Health

I think it's safe to say that you really don't appreciate your good health until you're in bad health.  Robert and I have had our share of bad health this year.  As you all know, he had back surgery in the fall.  This came after more than a year of trying so many other options: Physical therapy, chiropractor, pain management doctor, epidurals, pain medicine, an MRI, a trip to the ER, and countless home remedies (ice, heat, massage).  He found out in May that he had two herniated discs.  There's obviously no great time to have herniated discs, but May was pretty much the worst timing possible.  We were both graduating, getting married, and moving in May.  There was no time for a back surgery that would require six weeks of taking it easy.  We went the route of just treating the pain for then and got him three rounds of epidurals.  I bet there aren't many men out there who can say that they've had 3 epidurals!  I hope I never have to have an epidural during childbirth, but if I do Robert will legitimately be able to say, "I know how it feels."

When we moved to North Carolina we found a neurosurgeon for him.  He had the surgery in September, and everything was great.  It wasn't until about a month ago that he started experience great pain again.  It was similar to the pain he had experienced previously except worse.  It was so scary thinking about him possibly having another herniated disc or something like that.  As you know, he ended up going to urgent care and the emergency room while I was in Pennsylvania.  He followed it up with a visit to a primary care physician.  He had an x-ray and urine test.  Nothing abnormal popped up in the x-ray, and the urine test confirmed that it wasn't kidney stones.

Robert had an MRI yesterday.  We're supposed to find out something within a few days.  I'm not sure which would be better/worse: Finding a problem (which means we can work toward fixing the pain) or not finding anything (and wondering why he's in pain).  I'll be sure to keep the blogosphere in the loop. :)

I've also been having a headache for several days straight.  It started with a strange pain in my head three weeks ago.  I really wouldn't describe it as a headache.  It feels different.  It hasn't gone away, it just changes locations: right ear, behind left eye, left ear, top of head, behind right eye, back of head.  Then seven days ago I got a real headache along with it.  I've dealt with headaches and migraines for years, but they pretty much go away in a day after I take medicine and sleep.  That hasn't been the case with this.  I wake up and am instantly in pain.  Has anybody else ever experienced this before?  It's so frustrating.  I ended up throwing up last night.  I'm not 100% sure that it was the headache or if it was something I ate.  I'm sure that the headache didn't help though.

I'm going to the doctor on Monday.  I'm hoping it will be a positive experience where she doesn't freak out and get me super scared that it's something incredibly serious, but I also hope that she doesn't say to just wait another month and see if it goes away.  Am I the only person who experiences pain and automatically thinks of the worst case scenario?

All that to say, it's definitely made Robert and me more thankfully for the days when we do feel well.  I urge you to be thankful for those days.  God has created such interesting bodies for us.  We can feel pain, but our bodies can also heal and feel better again.  Isn't He cool?

Midwest Tour

Excited to head to Missouri

Robert and I had been waiting with great expectation as a trip to Missouri drew closer.  This trip had been planned for months, and it did not disappoint!  I took the whole day off on Wednesday even though our flight wasn't until 4:30.  Since Robert was off school we were able to spend the day running errands.  Let me tell you, you just need a day like this every one in awhile.  Robert went to the doctor with me.  Then we went to Bed Bath and Beyond to buy wedding presents for a few friends.  My former suitemate Laura is getting married in Arkansas in June and Robert's cousin Ethan is getting married in Alabama in June as well.  We also ordered a replacement salad plate.  Ours unfortunately fell on the floor and shattered, but thankfully Noritake is awesome and replaces broken items for free.  We hit up Men's Wearhouse next.  Am I the last person to realize it's Wearhouse NOT Warehouse?  Hmm...Anyway, Robert got fitted for his tuxedo for Ethan's wedding.  Then Robert came with me to the chiropractor.  The chiropractor suspects that I might be allergic to wheat.  I am going to try a 30 day wheat-free routine and see how I feel.  Presently, my body is having great difficulty absorbing the nutrients I am taking in.  I'm also having a lot of headaches and an upset stomach.  This coupled with the fact that I have two aunts with who have the same problem has led the doctor to believe that it might be affecting me as well.  While in Missouri and Kansas I attempted to avoid wheat - didn't take a dinner roll at Easter, ordered a salad instead of pizza, etc.  But since it was new to me I didn't want to infringe upon the delightful menus that had been prepared for us.  One positive of our refrigerator and pantry being completely barren is the fact that when I go grocery shopping tonight I can stock up on wheat-free options.

