made for a good laugh =P

We drove down to Raton, NM, where Zad had some ancestors once and did some looking around at the visitor's center and the tiny local library. It was such a quaint little town, about the size of Summerville or Calhoun, and we had the BEST mexican food I've ever tasted.. It was deee-lishhh.

That night we drove down to Albuquerque and stayed in a gorgeous hotel and the next day did some shopping in "Old Town".. which was cute! And had, again, some fantastic Southwestern food. Basically, the trip consisting of a lot of awesome sight-seeing, shopping, and amazingly delicious food. Everyone's faves! There are tons of pictures on my facebook.

To make a long story short, we stayed in Flagstaff, AZ one night, drove to the Grand Canyon the next, stayed in Durango, CO and then stayed a few days in Denver, which was fantastic. Very busy place, but very fun.

If you haven't seen the Grand Canyon, I definitely recommend it! It is everything people say it is and more.. not just a big hole in the Earth!

Anyhoo.. and in case you haven't heard the news yet, my little bean proposed!

The story is on facebook and I'm feeling a little flighty (mentally) this morning, so I won't write the whole thing. But it was a wonderful surprise! I cried and said yes, of course, and as of now we have not picked a date. We are wanting to get together a budget and a location before we decide when exactly. We want everyone to enjoy it as much as we do!

One more bit of good news... my surgery was approved and I have a date scheduled! I will be having surgery on July 6th and I am extremely excited! I am a little nervous about the money.. but I'm going to put that in God's hands and see what He says/does. My pre-op visit is on yhe 23rd of this month and that is when I will commence my liquid diet. Please pray that everything goes well, and that I will find a way to take care of the bills.

I'm at work today until MIDNIGHT.. technically in the office until five and then on-call until midnight. We are very short right now as Alex is moving to Athens for grad school and only works LPN and Martha is on vacaaayy this week.

So, I've had quite a fun and event filled month and a half. I hope to try to update this more often, especially since I'd like to keep up with my surgery information so I can share it with whoever desires to be part of this journey!

*Yawn*

Actually, that's false. I can't even yawn, because if I give way to any notion of how tired I am, I will fall fast asleep.

I was up until 2AM working on my ethics paper... and then I couldn't work on it anymore and so I chose to sleep and wake up early this morning at 7:30 to finish it.. which, even then, I was far too exhausted to think philosophically about ethics, so my paper ended up being a few pages short. It's my own fault, I can't deny, and every time I think to myself, "I don't know why I wait until the last minute" ... however, I still do it. I'll never know. At least I've progressed... I no longer wait until the night before to do everything, I at least begin a few days in advance. Maybe in the next ten years I will progress towards eliminating all procrastination from my life.

Susan Boyle, anyone? Have I mentioned her, already? Cause I freaking love that youtube video.

Yesterday, we had a special Life Group over at the Jacobs'. Their neighborhood has a sort of club house area with a small pool, a basketball court, tennis court and others. I brought my rackets and Matt Vick and I played tennis for a few minutes before we all went in to eat dinner (which happened to be a very steady college meal of pizza and brownies... I failed in resisting temptation and ate both, washing it all down with some cold sweet tea, yum!) and then the storm of the century came down and we took that as a sign from the Lord that meant, "Get home now and work on your ethics paper."

Alas, we are amidst Hamlet in World Lit and Mr. Thomason is letting us listen to the play on CD, which is brilliant, I know I've raved about it before, but it really is.

In other news: obviously, it being 4/20, everyone is either making dumb pot-smoking jokes or revering about the Columbine incident. Reading an article on yahoo news I was baffled to realize that it was ten years ago. It also amazes me that at eleven years of age I was mentally apt enough to feel the way I felt watching the news that day. I won't go into the "... I remember that day like it was yesterday..." spill.

Will write more later!

What a day!

I went to all of my classes, 10, 11 and 2, then I had a doctor's appointment at 3:30 and worked from 5 to midnight.. phew!

I am glad tomorrow is Saturday. I do have to work from 4 to 12, but I get the morning to myself, and hopefully I can devote some of that time to cleaning my room. It needs it! I will charge my camera battery and maybe take a before and after photo.

Whenever I become tired in the late hours of the night, I become a little rude. It's like the little guy that's in my brain holding my censor up is nodding off and I can't be nice. I know that's awful, but I also know that when you're tired, you're tired. And regardless of how tired or not tired I am, some people are just dumb.

My first two classes were very fun/funny in two different ways. First, Dr. Fil today had to hand out our course evaluation sheets. He opened the notes onto the projector and said, "Okay, this is such and such, look really quickly, did you look? Okay." and proceeded to click out of it. He assigned Danny to hand out the evaluations and left us. Not all that surprising, but a little bit at the same time. Then, in Mr. Thomason's class we've been listening to an audio recording of some actors doing Hamlet, which, has surprisingly affected me in such a weird way. I've always enjoyed Shakespeare, especially his more comical work, but for some reason, listening to these actors, it just makes me realize how much of a genius this man was. No one could ever have or will ever write such witicisms.

Anyhoo.. it's definitely time for me to get to bed. Goodnight!

It's a little after eleven, and I'm going to be regretting staying up this late when I have to force myself awake in the morning. I do love this time of the night, though, because it's very peaceful. Not a lot of cars are driving, I don't have any obligations, and to me, as much as I love the warmth and color of the sunshine, it is rather rude on the sentiments.

My room is a big mess. It has been for months, and I just can't find the time or energy to clean it. Last weekend I made a little bit of progress, but that progress has been regressing as the week has gone on. I'm hoping that Saturday morning I can but a little spring in my step and get to it! Otherwise, I'm never going to be able to paint my room.

Momda booked our flights to Denver tonight. Wee! It's weird how psychologically our minds work. I am very excited about the trip, but I am sad that the flight money is leaving my bank account. That's normal, I assume, but no one really ever admits it to themselves or their audience. I would like to lose some pre-op weight before the trip, of course.

Tomorrow I go to see Dr. Childs. He's my PCP and I believe he will be very excited to hear about my progress towards surgery! It's strange, he's very much the only doctor I've ever been to that I feel that I can sit and talk to for hours. Which, sometimes we do! He's a very compassionate doctor and (as a rarity) enjoys spending time getting to know his patients.

On to a bit of pop culture ... I watched/listened to the video of the perfunctorily famous Susan Boyle (is that her name?) today.. and needless to say, I was stunned. I had to hold back the tears as to not look like a fool in front of my family, but, I was wow'd. And I can't quite decide whether it was simply her talent that roused me, or the combination of said talent with her unconventionality that had such an affect on me. Either way, she was brilliant and I will be one of many, I'm sure, to buy ANY album she comes out with. Okay, well, only if it's beautiful remakes of Broadway hits, but, I'll give her iTunes a dollar or two otherwise .

Anyway.. there is something dancing in the back of my mind that I need to do before I go to bed, but I can't quite pick it out, so I'm going to get ready for bed and hopefully it will come to me.

Goodnight!

New blog!

I go from blog to blog like I change my underwear. But, I feel like this is the best one yet. I will write more later!