I don't know about you, but watching a baby learning to take those first few steps is pretty emotional for me. Well we didn't have any babies yet but I quickly learned that it doesn't have to be a baby for it to be emotional!
Adam started his physical rehab right away when we got to Younkers. Let me tell you........This place is AMAZING!!!!!!!! The nursing staff..........WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!! The therapists.........WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE!!!!!!!! Everyone there treated us like we were family and it was WONDERFUL!!!
I wasn't the one that had to go through the hard work day in and day out. That was Adam.
They run a tight ship there at Younkers. You are up early and work on Occupational Therapy (getting dressed, brushing your teeth, hand eye things) Speech Therapy (not just talking but understanding things too) Physical Therapy (walking, sitting up, getting out of bed) and Recreational Therapy (playing games).
When he got there on December 30th, he couldn't sit in a chair, let a lone stand up on his own, shower on his own, get dressed on his own or even walk on his own. So they started his therapy's right away the next morning.
The goal was to get his muscles built back up so he could care for himself again. By this time he had lost about 100 pounds and he was looking like skin and bones. They worked on everything from getting him to be able to concentrate on a task for more than 1 minute to being able to be held by three staff members and a machine along with braces on his legs just to take two steps and sit back down.
Watching your husband relearn to walk and sit up on his own is very motivating. He had a few set backs here and there and a small seizure once while in Younkers but for the most part it was hard work and determination from day one and nothing else!
I know if it wasn't for his wonderful team of therapist we had there, he wouldn't be where he is today!! Dana, Darcy, Terri, and all the other wonderful girls there worked him hard but it was worth it in the end. He had physical therapy sometimes twice a day even on Saturday and Sunday just to get him up and moving and they pushed him as far as they could.
About halfway through his rehab, something sparked in me and I realized that if my husband could learn to walk again...........I surely could get back in shape and start running again. So, I slowly started by just walking the laps at the hospital. What else did I have to do. We were there for 53 days!!!! For the most part I was eating healthy food, I was eating there everyday so it wasn't terrible food!!
So I was doing what I could during the day while Adam was working his butt off to get better every day!! If he did weights for his arms..........I did too. If he did weights for his legs, you guessed it! I did too!!
Soon we received the news from the staff and doctor that he was well enough and strong enough to go HOME!!!!!!!!!!
So shortly after returning home and adjusting to being back home after nearly 3 months of being in the hospital Adam started outpatient therapy. Cheryl was a GOD SEND!!! She worked Adam just as hard as the in-patient girls did and then some. Since he was able to go home, he still had to go to therapy 2-3 times a week.
This made my decision to start working out that much easier! Adam had to go through all this, then I could too! I signed myself up for Kees Camp shortly there after! Now that women changed my life FOREVER!! Jennifer Kees is an ANGEL sent from heaven to make you WANT to love yourself!! I will have a blog about her very soon!!
Now, this blog makes it sound A LOT easier than it really was! I want you to know my husband is the strongest fighter I have ever met when it comes to working to walk again! Getting to see him take those first steps on his own without a walker, or help from the therapists!!!! Talk about PRICELESS!!!!!! I was a emotional basket case!!!!! This is something I HOPE no one ever has to go through but if you do, it is something you will never forget.
Having a spouse go through a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) or something that effects their brain to the point of disruption is VERY difficult. There aren't manuals for how to handle things or books you can read on how to get better. You are as better as you can get. Scarring on a brain doesn't go away. It doesn't get better with time. It is what it is and you just have to make the best of it.
I hope to be able to either right a short book about our experience with TBI or something along those lines someday. We all have to have goals, right?!
Piece and Chicken Grease Y'all!!
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
A WONDERFUL Anniversary Weekend
So the Hubs and I had our 5 year wedding anniversary on Friday. It has been 5 difficult and wonderful years at the same time!
We started the weekend off on Thursday night by going to the Price is Right Live show here ins town!
It was just like the show, you had a chance to go on stage and win prizes. They called out names in between chances too for gift certificates to different places too. Of course we didn't win anything but it was a great time!
Then Friday night we had a date! B went camping with Gramma and Papa for the weekend so we were child free all weekend long!! We had dinner and saw a movie. We were home by 9...........you can tell we are parents with a small child now! That was plenty late for me!
Saturday I got to sleep in. And when I say sleep in I mean SLEEP IN!!!!! I think I rolled out of bed about 11! The Hubs went and got some breakfast so we ate really late!! Then we just hung out at home and cleaned the house a little bit. We went out to eat for an early dinner because we had tickets to the Kenny Chesney concert.
We started the evening with a little tailgate party before heading into the concert. They had a small band playing outside and drinks. The weather was perfect and the people watching was READONCULOUS!!! So the concert started at 7 so we decided to head in and meet up with some friends we knew ahead of time. We grabbed a couple of beers and some popcorn and found our seats after chatting for a few minutes!
So this is me at the beginning of the concert with my favorite drink in hand! Yep! I am a country girl and Coors Light is my beer of choice!! It is funny to me that the more people drink the more they think they can do and either no one is watching them or they don't really care...........apparently myself included. I had a little more than I should have on Saturday night but it was a kid free weekend and we were celebrating!!
Anyway, I am not here to talk about me I want to tell you about the crazy people we saw!! Okay so I don't really remember all the people but I do remember the one guy that was dancing in his row and his wife was SO embarrassed!! He had a large crowd watching him and cheering for him. He looked like he had a few beers. It was during the first opener.
We had AMAZING seats and we even hooked up with a LIFE LONG friend of mine and some of her friends and family and they came and sat with us!! We had our own little party and danced the night away!!
So all in all, it was a great weekend!!! The Hubs and I got to spends some much needed time together with out B and B got to spend some time camping with Gramma and Papa!! A win win for everyone!!
Hope you all had a great weekend too and sorry I have been so lazy with the posts!! I will get back up to date on them~I promise!!
Piece and Chicken Grease Y'all!!!
We started the weekend off on Thursday night by going to the Price is Right Live show here ins town!
Then Friday night we had a date! B went camping with Gramma and Papa for the weekend so we were child free all weekend long!! We had dinner and saw a movie. We were home by 9...........you can tell we are parents with a small child now! That was plenty late for me!
Saturday I got to sleep in. And when I say sleep in I mean SLEEP IN!!!!! I think I rolled out of bed about 11! The Hubs went and got some breakfast so we ate really late!! Then we just hung out at home and cleaned the house a little bit. We went out to eat for an early dinner because we had tickets to the Kenny Chesney concert.
So this is me at the beginning of the concert with my favorite drink in hand! Yep! I am a country girl and Coors Light is my beer of choice!! It is funny to me that the more people drink the more they think they can do and either no one is watching them or they don't really care...........apparently myself included. I had a little more than I should have on Saturday night but it was a kid free weekend and we were celebrating!!
Anyway, I am not here to talk about me I want to tell you about the crazy people we saw!! Okay so I don't really remember all the people but I do remember the one guy that was dancing in his row and his wife was SO embarrassed!! He had a large crowd watching him and cheering for him. He looked like he had a few beers. It was during the first opener.
We had AMAZING seats and we even hooked up with a LIFE LONG friend of mine and some of her friends and family and they came and sat with us!! We had our own little party and danced the night away!!
So all in all, it was a great weekend!!! The Hubs and I got to spends some much needed time together with out B and B got to spend some time camping with Gramma and Papa!! A win win for everyone!!
Hope you all had a great weekend too and sorry I have been so lazy with the posts!! I will get back up to date on them~I promise!!
Piece and Chicken Grease Y'all!!!
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Novemeber 19, 2009 Part 4
"We feel that our best bet for your husband to survive is to do a biopsy. This will allow us to go into the brain and take a biopsy of the virus to see what we are dealing with and make it possible for the medicine to take effect. At this point, the medicine will either work, or he isn't going to make it."
WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!
You know when you are watching a show on TV and they show everything in slow motion or when everything is at normal speed but you see and hear things in slow motion. Well that was me. I didn't even know what was going on. How could this be happening. He was just having HEADACHES!!! We were just out for dinner! We had just gotten MARRIED!!!
WHY?!?!?!?!!??!
The next day Adam was scheduled for his biopsy on his brain. He went into surgery in the morning and was there for 6 hours!!!! If that wasn't the longest 6 hours I don't know what was! It was TERRIBLE! I couldn't eat or sleep or do anything!
Finally he got out of surgery and back to the recovery room. Adam was still pretty out of it from surgery so we headed to the hotel for the night. I wanted to be back bright and early the next morning for when he woke up. He had about an inch incision but it looked pretty good. They had to "grow" the results from the biopsy so it wasn't anything we would know back right away.
So on December 23rd, two days after having a brain biopsy done, the doctors came back into Adam's room and went through the same round so questions. "Can you lift your leg?" Up it went!!! For the first time in almost a month Adam could lift his leg straight off the bed!! I started crying right there on the stop! He just looked at all of us like we had lost our minds. "What is the big deal, it is just a leg," he said. JUST a leg?!?!?! "You haven't been able to lift that leg for a very long time!" I told him.
That was the turning point.......the biopsy had let off enough pressure on his brain to allow the medicine to get in there an start working. His brain was so swollen that it was putting so much pressure everything that it wasn't allowing the medicine in to reduce the swelling.
FINALLY!!! We were turning a corner in the right direction!!
On December 30, 2009 ~ 28 days after arriving in Iowa City we were finally heading back to Des Moines but not heading home. We were going to Iowa Methodist Medical Center Younkers Rehabilitation Center.
November 19, 2009 Part III
Adam was in the shower after being home for only 4 days and still wasn't feeling the best. His headache was still terrible and he just wasn't feeling right. He said his left leg was feeling "strange". He didn't know how to describe it but it was like it was going numb all the time. He was standing in the shower and it would do it.
So I called the neurologist and explained what was going on. She said, "You need to get him out for an MRI right away." So I called my mom and asked her to go with me so I didn't have to be alone if something happened again.
We took Adam out to the hospital for his MRI and by the time we got him there he could hardly walk. His left legs just wasn't working. It was like he was having a stroke or something but just with his leg. They take him back and get the MRI done and we get him in the truck and head to the neurologist's office.
Now, it is only about a 15 minute drive from one place to the other and in that time, Adam wasn't able to walk anymore. He couldn't put any weight on his leg.........AT ALL!!! IN MINUTES!!!
We get him in her office and she has the MRI scan back just as we get in there. She looks at us and says, "I am at a total lose at this point. The mass that was on your brain 4 days ago has TRIPLED in size in FOUR DAYS!!!" I looked at Adam and we both just burst into tears!
At this point we are both thinking it has to be cancer or something terrible like that. Then Dr. Struck says, "I am sending you to Iowa City where I believe they will be able to make a better diagnosis and treat this. I don't believe it is cancer, but they will be able to help you better than I can here."
So.........again, scared to death, the two of us load up in an ambulance and head east to Iowa City for what ends up being a lot longer than we ever expected!
We arrived in the ER at the University of Iowa Hospital in the evening and my mom had my brother and his family take her over so she didn't have to ride alone. My dad was out of town for work and she didn't want to have to drive alone.
The first doctor we saw was NOT my favorite to say the least..............he thought we should just go home for the night since Adam wasn't in any immediate pain and come back in to the clinic in the morning. Now, if you don't know me very well, I don't handle stress very well AT ALL!! I didn't handle that suggestions AT ALL!! I NOT so nicely told the good ER doc that we would NOT be doing that and we rode in an AMBULANCE for a REASON! We are not leaving the hospital until they figure out what is wrong with my husband!
The University of Iowa is a teaching hospital for those of you that don't know. It is a WONDERFUL hospital and has great doctors and nurses there!! It is not, however set up for long stays in the rooms. It isn't set up for much of anything in the rooms to be quit honest with you. Once I found someone in the ER that wasn't going to just send my husband home, we were moved to a room for the evening. We went to the Neurological area of the hospital. It was very late by this time and this area of the hospital is usually shut down for new admissions until morning so it was not a "smooth" transition but we got in there.
So there we were, Adam in his hosptial bed, me in yet another terribly uncomfortable chair (no couch or anything to sleep on in their rooms there) and my mom and Adam's parents. No answers, No idea what is going on, and we are supposed to sleep until the doctors make their rounds in the morning. So the parents lay on the cold hard floor and try to sleep while I try to sleep in the chair and eventually make my way to the floor in with them.
Lets just say none of us really got any sleep...........
Teaching hospitals............Great resources.......very confusing for patients and their families! We had different doctors all the time, Adam had to try to explain things to doctors and nurses all the time, he would get confused by all the people coming and going with all the different tests (so did I, it was like a revolving door!) All in all it was WONDERFUL but lets just say we hope to NEVER go back there again!!!
So they start off with do countless spinal taps. Ladies, this is much like an epidural if you have had one of those except they are withdrawing spinal fluid out. It gives you a terrible headache I am told and it is much more painful! They did a couple of these and found out the one done here in Des Moines was a false negative and he in fact DID have Spinal Menigitis with Herpes Simplex Virus. Now the big questions was.............How do you get rid of it? They also did countless MRI's and I don't know how much blood work.
By this time Adam was not able to stand on his own and could barely even sit in a chair up right without assistance. But if you tried to tell him that he would just look at you and say, "I can too, now get out of the way I am going to take a shower!" So he would try to get himself out of bed and wouldn't make it very far as he would either fall or get into the shower and couldn't stand in there alone.
By the middle of December he couldn't move his left or his right side. Every day the doctors would come in and ask Adam to lift his leg, wiggle his toes, move his foot, or anything to show that he had function in his lower body. He couldn't do it no matter how hard he tried! It was like watching someone slowly let the air out of a balloon. His muscles were getting weak because all he was doing was laying in bed, and he couldn't do anything about it! It was horrible to watch!
He had so much medication he was taking that it took almost an hour for him to get it all down. Between the vomiting and just trying to get him to swallow them. They finally just put most of them in an IV form as it was much easier for the medicine to start working.
I can't remember exactly when it was but the doctors decided they were going to try physical therapy to see if that would help with getting him up and around. Maybe build up his muscles and his strengthen. So the first person they brought in was very nice and helped him sit up in bed and get a sponge bath.(Every man's dream!)
The next therapist we had.......ASSHOLE!! He basically told me that my husband was going to be in a nursing home and he wouldn't be able to walk again! That was it. He couldn't do anything for him because he didn't have much muscle left and his legs wouldn't come back.
I didn't know what to say! He was 30 years old, we were married for a year and this was what our marriage was going to be like for the rest of our lives?!?!?!?!
I lost it! I couldn't take it anymore! I didn't know what else I could do! So, I did the only thing left I knew what to do..........I called on the closest person I know to God! My Aunt is a Minister and I called her I had just gotten this news and could barely speak I was crying so hard. I don't remember much about the conversation but I remember this:
"How do I know if I am praying the right way?" I said. "There isn't a right or wrong way to pray, you just talk to God and he will listen to you," my aunt said. "I don't know if I am praying enough!" "You are praying as much as you can and God knows that" she said. "Please help me, I can't lose the love of my life!" "Let's pray together right now over the phone," she said.
I will never forget that moment for as long as I live...............I am crying right now just typing this part. I don't think I have ever felt closer to God at that point!