We arrived in Kansas City at 8pm.  My parents were there to pick us up, and we got to Bolivar around 10:30.  We pretty much went straight to bed after giving Robert a tour of all the awesome stuff my parents have done to the house since he was last there in May.

On Thursday morning we woke up early so Robert could get two fillings.  What a way to spend your vacation, huh?  We need he needed a feeling and that it would be cheaper in Bolivar.  Little did we know that he actually needed TWO fillings.  Mom took a personal day from work.  It was so nice to go around town with her!  She went with me to get my hair trimmed.  Lori gave me my first haircut, and she has been my beautician ever since.  I've gotten my hair cut twice in North Carolina, but it just isn't the same.  After that, we met up with Robert at Roweton's Home Center.  We picked out a few wedding presents for friends which is always fun.  We split for lunch.  Dad, Jim, Robert, and two of Dad's coworkers ate lunch together at Jasmine.  This was one of Robert's favorite things to do in college - lunch with the boys.  He said it was delicious and so good to catch up with them.  While they ate together, Mom, Memaw, Pepaw, Aunt Dana, and I went to The Hangar Cafe at the local paper.  It was so tasty!  I got ham and cheese with fries.  It was tasty, they make their own bread, the food was ready quickly, the servers were friendly, and it is decorated perfectly to look appropriate for an airport with a bunch of mean but still put together and cute.

We met back up after lunch and went over to Carey's house.  This is a MUST when in town.  We got to hang with her awesome sons as well.  It's really crazy to see how big they are now.  When I first started meeting with Carey weekly Miles couldn't even walk and Cooper was being potty trained.  Now Cooper is almost finished with kindergarten and Miles will be starting in August.  Nate and Carey are such awesome parents, and I truly do admire them and look up to them.

For dinner, we all ate at Mom and Dad's house - Jim, Mom, Dad, Robert, Memaw and Pepaw, Aunt Pam and Uncle Nelson, Aunt Dana and cousin Kelsey, and me.  It was awesome!  Pam and Nelson are moving to Colorado in about a month, and they were able to make one last trip before the move.  Dana came up from Texas and Kelsey drove in from Springfield as well.  We were able to celebrate Kelsey's 23rd birthday one day late.

Pappy's did a great job!  I really like the idea of decorating the platter as well.

After dinner we headed over to Jim's new house to watch some basketball.  His house is awesome!

Beautiful hardwood floors and a large dining area

So many cabinets and awesome counter space

His new fridge has a light in the freezer.  I'd never seen that before for a fridge that isn't a French door fridge.  It's definitely a feature I'll look for when we buy a fridge one day.

His new furniture is super comfy and very pretty

Guest bathroom has so much storage!

Game central in the third bedroom

He has a great covered deck and huge back yard

Aunt Dana painted his dining table, Pepaw made two leaves for it, and Robert and I donated a chair to the cause.  Now it's less of a breakfast table and more of a dining table.  I had purchased a chair at a garage sale for $2, but decided not to take it with us to NC in May.  It had just been in storage at Mom and Dad's so we donated it to the cause.  It's the one with its back to us.  And the plant in the corner is real and was only $10 at Wal-Mart.

Dying Easter eggs at Jim's house

On Friday we to El Rodeo and The Bean 3:16 with Elise and Harrison.  El Rodeo is our all time favorite restaurant.  We hadn't been to the Bean yet since it opened after we moved.  Neither one disappointed.  Delicious!  After that, Memaw and I went to Happy Hour at Sonic so we could have some one on one time. :)  Robert and I went over to our pastor's house.  Billy and Regina are so great to talk to.  They are some of the best listeners I know.  They always remind me that you don't have to say anything to listen.  You just need to be fully there.  We had dinner at Memaw and Pepaw's house, and of course it was amazing!  We also managed to squeeze in a walk in the park at some point.  We got to go to Elise's mom's new house.  It looks great!  We met up with Kelsey, Tiffani, and Leigha there as well.  It was great to see 4 of my 5 bridesmaids at the same time.  They are the best!

