7 Days

We are officially in the single digits!  Yikes.  Things are getting real.  In one week I'll be super drugged up and even more crippled than I am now, just hopefully with less nerve pain.
People are funny,  when they find out I'm getting surgery, they all have the same reaction.

*concerned look on their face*

other person:  Are you really nervous?
Me:  No,  I'm quite excited.  I'm definitely ready to get rid of this pain.
other person:  How long is your recovery?
Me:  I'll be down flat for about 2 weeks, then tender for another 4-6 weeks.
other person (still with a look of concern):  Oh wow.  Well, be sure to take the time you need to recover.  You don't want to jump back into things too quickly.
Me: (in my head) duh. (I know, that's mean.)
Me: (out loud)  Don't worry,  I'll be careful.  I definitely don't want to end up back here with another back injury.
other person:  Well good.  I hope things will go well for you.
Me:  Thanks.  I think the surgery will go well, I feel good about it.

And the conversation fizzles out there.

Really though,  I can't even count how many times I've had that conversation.  It's sweet though, it means a lot to me that so many people are concerned.  And from their point of view, I can see how the idea of being tender in the lower back region for about 2 months sounds awful.  but to me, it doesn't.

One of my friends the other day was talking about how at the end of a 9 month pregnancy, you don't care if you have to throw the kid up, you just want it out of you.  That's how I feel about this pain.  I don't care if I have to be ginger for 2 months, I just want it out of me.

And hopefully this surgery will grant me that joy.

Besides being excited about the fact that my nerve pain will be gone, here's a list of other things I'm super excited about.

While I recover:
I get a free pass at being lazy all day, every day.
I get to watch a butt load of Netflix, free of judgement.
People will bring me food.
People will wait on me (I know I shouldn't say that out loud [or type it] but it will be fun, I kind of want to get a bell to ring when I need something ;).)
I get to sit in bed and read as much as I want.
I won't be tempted with junk food in the house, I just get to eat whatever Steve brings me (I'm going to request it be mostly healthy).
I get the good drugs.
I get to stay home with Steve for a week until he goes back to work.
I get to take a few weeks off work.
I get to work from home during my "tender, but not excruciating" stage.


After I'm recovered:
Working out. Hard. (Don't worry, I won't be stupid and do exercises that put stress on my back.)
Sleeeeep!!!!  Finally I'll be able to get comfortable and not wake up several times a night to re-position myself.
Walking won't cause pain.
I won't have to take pain pills on a daily basis.
I can set goals, like running a half marathon.
My legs won't be numb/burning/tingling.
I'll be able to sit in a chair and not want to cry.
Babies!

Suffice it to say, I'm pretty psyched for this operation.

Back Update

Life is still, you guessed it, busy.  Which isn't a bad thing.  However, I feel like Fall has just flown by.  So here's a little update.
School - it's been going well. Quite well. And the semester is pretty much over, with the exception of finals.  Which makes me soooo happy.  I am getting so excited to get some free time back.  I won't be going to school next semester, and here's why - my back - It is going to be cut open in January. And I'm quite excited about it.  I've had herniated disks for almost 2 years now.  I've tried everything.  Some things have helped... some things have hurt... but nothing has gotten me to the point of feeling great.  I'm ready to go in and fix things surgically now.  I'm hoping through surgery, my nerve pain (which is now in both legs, not just my left leg) will go away.  I feel really good about it.  I have high hopes that I will be a lot less uncomfortable afterwards.  I just hope I haven't put it off too long and damaged nerves, but only time will tell.  Although this pain is nearly constant, and so often feels like it's crippling me, I am grateful to have experienced it.  I know, that sounds weird.  But through this trial, I have learned and grown so much.  I have learned to truly love myself and my body and to never take good health for granted.  It's interesting how the Lord teaches us.  He always knows exactly how to teach us invaluable important life lessons.  and for that I am so grateful.  I have learned to buck up tough things out.  But mostly, I've learned just how much happiness has nothing to do with the situation you might be in.  These last few years have been the happiest and best of my life.  I've learned to smile even when things hurt, whether that pain is physical, mental, or emotional.
In preparation for my surgery, I had to get an MRI yesterday.  MRIs don't bug me.  I don't mind being in the tube.  I actually kind of like the small cramped space; in a weird way, small spaces make me feel safe.  However, when you nose itches, and you can't scratch it, you realize just how long an MRI takes.  :S  Usually my MRIs take around 20 minutes... this one yesterday took me 40.  Oh man, I thought I was going to go crazy.
Everyone has asked me lately if I'm nervous for my surgery.  I'm really not.  I feel really good about it.  The idea of not having leg pain excites me so much, but I have to admit, it seems so foreign to me.  I go in exactly 1 month from today!  January 7th.  Then I'll be taking it easy for quite a while.  So if anyone gets bored, feel free to come read and watch movies with me.
Until next time,
Katie