A couple of day later the "new" neurologist on rounds came in and went through the same rounds of questions. "Adam, can you lift this leg? Can you lift this foot, can you move these toes?" The answer of course was no. The team of doctors stepped out of the room to talk about things while I stayed in the room. The one doctor asked me to step out and have a word with them.
It was about a week before Christmas and there I was standing in the hallway of the hospital with all these doctors around me and the lead doctor says something to me that I hope I never hear again!
So I called the neurologist and explained what was going on. She said, "You need to get him out for an MRI right away." So I called my mom and asked her to go with me so I didn't have to be alone if something happened again.
We took Adam out to the hospital for his MRI and by the time we got him there he could hardly walk. His left legs just wasn't working. It was like he was having a stroke or something but just with his leg. They take him back and get the MRI done and we get him in the truck and head to the neurologist's office.
Now, it is only about a 15 minute drive from one place to the other and in that time, Adam wasn't able to walk anymore. He couldn't put any weight on his leg.........AT ALL!!! IN MINUTES!!!
We get him in her office and she has the MRI scan back just as we get in there. She looks at us and says, "I am at a total lose at this point. The mass that was on your brain 4 days ago has TRIPLED in size in FOUR DAYS!!!" I looked at Adam and we both just burst into tears!
At this point we are both thinking it has to be cancer or something terrible like that. Then Dr. Struck says, "I am sending you to Iowa City where I believe they will be able to make a better diagnosis and treat this. I don't believe it is cancer, but they will be able to help you better than I can here."
So.........again, scared to death, the two of us load up in an ambulance and head east to Iowa City for what ends up being a lot longer than we ever expected!
We arrived in the ER at the University of Iowa Hospital in the evening and my mom had my brother and his family take her over so she didn't have to ride alone. My dad was out of town for work and she didn't want to have to drive alone.
The first doctor we saw was NOT my favorite to say the least..............he thought we should just go home for the night since Adam wasn't in any immediate pain and come back in to the clinic in the morning. Now, if you don't know me very well, I don't handle stress very well AT ALL!! I didn't handle that suggestions AT ALL!! I NOT so nicely told the good ER doc that we would NOT be doing that and we rode in an AMBULANCE for a REASON! We are not leaving the hospital until they figure out what is wrong with my husband!
The University of Iowa is a teaching hospital for those of you that don't know. It is a WONDERFUL hospital and has great doctors and nurses there!! It is not, however set up for long stays in the rooms. It isn't set up for much of anything in the rooms to be quit honest with you. Once I found someone in the ER that wasn't going to just send my husband home, we were moved to a room for the evening. We went to the Neurological area of the hospital. It was very late by this time and this area of the hospital is usually shut down for new admissions until morning so it was not a "smooth" transition but we got in there.
So there we were, Adam in his hosptial bed, me in yet another terribly uncomfortable chair (no couch or anything to sleep on in their rooms there) and my mom and Adam's parents. No answers, No idea what is going on, and we are supposed to sleep until the doctors make their rounds in the morning. So the parents lay on the cold hard floor and try to sleep while I try to sleep in the chair and eventually make my way to the floor in with them.
Lets just say none of us really got any sleep...........
Teaching hospitals............Great resources.......very confusing for patients and their families! We had different doctors all the time, Adam had to try to explain things to doctors and nurses all the time, he would get confused by all the people coming and going with all the different tests (so did I, it was like a revolving door!) All in all it was WONDERFUL but lets just say we hope to NEVER go back there again!!!
So they start off with do countless spinal taps. Ladies, this is much like an epidural if you have had one of those except they are withdrawing spinal fluid out. It gives you a terrible headache I am told and it is much more painful! They did a couple of these and found out the one done here in Des Moines was a false negative and he in fact DID have Spinal Menigitis with Herpes Simplex Virus. Now the big questions was.............How do you get rid of it? They also did countless MRI's and I don't know how much blood work.
By this time Adam was not able to stand on his own and could barely even sit in a chair up right without assistance. But if you tried to tell him that he would just look at you and say, "I can too, now get out of the way I am going to take a shower!" So he would try to get himself out of bed and wouldn't make it very far as he would either fall or get into the shower and couldn't stand in there alone.
By the middle of December he couldn't move his left or his right side. Every day the doctors would come in and ask Adam to lift his leg, wiggle his toes, move his foot, or anything to show that he had function in his lower body. He couldn't do it no matter how hard he tried! It was like watching someone slowly let the air out of a balloon. His muscles were getting weak because all he was doing was laying in bed, and he couldn't do anything about it! It was horrible to watch!
He had so much medication he was taking that it took almost an hour for him to get it all down. Between the vomiting and just trying to get him to swallow them. They finally just put most of them in an IV form as it was much easier for the medicine to start working.
I can't remember exactly when it was but the doctors decided they were going to try physical therapy to see if that would help with getting him up and around. Maybe build up his muscles and his strengthen. So the first person they brought in was very nice and helped him sit up in bed and get a sponge bath.(Every man's dream!)
The next therapist we had.......ASSHOLE!! He basically told me that my husband was going to be in a nursing home and he wouldn't be able to walk again! That was it. He couldn't do anything for him because he didn't have much muscle left and his legs wouldn't come back.
I didn't know what to say! He was 30 years old, we were married for a year and this was what our marriage was going to be like for the rest of our lives?!?!?!?!
I lost it! I couldn't take it anymore! I didn't know what else I could do! So, I did the only thing left I knew what to do..........I called on the closest person I know to God! My Aunt is a Minister and I called her I had just gotten this news and could barely speak I was crying so hard. I don't remember much about the conversation but I remember this:
"How do I know if I am praying the right way?" I said. "There isn't a right or wrong way to pray, you just talk to God and he will listen to you," my aunt said. "I don't know if I am praying enough!" "You are praying as much as you can and God knows that" she said. "Please help me, I can't lose the love of my life!" "Let's pray together right now over the phone," she said.
I will never forget that moment for as long as I live...............I am crying right now just typing this part. I don't think I have ever felt closer to God at that point!
A couple of day later the "new" neurologist on rounds came in and went through the same rounds of questions. "Adam, can you lift this leg? Can you lift this foot, can you move these toes?" The answer of course was no. The team of doctors stepped out of the room to talk about things while I stayed in the room. The one doctor asked me to step out and have a word with them.
It was about a week before Christmas and there I was standing in the hallway of the hospital with all these doctors around me and the lead doctor says something to me that I hope I never hear again!
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Healthy.....Finally!
So I am back on the wagon...........so to speak!
A while back the Hubs and I were on Take Shape for Life and did very well with our weight loss. If you are not familiar with it you can check it out here. If you are interested in learning more about this let me know, I have a family member that can help you out with it. The headaches suck and you are very hungry in the beginning but after about three days that all goes away.
So you buy these "meals" and then once a day you get a "lean and green" meal. It works great except when you have a toddler that likes to eat everything that you do it gets a little complicated. We had bought a bunch of food and then went off of it for a while. So we have a bunch of food still and we need to get it eaten. So............we are back on the weight loss wagon!
We eat a lot of chicken, green beans, and lettuce salads on this way of life but on the plus side,,,,,,,,,,,I like all three of those things. AND, I LOVE fish and we get to have 7 oz cooked of that and that is A LOT of fish!! So all in all it isn't a bad meal plan. Now if I can just stick to it.....that is the issue.
I have been getting up in the mornings and going in to do my workouts. Now, it has only been two days and it has been VERY hard to get up those two days but I am trying with every being I have to do this!!! I found a good workout on Pinterest and I am using it. I have had things going on during lunches this week so far and haven't made it up for my jog but I will get there. I am making an effort and that is all that matters...........RIGHT?!?!?!!
The Hubs and I are both eating the meals and so far so good......now I would be lying if I didn't tell you I had a strawberry sundae last night but I stuck to it all the rest of the day! And I worked out...........in my mind I had fruit and some milk for dessert it was just frozen milk........go with me here, I am working out!!!!!