Time to head to KC

It's always nice to get a text from friends showing that they just can't have fun without me :)

Yum!!!

Miles rocking his sports outfit

We headed to Kansas City Saturday after breakfast.  We got to see many family members and friends.  We also got to see Robert's mom's new house and his sister's new house - both are very nice!  Again, we ate so much good food.  We got to meet up with a few friends at the Plaza, and we also got to hang out with Josh.

Josh's adorable puppy Mya

Jim got me good!

We made it back to Raleigh just fine.  Ben picked us up and brought us home - so glad he was able to do that.  We got home at about 10:30.  Robert had a bit of homework to do when we got back.  He took a take home Greek test and got 100%!!!  He is so awesome!  Now it's back to school and work, but my mind is full of wonderful memories.

Two Weekends Apart

As mentioned before, Robert was gone last weekend helping with Faith's DNow.  Well, I was the one to be away from Robert this weekend.  Actually, it was four whole days this time.  Have two weekends in a row apart from each other was definitely less than ideal.

I left bright (actually, it was dark) and early on Thursday morning.  We woke up at 3:30, hit the road at 4:00, said goodbye at the airport at 5:00, and I flew to Detroit at 6:00.  I arrived around 8:00 and had about a 2.5 hour layover.  Then I had about a 1.5 hour flight to Scranton where my parents came and picked me up.  They had a delicious "picnic" packed for me to eat in the car.  It was great to see them even though it was under unpleasant circumstances.

We drove straight to the funeral home.  Seeing everybody was good but hard.  Obviously we all wish we were getting together for a different reason, but it was still nice to see everybody.  The two visitations were well attended.  I'd say in total there were about 450 people in attendance.  I didn't know many of the people, but it was good to see the people from Grandma and Grandpa's church that I knew, and it was also nice to meet some of Doug's friends.  The funeral was on Friday.  I had the honor of seeing You Wouldn't Cry by Mandisa.  I had many people tell me that the song meant a lot to me and they felt like they could hear Doug saying those words.  Thank you, God, for giving me the gift of song.

Jim early Saturday morning since he at a 6:00am flight.  That afternoon Mom, Dad, and I were able to watch my cousin Ryan play floor hockey.  I had never been to a floor hockey game, but it was really fun!  It was fast moving, and the kids really got into it.

Mom and Dad left early yesterday morning since they had a 6:00am flight.  I left a bit later since my flight wasn't til 12:30.  There was a one hour delay once I got to Michigan.  Ordinarily this wouldn't have seemed too bad, but since my layover was already scheduled to last 3.25 hours that extra hour made it super long.  I made it through with my phone, a magazine, and a smoothie.  What are the odds of this: On the way to Scranton from Detroit I was seated next to a lady who was hiding a dachshund under her coat.  It was weird, but the dog was calm and she stayed to herself so it was find.  When I boarded the plane to head to Detroit from Scranton I found my seat and realized I was sitting next to the exact same lady with the exact same dog again.  How does that even happen?  This time her dog was super hyper and had the world's most disgusting gas.  I seriously wondered if it had pooped on her lap.  So I ask you, are people allowed to sneak on dogs in their carry-on suitcases?  What if I had been allergic?  What would you have done?  Sucked it up?  Told the flight attendant?

My flight got in an hour late since it had been delayed.  Robert came and picked me up and we were home by 9pm.  Needless to say, it was a rather long day.  Robert had tidied up before my arrival. :)  He had some excitement of his own while I was gone: A trip to urgent care and a trip to the ER.  It was so frustrating to be separated by 8 hours and a few hundred miles during that time.  Thankfully we have great neighbors who took care of him.  Jered took him to and from the ER.  Ben and Allie had him over to eat and checked on him a couple of times as well.  He went to the ER and urgent care because he was having a ton of pain in his left hip and back.  He went to the ER when his leg went numb.  They gave him some pain medicine, muscle relaxer, and steroid.  They didn't say exactly what is wrong, but he has a doctor's appointment in an hour.  Prayers that the doctor will have great insight and will be able to diagnose the issue and come up with a practical solution.