Chicago: Tourist Style

Chicago, you were incredibly fun.  I wish I could live in you for a year or two, but I can't.  So I'll have to settle with reliving my short lived moments I've had with you.
Here's a little breakdown of the first part of our trip:

The Hotel
We got to our hotel room around 7:30 PM.  Our hotel was fun; it was very historical.  We stayed at the Congress Plaza (thank you Groupon) which was built in the early 1900s and has been kept up really well.  Our room was fun, our window opened and we could climb out onto the fire escape.  I know that shouldn't be something that excited me so much, but it did.  I don't think I've ever really seen a room like that, and it reminded me of friends. (Joey and Ross - awkward man grasp, anyone?)

The Food
Oh man, lets just say, I could quickly become morbidly obese in Chicago.  The food was amazing!  I didn't feel too bad eating it though, because all we did was walk while we were there.  The first night we went to a place called Giordano's - holy cow.  I've never had deep dish before (we'll blame the Utah bubble).  I could barely finish one piece.  I have never experienced so much ooey-gooey delicousness before.  After the pizza we got cream puffs - perfect way to finish the meal.  yum.  After dinner we walked around and explored.  We walked past a little cafe called Wildberry's.  It looked cute so we decided to come back for breakfast.  Little did we know that it is actually one of Chicago's top rated breakfast places... and once we tried the food, we could totally see why.  I got white chocolate raspberry pancakes and Steve got strawberry cheesecake french toast.  There's really no way to accurately describe how delicious they were so I won't even try.  Just use your imagination.  I've since tried to recreate my raspberry pancakes.  Tried and failed.

The City
Oh man, I loved the city. The architecture was so amazing and unique. Chicago had some seriously neat buildings.  I loved learning about the history of the city (which you may learn about here).  We got to see most of the city on our Segway tour.  That's right, I said Segway tour (which will get a whole post of it's own, because yes, it was just that awesome). I seemed like such a small town girl/tourist with my amazement at all the cool buildings.  This was my first time in a big city, a REAL big city.  I know, it's sad, I'm 22.

Millennium Park
Millennium Park - Home of the bean.  We didn't spend much time here, just enough to admire the giant metallic bean and snap a few pictures.  Although, there is more to this park than just a bean.  They have a HUGE amphitheater.  Back in the great depression, musicians would gather and play for the people of Chicago as a way to try to lift their spirits.  It's become a tradition in the city and viola - an amphitheater was born.

Odds and Ends
The first night we got there, we walked, and walked, and walked... and wow, my back hurt.  So the next morning, when I tried to put on my pretty (and sucky for walking) shoes, Steve stopped me.  After trying to reason with me for a good while, he won.... and I wore these.  I looked like an old lady tourist, but my feet/back felt much better.

Here's a few other random pictures.

 Yes, this is a cupcake truck... a truck that actually brings cupcakes to you.

Sleepover Success

Last Friday Steve and I thought it would be fun to have my brother's kids over, and we were right.  It was so fun.  We started the night by getting dinner, everyone wanted something different and I indulged them.  Maci had Panda Express, J.J. had McDonalds, and Tyson went with a spicy chicken from Chick-fil-A (boy after my own heart).  Maggee wanted their food ;)

After dinner the boys went to work on making a fort and Maci and I went to work on dessert.  Thin Mint ice cream with lots of sugary mix-ins, I know how to woo 'em.  We turned on Iron Man and watched it from our fort.

Disclaimer:  Our fort looked way cooler in person.  the top part rolled down to close you in and we had christmas lights along the back of the couch.

JJ's little corner nook looked so dang comfortable.  We had a love sac and tons of pillows.  The kid zonked out by 9:30.  I don't blame him, I probably would too if I were him.