My goal is to lose about 75 pounds...........by when??????? Well that is the real question. I would love to say by the first part of July or maybe by my birthday which is July 7th. But I am a freak about deadlines. The closer they get..............the more freaked out I get and I don't do well.
So I am going to tell you this......I am going to try my best to lose 75 pounds as quickly and safely as I can.
On a plus side, some of the recipes I have found for our "lean and green" meals are actually VERY good and I make them other times to eat just normally. If you would like to see them just let me know.
Piece and Chicken Grease Y'all!!
A while back the Hubs and I were on Take Shape for Life and did very well with our weight loss. If you are not familiar with it you can check it out here. If you are interested in learning more about this let me know, I have a family member that can help you out with it. The headaches suck and you are very hungry in the beginning but after about three days that all goes away.
So you buy these "meals" and then once a day you get a "lean and green" meal. It works great except when you have a toddler that likes to eat everything that you do it gets a little complicated. We had bought a bunch of food and then went off of it for a while. So we have a bunch of food still and we need to get it eaten. So............we are back on the weight loss wagon!
We eat a lot of chicken, green beans, and lettuce salads on this way of life but on the plus side,,,,,,,,,,,I like all three of those things. AND, I LOVE fish and we get to have 7 oz cooked of that and that is A LOT of fish!! So all in all it isn't a bad meal plan. Now if I can just stick to it.....that is the issue.
I have been getting up in the mornings and going in to do my workouts. Now, it has only been two days and it has been VERY hard to get up those two days but I am trying with every being I have to do this!!! I found a good workout on Pinterest and I am using it. I have had things going on during lunches this week so far and haven't made it up for my jog but I will get there. I am making an effort and that is all that matters...........RIGHT?!?!?!!
The Hubs and I are both eating the meals and so far so good......now I would be lying if I didn't tell you I had a strawberry sundae last night but I stuck to it all the rest of the day! And I worked out...........in my mind I had fruit and some milk for dessert it was just frozen milk........go with me here, I am working out!!!!!
My goal is to lose about 75 pounds...........by when??????? Well that is the real question. I would love to say by the first part of July or maybe by my birthday which is July 7th. But I am a freak about deadlines. The closer they get..............the more freaked out I get and I don't do well.
So I am going to tell you this......I am going to try my best to lose 75 pounds as quickly and safely as I can.
On a plus side, some of the recipes I have found for our "lean and green" meals are actually VERY good and I make them other times to eat just normally. If you would like to see them just let me know.
Piece and Chicken Grease Y'all!!
Monday, April 22, 2013
Glow Run 5K
So this weekend was the Glow Run here in Des Moines!! It was a great time! I hadn't ran a 5K since sometime last year. I have been working out but running outside is a lot different than using an elliptical machine I think.
So the Hubs was supposed to go with me but had to work so I had a friend of mine step in. Here is a picture of us before the race started. It was a little chilly but once we got started it was a great night for a run. It wasn't my best time but like I said, I haven't ran for a while. I was very proud of myself because I didn't stop one time to walk. I wanted to a couple of times but I just kept pushing through. I use my Hubs for motivation a lot and he wasn't able to be there so I thought of him a lot on Saturday. My friend Kory got second (not that is was timed or placings) but he is a FAST runner! GOOD job Kory!!
So the Hubs was supposed to go with me but had to work so I had a friend of mine step in. Here is a picture of us before the race started. It was a little chilly but once we got started it was a great night for a run. It wasn't my best time but like I said, I haven't ran for a while. I was very proud of myself because I didn't stop one time to walk. I wanted to a couple of times but I just kept pushing through. I use my Hubs for motivation a lot and he wasn't able to be there so I thought of him a lot on Saturday. My friend Kory got second (not that is was timed or placings) but he is a FAST runner! GOOD job Kory!!
Here is a picture of me after the race.............NOT so pretty!!!! But I ran the whole damn thing and I had to have a picture to prove it!
B went and stayed at Gramma and Papa's house so I could run and the Hubs worked. He loves going there but is always so tired when he gets home.....................they must play to hard out there or something!! :) Here is a picture of him after we picked him up and on our way to run some errands. He was ONE SLEEPY BOY!!
Well I hope y'all had a GREAT weekend!! I know we did!
Piece and Chicken Grease Y'all!!
November 19, 2009 Part II
I walked towards the triage room and I can hear things banging around. I look to my left and I see my friend Sheena standing there and our other friend Angie. Then I look in the room and there is my gentle husband laying on the cold hard bed looking like he is asleep.
I went into the room to talk to the nurses. "How is he doing?" I asked. "Well we are trying to get him to stop seizing right now and get some medication into his IV but we are really having a hard time," the male nurse said.
Now this male nurse was a very large man. About as big as my husband only about 6 inches taller than him. There were also several other female nurses and a couple of other larger male nurses or EMT guys in there I am not really sure. I just kept looking at them...........why was there so many people in there for just one gentle, mild, teddy bear kind of a guy?
Now I know most of you might not know my husband personally but he wouldn't hurt anyone if he had too. He is the sweetest, most caring person you will ever meet. I have never seen or heard him raise his voice, let a lone a hand to anyone! But what I saw next, was NOT any of those things at all!!!
Just as I was asking myself these questions, the male nurse tried to put the IV in again and that is when my mild teddy bear of a husband started to have a seizure again and I saw what I can only compare to a scene out of the Hulk movie! He was throwing those nurses around like they were dolls!!! He was completely out of his mind and had no idea what he was doing but he was like nothing I have ever seen!
I had to turn around and walk away.........I couldn't be in there with him acting like that and not have any control over it.
By this point, time had officially stopped in my eyes! I don't have any idea what time it was, what day it was, or how was there and who wasn't. I do remember that my parents showed up shortly after I went to the internal waiting room. Now remember, I am a MASSIVE daddy's girl and all I could do was sit and cry with my dad!!
This is making me cry right now just writing this! There was so much unknown at that point! I had no idea what had happened in the time since we had left the house to go eat dinner and to when I was sitting with my daddy crying! All I knew was that my husband was now in a medically induced coma and he was being moved up to the ICU of the hospital and they would be doing come test.
He had what is called a Grand Mal Seizure when we were at the restaurant. It continued for about 2 hours and that is what he was doing while the nurses were trying to get an IV in him. He coded in the ambulance on the way to the hospital because his heart was working so hard during the seizure and because of his size that it kept giving out. So they put him in the coma for two reasons. One, to calm him down enough to be able to run the tests they needed to. And two, so they could get medicine into him when they needed. He had a seizure for so long that it had effected his brain.
So we went up to the ICU waiting room where they put Adam in his own room and we went to the family waiting room to talk to the doctors. They asked me questions that I again, didn't know the answers to. Adam's mom and dad are there now so they are able answer some of the questions now but I am so in shock at this point that they could have asked me if a bear shits in the woods and I would have said I don't know.
They tell me all the different test they are going to do and that this is going to take time. "Just try to get some rest and we will let you know as soon as we find out anything" the doctor says. YES, I will just go right over there to that couch and fall right to sleep! Thanks!!!! JACKSASS!!! I couldn't sleep if my life depended on it!!!!
I tried to go in and be with Adam but if I was in there for very long I would just ball my eyes out and the sweet nurse would come in and say, "sweetie please try to get something to eat or some rest." "You have to take care of yourself."
Now I am not a very smart person, trust me I know this. But why in the hell do people always think you can eat when you are worried sick about someone!! I don't think I could have eaten if you would have pried my mouth open and shoved food in!!
To be honest with you, I am not really sure how long it was, but finally my SUPER AMAZING mom and dad went to my house and got me some clothes and things to shower with. They had a shower room in the waiting room and I took what felt like the best shower I had ever had in my life. I think it had been a day and a half since we had come in but like I said, everything started to run together so I have no idea.