And zonked out he was.  That kid could sleep through a fire alarm.  We sat near him and played games past midnight, he didn't even budge.  Steve and I taught the kids a non-traditional way of playing Apples to Apples.  We use only the green cards and we play to the person.  So for instance, if it was Steve's turn to judge, all of us would pick an adjective from our hand of green cards to describe Steve.  It's so much more fun this way, and it usually ends up being slightly insulting, which really is more fun.  I think by the end of the night I was described as cold, heartless, senseless, wonderful, zany, global, and desperate.  Awesome.

The next morning I had to get up super early to go take some pictures (I'm taking a photography class this semester).  When I got back the kids were just waking up so hopped in the kitchen and got to work making them "gourmet" cinnamon/fruit pancakes.  

After breakfast we played a few more rounds of Apples to Apples (we got them hooked on our way of playing it).

And sadly our sleepover fun ended.  Steve and I decided that we're going to make this a semi-annual event and start inviting all the other nieces and nephews (are we crazy?) who are old enough to sleep through the night.  I used to have an annual sleep over with my cousin at my aunt's house and it was the highlight of my year.
Being an aunt really is one of the greatest pleasures life has to offer.

Life Lately

Life lately has been B-U-S-Y!  Steve and I are both back in school and working full time.  On top of that, I have my little baby photography business that has slowly, but steadily, been getting busier and busier.  I have had zero free time as of late.   My poor blog post about our Chicago trip has sat, halfway finished, for almost 2 months now! (Has it really been that long since we were there?)  Crazy.  My goal for the next week is to catch up.  I love blogging, it's calming to me and it's my way of journaling life events...  Also, my goal for the next week is to not pack my schedule so tight and to leave some space for Steve and I.... and also for sleep.  Until next time,
xoxo me!

Wisdom Teeth 2.0

In February of 2012 I had 2 of my wisdom teeth removed in a drug study.  I was awake when they did it.  It wasn't too bad.  The oral surgeon was good.  He was talkative (which helped with the nerves) and fast.  He had those suckers out in less than 5 minutes.  What's even better is the fact that I didn't get a placebo.  Which is good because it was an overnight study and it sure would have sucked to lay there in pain for 12 hours.  They gave me some good pain killers after the study was done and I went home.  I was feeling so good in fact, that I decided we should hang out with people that night.  So we had people over.  We ate, we laughed, we had a jolly old time... and then something happened.  I must have overdone it with all my giggling because I woke up at 2 am with the worst pain I have ever felt... a dry socket.  It sucked.  What made it worse is the fact that it was a weekend and I had to wait until Monday morning to get it taken care of.  So I sat on the couch all night/day with an ice pack to my face.

This time, I've been more careful.  Even though I've been more careful, and haven't gotten a dry socket, I think this round has hurt more.  It has just been a miserable few days.  My jaw has throbbed and ached.  Tomorrow will be long.  I have work and school and won't be able to take any Loratab due to the sleepy side effects...  :S  Wish me luck.

My [kinda] Healthy Kick Off

I didn't completely suck this week up.

I juiced (which is always miserable at first due to the "cleansing")

I packed lunches which were mostly salads

My menu wasn't exactly followed...  It was kind of disregarded actually.   I had some last minute things come up on Saturday, the day I was planning on prepping stuff, and I didn't quite get around to getting everything from the store that was needed and we may have gone to Cafe Rio Monday night due to the lack of preparation.  Overall I was still able to pull it together and make healthy dinners every night.  Last night's dinner was especially good.  Chicken fajitas seasoned with Mrs. Dash seasoning (salt free), veggies, plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream, and homemade guac (also salt free).  I will definitely be making it again.

Water and I had a distant relationship this week.  My bad.  I'll do better next week.

I discovered that I overlooked something in my last post.  Social eating.  I had a lot going on this last week and I ended up eating fries, ice cream, and a deliciously fluffy muffin... all thanks to people around me eating them...  This next week I'm going to be much more mindful of what I actually want to eat vs. what I'm eating because it's just right in front of me.

I didn't do terribly at exercise this last week, but I didn't do great.  I worked out 3 days out of the 6 day goal I had set.  Half the days is better than none of the days.  Next week I'll get all six.  I'm going to make my fat cry, I'm gonna make it cry hard.

So that was my week... How was yours?