After all kinds of test, and MRI's and CT scans, and blood draws, everything came back negative but our WONDERFUL neurologist said she was pretty sure is was Spinal Meningitis with Herpes Simplex Virus. It had gotten on his spinal fluid and traveled to his brain which caused the seizure. The reason they couldn't be 100% sure was because the spinal tap they had done had come back negative but they have false negatives all the time.
"So we just hope and pray he wakes up and everything is fine?" I asked the neurologist? "Basically" she said.
FINALLY after being in a coma for 4 days the love of my life woke up!!! They had brought him out of the coma slowly so his brain had time to adjust. Getting a kiss from your husband, is a normal thing........but getting one from him when you haven't gotten one for 4 days when you thought you would never get one again!!!! PRICELESS!!!! That was the best thing I could have asked for!!!
He had no idea what had happened. He had tubes everywhere and down his throat so he couldn't talk. They had to wait to take those out for a little bit but I could kind of tell him what had happened. The doctor asked his what the last thing he remembered was and he said, "we went to eat at Pueblo Viejo."
That was the best thing I had heard my husband say! He was back from the dead and I couldn't have been happier! He finally got to get out of his bed and sit up in a chair for the first time in days and he was so happy about that!
They finally moved him to a regular room out of the ICU area and things were finally get back to normal. We could put this whole nightmare behind us and get back to our lives together.
It was around Thanksgiving time when Adam got dismissed from the hospital and he still wasn't feeling great but the doctor's couldn't find anything 100% wrong so he was able to go home. Four days after being home.........our nightmare was back and worse than ever!!
I went into the room to talk to the nurses. "How is he doing?" I asked. "Well we are trying to get him to stop seizing right now and get some medication into his IV but we are really having a hard time," the male nurse said.
Now this male nurse was a very large man. About as big as my husband only about 6 inches taller than him. There were also several other female nurses and a couple of other larger male nurses or EMT guys in there I am not really sure. I just kept looking at them...........why was there so many people in there for just one gentle, mild, teddy bear kind of a guy?
Now I know most of you might not know my husband personally but he wouldn't hurt anyone if he had too. He is the sweetest, most caring person you will ever meet. I have never seen or heard him raise his voice, let a lone a hand to anyone! But what I saw next, was NOT any of those things at all!!!
Just as I was asking myself these questions, the male nurse tried to put the IV in again and that is when my mild teddy bear of a husband started to have a seizure again and I saw what I can only compare to a scene out of the Hulk movie! He was throwing those nurses around like they were dolls!!! He was completely out of his mind and had no idea what he was doing but he was like nothing I have ever seen!
I had to turn around and walk away.........I couldn't be in there with him acting like that and not have any control over it.
By this point, time had officially stopped in my eyes! I don't have any idea what time it was, what day it was, or how was there and who wasn't. I do remember that my parents showed up shortly after I went to the internal waiting room. Now remember, I am a MASSIVE daddy's girl and all I could do was sit and cry with my dad!!
This is making me cry right now just writing this! There was so much unknown at that point! I had no idea what had happened in the time since we had left the house to go eat dinner and to when I was sitting with my daddy crying! All I knew was that my husband was now in a medically induced coma and he was being moved up to the ICU of the hospital and they would be doing come test.
He had what is called a Grand Mal Seizure when we were at the restaurant. It continued for about 2 hours and that is what he was doing while the nurses were trying to get an IV in him. He coded in the ambulance on the way to the hospital because his heart was working so hard during the seizure and because of his size that it kept giving out. So they put him in the coma for two reasons. One, to calm him down enough to be able to run the tests they needed to. And two, so they could get medicine into him when they needed. He had a seizure for so long that it had effected his brain.
So we went up to the ICU waiting room where they put Adam in his own room and we went to the family waiting room to talk to the doctors. They asked me questions that I again, didn't know the answers to. Adam's mom and dad are there now so they are able answer some of the questions now but I am so in shock at this point that they could have asked me if a bear shits in the woods and I would have said I don't know.
They tell me all the different test they are going to do and that this is going to take time. "Just try to get some rest and we will let you know as soon as we find out anything" the doctor says. YES, I will just go right over there to that couch and fall right to sleep! Thanks!!!! JACKSASS!!! I couldn't sleep if my life depended on it!!!!
I tried to go in and be with Adam but if I was in there for very long I would just ball my eyes out and the sweet nurse would come in and say, "sweetie please try to get something to eat or some rest." "You have to take care of yourself."
Now I am not a very smart person, trust me I know this. But why in the hell do people always think you can eat when you are worried sick about someone!! I don't think I could have eaten if you would have pried my mouth open and shoved food in!!
To be honest with you, I am not really sure how long it was, but finally my SUPER AMAZING mom and dad went to my house and got me some clothes and things to shower with. They had a shower room in the waiting room and I took what felt like the best shower I had ever had in my life. I think it had been a day and a half since we had come in but like I said, everything started to run together so I have no idea.
After all kinds of test, and MRI's and CT scans, and blood draws, everything came back negative but our WONDERFUL neurologist said she was pretty sure is was Spinal Meningitis with Herpes Simplex Virus. It had gotten on his spinal fluid and traveled to his brain which caused the seizure. The reason they couldn't be 100% sure was because the spinal tap they had done had come back negative but they have false negatives all the time.
"So we just hope and pray he wakes up and everything is fine?" I asked the neurologist? "Basically" she said.
FINALLY after being in a coma for 4 days the love of my life woke up!!! They had brought him out of the coma slowly so his brain had time to adjust. Getting a kiss from your husband, is a normal thing........but getting one from him when you haven't gotten one for 4 days when you thought you would never get one again!!!! PRICELESS!!!! That was the best thing I could have asked for!!!
He had no idea what had happened. He had tubes everywhere and down his throat so he couldn't talk. They had to wait to take those out for a little bit but I could kind of tell him what had happened. The doctor asked his what the last thing he remembered was and he said, "we went to eat at Pueblo Viejo."
That was the best thing I had heard my husband say! He was back from the dead and I couldn't have been happier! He finally got to get out of his bed and sit up in a chair for the first time in days and he was so happy about that!
They finally moved him to a regular room out of the ICU area and things were finally get back to normal. We could put this whole nightmare behind us and get back to our lives together.
It was around Thanksgiving time when Adam got dismissed from the hospital and he still wasn't feeling great but the doctor's couldn't find anything 100% wrong so he was able to go home. Four days after being home.........our nightmare was back and worse than ever!!
Friday, April 19, 2013
November 19, 2009 Part 1
To give you a little bit of the back story to this, my husband had not been feeling very well the last couple of weeks during this time. He had been having terrible headaches and his eyes were really red and hurt really bad. He wasn't sure what was going on so finally he had decided to call and get an appointment at our family doctor.
So on November 19, 2009 in the afternoon he went to the family doctor and she checked him out. She wasn't sure what was going on with the eyes but was pretty sure the headache issue was cluster migraines and gave him some medicine for it.
She said if they didn't start to go away by the middle of next week to give her a call and she would order an MRI and we would go from there. Sounds great. We are getting somewhere with this.
So later that day my mom was in helping me do some cleaning in our bathroom. It is a small bathroom and didn't have an exhaust fan at the time so had gotten some mold in there. So we were cleaning it and Adam was just talking to us while we did since he still didn't feel very well.
The house smelled like cleaner so after my mom left we decided to go to a local restaurant to grab some dinner and let the house air out for a little while. We opened a couple windows and headed out.
We had sat down at our favorite Mexican restaurant and started eating some chips and salsa. Talking about our days and me checking on the hubs to see how he was feeling. His head was still hurting but not any worse so we got our usual orders and continued talking. Quickly after placing our order, the waitress brought our food out. It is always so delicious there, so we dug right in! We hadn't gotten very much of our dinner eaten and I stopped to ask the hubs how his was tasting.
He looked up to tell me and he got this very strange look on his face........I thought maybe he had something stuck in his tooth or was starting to choke on his bite he had in his mouth.
And just with the blink of an eye.......he fell back in his chair, knocked the table over at the same time and was turning the darkest shade or purple I have ever seen. I have never seen anything like it in my life.
I froze......I couldn't even get out of the chair.......I couldn't yell for help........I couldn't ask for someone to call 911.......I couldn't do ANYTHING!!!
FINALLY I came to and just at that time there were three Angels (nurses that just happened to be eating at the restaurant at the same time) that came rushing over to help him. They thought he was choking on his food and tried to give him the Heimlich. Now at this time my husband was a very large man. He weighed about 350 pounds and was very strong. It was all those three little ladies could do to give him the Heimlich and try to get that food out.
As they were working on him I got enough composure to call 911 and let them know what was going on and got an ambulance on the way ASAP! I also called my mom to let her know what was happening......
I will never forget this as long as I live............this was all I could get to come out of my mouth when I had my mom on the phone........"Mom, come back to Des Moines, Adam is DYING!" That was it. I couldn't get anything else to come out....I just kept saying that over and over.
He was so purple and making such a terrible sound I have never heard before. When the ambulance arrived (which felt like HOURS later) they got him on the gurney and into the ambulance. I didn't even ask I just got in the front seat and sat there.......I was in total shock.
I had called my friend and let her know what was going on so I would have someone at the hospital and I didn't have to be alone. My mom wouldn't be there for about an hour as they live away from town.
On the way to the hospital (about 10 minutes) Adam coded twice. I just felt like everything was in SLOW MOTION. I felt like we were driving 5 miles per hour instead of 50 and like we were taking the LONGEST way to the hospital. I know they weren't and the EMT's were doing everything they could to help him. But I didn't know what was wrong or what was happening and that is the WORST feeling you can have!!
Once into the ER I got my composure once again and talked to the Doctor on call. He was asking me all these questions and I didn't know the answer to any of them. Yes we were married but for only a YEAR. I didn't know his entire health history. Do you know? From the time your spouse was a baby until now? I didn't!
I finally couldn't take it anymore...........I had to get away......I had to have my "space"......I looked everywhere......finally!!! The bathroom! That would work!!!
I ran in there and locked the door as fast as I could!!! I got in there and (here comes the TMI part....sorry!) I sat on the toilet and shit in the toilet and puked in the garbage all at the same time for a good 5 minutes! I am not sure where it all came from but I felt like my entire body was turning inside out!!
I pulled myself together and got back out to the doctors and nurses.......but when I did.........I had wished I didn't!! What I saw next was NOT anything I will EVER forget!
So on November 19, 2009 in the afternoon he went to the family doctor and she checked him out. She wasn't sure what was going on with the eyes but was pretty sure the headache issue was cluster migraines and gave him some medicine for it.
She said if they didn't start to go away by the middle of next week to give her a call and she would order an MRI and we would go from there. Sounds great. We are getting somewhere with this.
So later that day my mom was in helping me do some cleaning in our bathroom. It is a small bathroom and didn't have an exhaust fan at the time so had gotten some mold in there. So we were cleaning it and Adam was just talking to us while we did since he still didn't feel very well.
The house smelled like cleaner so after my mom left we decided to go to a local restaurant to grab some dinner and let the house air out for a little while. We opened a couple windows and headed out.
We had sat down at our favorite Mexican restaurant and started eating some chips and salsa. Talking about our days and me checking on the hubs to see how he was feeling. His head was still hurting but not any worse so we got our usual orders and continued talking. Quickly after placing our order, the waitress brought our food out. It is always so delicious there, so we dug right in! We hadn't gotten very much of our dinner eaten and I stopped to ask the hubs how his was tasting.
He looked up to tell me and he got this very strange look on his face........I thought maybe he had something stuck in his tooth or was starting to choke on his bite he had in his mouth.
And just with the blink of an eye.......he fell back in his chair, knocked the table over at the same time and was turning the darkest shade or purple I have ever seen. I have never seen anything like it in my life.
I froze......I couldn't even get out of the chair.......I couldn't yell for help........I couldn't ask for someone to call 911.......I couldn't do ANYTHING!!!
FINALLY I came to and just at that time there were three Angels (nurses that just happened to be eating at the restaurant at the same time) that came rushing over to help him. They thought he was choking on his food and tried to give him the Heimlich. Now at this time my husband was a very large man. He weighed about 350 pounds and was very strong. It was all those three little ladies could do to give him the Heimlich and try to get that food out.
As they were working on him I got enough composure to call 911 and let them know what was going on and got an ambulance on the way ASAP! I also called my mom to let her know what was happening......
I will never forget this as long as I live............this was all I could get to come out of my mouth when I had my mom on the phone........"Mom, come back to Des Moines, Adam is DYING!" That was it. I couldn't get anything else to come out....I just kept saying that over and over.
He was so purple and making such a terrible sound I have never heard before. When the ambulance arrived (which felt like HOURS later) they got him on the gurney and into the ambulance. I didn't even ask I just got in the front seat and sat there.......I was in total shock.
I had called my friend and let her know what was going on so I would have someone at the hospital and I didn't have to be alone. My mom wouldn't be there for about an hour as they live away from town.
On the way to the hospital (about 10 minutes) Adam coded twice. I just felt like everything was in SLOW MOTION. I felt like we were driving 5 miles per hour instead of 50 and like we were taking the LONGEST way to the hospital. I know they weren't and the EMT's were doing everything they could to help him. But I didn't know what was wrong or what was happening and that is the WORST feeling you can have!!
Once into the ER I got my composure once again and talked to the Doctor on call. He was asking me all these questions and I didn't know the answer to any of them. Yes we were married but for only a YEAR. I didn't know his entire health history. Do you know? From the time your spouse was a baby until now? I didn't!
I finally couldn't take it anymore...........I had to get away......I had to have my "space"......I looked everywhere......finally!!! The bathroom! That would work!!!
I ran in there and locked the door as fast as I could!!! I got in there and (here comes the TMI part....sorry!) I sat on the toilet and shit in the toilet and puked in the garbage all at the same time for a good 5 minutes! I am not sure where it all came from but I felt like my entire body was turning inside out!!
I pulled myself together and got back out to the doctors and nurses.......but when I did.........I had wished I didn't!! What I saw next was NOT anything I will EVER forget!
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Home Cookin'
So the hubs cooked dinner last night and we didn't go out to eat. We used up all the pasta we had at home since are going to the grocery store this weekend to get "major" groceries. So we had a little whole wheat spaghetti in there and some elbow macaroni. It didn't matter because it was DELICIOUS!!! We also had some garlic bread and cottage cheese. B LOVES cottage cheese. I think he would eat that and nothing else if we would let him.
B........what do you want for dinner......."Cheese".........so cute!!!!! :)
Not sure what we will be having for dinner tonight but it is Mama's turn to cook so you can bet it will be something quick and easy!!
I have the Glow Run 5K on Saturday night so the hubs is going to pick up my packet for me this afternoon. I am getting excited but I think it is going to be a little chilly. Oh well, better than sweating my balls off I guess!! Oh wait,,,,,,,,,,,ya I don't have those but you know what I mean!! I will let you all know how the race goes!!
Peace and Chicken Grease Y'all!!
B........what do you want for dinner......."Cheese".........so cute!!!!! :)
Not sure what we will be having for dinner tonight but it is Mama's turn to cook so you can bet it will be something quick and easy!!
I have the Glow Run 5K on Saturday night so the hubs is going to pick up my packet for me this afternoon. I am getting excited but I think it is going to be a little chilly. Oh well, better than sweating my balls off I guess!! Oh wait,,,,,,,,,,,ya I don't have those but you know what I mean!! I will let you all know how the race goes!!
Peace and Chicken Grease Y'all!!
Yep........I'm A Slacker
Well that was a quick ride on the wagon! I have officially fell off the workout wagon again!!! Man I suck a$$!! What is wrong with me?!?!! Why can't I just get in the habit of working out and stick with it???
I am trying to make myself feel a little bit better by at least saying that I haven't had any chocolate the last two days. That is a GOOD thing for me. I haven't been making the best food choices but I haven't been making terrible ones either.
Okay so here comes the excuse.......This weather hasn't been helping me get too motivated! I like sunny, cheery weather! The weather we are having right now? Make me want to stay in bed and not get up!!
And while we are on the topic of staying in bed........Am I the only person that could stay in her "pajamas" all day and night on the weekends and not give a SHIT??? If I don't have to put a bra on that is an AMAZING day to me!!!! I don't usually wear actual pajamas per say. I usually wear either a t-shirt and shorts or just a t-shirt depending on how hot I am that day. If I just have a t-shirt on I will put a pair of lounge pants on and that is all. If I don't have to go anywhere for the day...........Why waste the time and energy of showering and getting dressed if I can just stay in the same thing I will be going to sleep in again!?!?!?!?!? Some of you might think this is gross............however, I think it is called conserving energy!! :)
So that is my 2 cents worth this morning!
Piece and Chicken Grease Y'all!
I am trying to make myself feel a little bit better by at least saying that I haven't had any chocolate the last two days. That is a GOOD thing for me. I haven't been making the best food choices but I haven't been making terrible ones either.
Okay so here comes the excuse.......This weather hasn't been helping me get too motivated! I like sunny, cheery weather! The weather we are having right now? Make me want to stay in bed and not get up!!
And while we are on the topic of staying in bed........Am I the only person that could stay in her "pajamas" all day and night on the weekends and not give a SHIT??? If I don't have to put a bra on that is an AMAZING day to me!!!! I don't usually wear actual pajamas per say. I usually wear either a t-shirt and shorts or just a t-shirt depending on how hot I am that day. If I just have a t-shirt on I will put a pair of lounge pants on and that is all. If I don't have to go anywhere for the day...........Why waste the time and energy of showering and getting dressed if I can just stay in the same thing I will be going to sleep in again!?!?!?!?!? Some of you might think this is gross............however, I think it is called conserving energy!! :)
So that is my 2 cents worth this morning!
Piece and Chicken Grease Y'all!
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Being Cheap........Livin' on a Budget
So I am always looking for ways to save money, use coupons, Groupons, anything to save some cash!!
I found a thing on Pinterest about how to save money and the hubs and I are trying it. Every Friday we put money in an old Tip jar of his. It starts out with $1 for the first week and $2 for the second week. It is for 52 weeks and by the end of the year you should have $1378.00. So we are both putting money in the jar. I am not sure what we are going to do with the money but I personally would LOVE to go back to HAWAII!!! We went in October of 2010 and it was the most BEAUTIFUL place I have ever been!! I plan on living there someday.............just might have to win that lottery we talked about!! Here are some pictures from our trip!
So I try to stick pretty close to a budget but lets be honest............that isn't easy to do these days. When your paycheck stays the same but everything else is more expensive that doesn't work out very sell.
Could we live without our Direct TV? Yes I am pretty sure I wouldn't die from lack of having it. But we don't have an antenna on our house to watch the basic TV channels so our only option is cable.
Could we live without internet? I know I can but ONLY if I have my phone with it on there. If you take that away, then NO!!!!! So on to the next question.........do we need internet and cellphones with a data plan? Probably not but we are trying to sell our house on our own and I get a lot of emails on my phone during the day so that makes it very easy for me! It is all about convenience and well lets be honest, it is really all about me!!
So those three things right there are the biggest extra expense we have and the are a WANT not a NEED. I sometimes dream about the "old" days when we just had a land line and those old bag cell phones that we used in EMERGENCY cases only! You know, like if you were dead and had to use it!! Things were so much simpler then!
Squirrel, (I do this a lot, I have never seen the movie UP but I think it is from that movie where the dog is distracted by a squirrel all the time) have you ever tried to do those meals were you can cook something and then make like 4-5 meals out of what you cooked? I haven't either but it sounds like it might be fun.
Anyway, back to our budget..........I have tried to cut out all the things we can and save as much as we can.......however, we live about 4 blocks from 15 places to eat!!! This makes eating out VERY DIFFICULT for us NOT to do! Not only is it not healthy but it isn't cheap either! Just think about how much money you spend over the course of a month on eating out! I figured it up for us and I just about SHAT myself!!! So back to the basics of cooking at home!! I have decided that I am going to share with all of you what we are cooking at home so I am more motivated to cook instead of eating out! Stay tuned!!
Piece and Chicken Grease!!! :)
I found a thing on Pinterest about how to save money and the hubs and I are trying it. Every Friday we put money in an old Tip jar of his. It starts out with $1 for the first week and $2 for the second week. It is for 52 weeks and by the end of the year you should have $1378.00. So we are both putting money in the jar. I am not sure what we are going to do with the money but I personally would LOVE to go back to HAWAII!!! We went in October of 2010 and it was the most BEAUTIFUL place I have ever been!! I plan on living there someday.............just might have to win that lottery we talked about!! Here are some pictures from our trip!
Could we live without our Direct TV? Yes I am pretty sure I wouldn't die from lack of having it. But we don't have an antenna on our house to watch the basic TV channels so our only option is cable.
Could we live without internet? I know I can but ONLY if I have my phone with it on there. If you take that away, then NO!!!!! So on to the next question.........do we need internet and cellphones with a data plan? Probably not but we are trying to sell our house on our own and I get a lot of emails on my phone during the day so that makes it very easy for me! It is all about convenience and well lets be honest, it is really all about me!!
So those three things right there are the biggest extra expense we have and the are a WANT not a NEED. I sometimes dream about the "old" days when we just had a land line and those old bag cell phones that we used in EMERGENCY cases only! You know, like if you were dead and had to use it!! Things were so much simpler then!
Squirrel, (I do this a lot, I have never seen the movie UP but I think it is from that movie where the dog is distracted by a squirrel all the time) have you ever tried to do those meals were you can cook something and then make like 4-5 meals out of what you cooked? I haven't either but it sounds like it might be fun.
Anyway, back to our budget..........I have tried to cut out all the things we can and save as much as we can.......however, we live about 4 blocks from 15 places to eat!!! This makes eating out VERY DIFFICULT for us NOT to do! Not only is it not healthy but it isn't cheap either! Just think about how much money you spend over the course of a month on eating out! I figured it up for us and I just about SHAT myself!!! So back to the basics of cooking at home!! I have decided that I am going to share with all of you what we are cooking at home so I am more motivated to cook instead of eating out! Stay tuned!!
Piece and Chicken Grease!!! :)
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Just Me
I thought you all might like to know a little worthless information just about me. So here goes:
- I LOVE Iowa Hawkeye football or any college football game for that fact. I really love sports in general!
- I used to be a Yankees fan but married a Cubs fan so now I am a Cubs fan.......the Hubs wouldn't let me be a Yankees fan anymore, deal breaker! :)
- I am OBSESSED with Harley Davidson Motorcycles!!!!!!!! LOVE THEM!!! I hope to own one someday.............KEEP DREAMING MAMA!!!
- I have seven tattoos and I am planning to get more............They are VERY addictive!!! :) No my parents HATE them but I LOVE them all!!! The hubs has one but wants another one
- I am a MASSIVE daddy's girl..............I MEAN MASSIVE!!!!!!!!!!!
- I am VERY protective of my family so if you mess with any of them or me..............be prepared to get the HORNS!!!!
- I might be a TOM BOY but I LOVE getting a mani/pedi when I get the chance
- I used to be very high maintenance........maybe that is why I am not so much anymore!
- My two favorite colors............Pink...Orange
- I might be borderline OCD about being on time for things.........ask the Hubs he will tell you
- People that are late.............HUGE pet peeve of mine!
- I grew up on a farm and LOVE being a farm girl......miss it very much
- I used to show cattle, sheep, and hogs. If you don't know what this means......just ask, I will inform you of what you are missing out on!!
- Guilty pleasure..............Swiss cake roll that has been in the freezer for a while.............don't knock it until you try it! Trust me it is a little slice of heaven!
- I despised running when I was in high school. Now it is what keeps me from going insane!
- The only reason I went out for cross country when I was in high school? There was a boy I liked that went out for it and I wanted to ride the bus to and from meets with him..............Yes, I was that pathetic!!!
- I played Volleyball, ran cross country, basketball, ran track and was the baseball score book keeper when I was in high school...............best thing about going to a small school. You can go out for all the sports!
- I went to the same school from Kindergarten all the way to 12th grade. And there were 37 kids in my graduating class! I LOVE small schools!
- My best friend is my mom! She is the best person I know. It hasn't always been that way but lets be honest when you are a teenage girl isn't your job to hate your mother!
- Any chance I can get to spend time with my grandma and mom to go on a sewing weekend.....I am there! This might be strange to some of you, but spend a little time with the older generation! They will teach you a lot!
Weekend Recap!!
Sorry I didn't get this done earlier but well I have a toddler...............that is my excuse for EVERYTHING!!! That is the reason I haven't made it to morning workouts the past two days either!!! I blame my son for everything and I just realized that isn't very far!!
So we had a great weekend!!! Saturday we all got to sleep in!! Okay, so getting up at 6:30 is sleeping in for us now a days! Oh I remember when I used to sleep until 1 P.M. and that was REALLY sleeping in!! Now if I get a full nights sleep and go past 7 that is a GREAT NIGHT!!!
Anyway, we had to do some running around and a QUICK trip to the eye glass store due to a certain little 1 year old that decided mommy's glasses needed to be a toy for 30 seconds!! They weren't broken but they certainly weren't straight that is for sure!!! :)
The Hubs and I got new Motorola Electrify cell phones on Saturday also. It has been fun learning how to use them but I have QUICKLY became addicted to one of the games I downloaded called Candy Crush Saga. If you haven't played, DO NOT!!! It is very ADDICTIVE!!!! It is much like Bejeweled only a board game like candy land at the same time. I can't stop playing it!!!!!
I did get in a little bit of a workout.................I have created the new "Mommy & Me Workout"!! B thought it was SO funny!!!! I did my ab workout with him on Saturday morning! I decided to take off Sunday and just have a nice relaxing day!
Sunday late afternoon we met up with some of my old classmate from high school and one of their parents. We are like one big family!!
Now to say I was and still am a TOM BOY is a little bit of an understatement. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being girly too!! But if it is a choice between going to a football game or going shopping...........I will NEVER choose shopping!!
So back to the topic all my friends that I keep in close touch with still are all guys. I know what you are thinking but I just have always gotten along better with guys. Nothing against us girls but..............I am kinda a bitch! I know this about myself and I just get long with boys better for this reason I guess!?!?!
So we all meet in a central location as often as our schedules allow us. Which now that we all have kids isn't very often but we try. We all have a great time together and our kids are all about the same age so that is great too! It is always nice to laugh about the old times and the boys never seem to forget all the trouble I used to cause and feel the need to fill the Hubs in on it!! :) Thanks guys!! It was wonderful to see everyone and I can't wait for the summer for us all to have our camping get together!
So we had a relaxing yet sorta busy weekend but it was nice to spend it together. We got a little bit of yard work done too but all in all it was a great weekend!
So we had a great weekend!!! Saturday we all got to sleep in!! Okay, so getting up at 6:30 is sleeping in for us now a days! Oh I remember when I used to sleep until 1 P.M. and that was REALLY sleeping in!! Now if I get a full nights sleep and go past 7 that is a GREAT NIGHT!!!
Anyway, we had to do some running around and a QUICK trip to the eye glass store due to a certain little 1 year old that decided mommy's glasses needed to be a toy for 30 seconds!! They weren't broken but they certainly weren't straight that is for sure!!! :)
The Hubs and I got new Motorola Electrify cell phones on Saturday also. It has been fun learning how to use them but I have QUICKLY became addicted to one of the games I downloaded called Candy Crush Saga. If you haven't played, DO NOT!!! It is very ADDICTIVE!!!! It is much like Bejeweled only a board game like candy land at the same time. I can't stop playing it!!!!!
I did get in a little bit of a workout.................I have created the new "Mommy & Me Workout"!! B thought it was SO funny!!!! I did my ab workout with him on Saturday morning! I decided to take off Sunday and just have a nice relaxing day!
Sunday late afternoon we met up with some of my old classmate from high school and one of their parents. We are like one big family!!
Now to say I was and still am a TOM BOY is a little bit of an understatement. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being girly too!! But if it is a choice between going to a football game or going shopping...........I will NEVER choose shopping!!
So back to the topic all my friends that I keep in close touch with still are all guys. I know what you are thinking but I just have always gotten along better with guys. Nothing against us girls but..............I am kinda a bitch! I know this about myself and I just get long with boys better for this reason I guess!?!?!
So we all meet in a central location as often as our schedules allow us. Which now that we all have kids isn't very often but we try. We all have a great time together and our kids are all about the same age so that is great too! It is always nice to laugh about the old times and the boys never seem to forget all the trouble I used to cause and feel the need to fill the Hubs in on it!! :) Thanks guys!! It was wonderful to see everyone and I can't wait for the summer for us all to have our camping get together!
So we had a relaxing yet sorta busy weekend but it was nice to spend it together. We got a little bit of yard work done too but all in all it was a great weekend!
Monday, April 15, 2013
Journey
Some of you might not know my journey with weight loss so I will fill you in on some of it.
I have struggled with my weight my WHOLE life. I realized when I was young that I was never going to be a size zero even if I starved myself!! My bones aren't made that way and frankly my "chesticals" weigh more than some of those super models!!!
When I graduated high school I weighted 150 pounds but I was VERY active in all sports and busy doing everything from 4-H to FFA to working and babysitting! I was BUSY!!!
Then I went to college. It is called the freshman 15 for a reason and I put that to the limit and then some!!! I thought I could eat what I wanted and drink what I wanted and not be as active as I used to be and still look the same............WRONG ANSWER!!!!
When I met my husband I was 25 years old and a LONG ways away from 150 pounds!! But I wasn't as bad as I had been. We got engaged about a year later. Here is an engagement picture or ours.
When we got married on 4-26-2008 I was actually in pretty good shape and I had lost a lot of weight from college and kept it off. But who wouldn't when you are putting on a white dress to stand up in front of EVERYONE you know and have them ALL LOOK AT YOU!!!! Here is a picture of our wedding day.
Well after you are married for a while, what starts to happen? You let yourself go, right? Hell yes you do! I had met the man of dreams and I didn't need to impress anyone anymore. I ate what I wanted when I wanted and that was all I cared about. Plus a wife is supposed to cook for their husband, right? Well I tried my best to do that and I didn't know what healthy cooking was! I also have what some might call, a CHOCOLATE addiction. And to make things worse, about 9 months after we got married my husband stopped smoking and then a month later I did too. Now, I don't know if you have ever had the pleasure of going though this AWESOMENESS or not but talk about a weight gainer!!! It sucks ass MAJORLY!!! And I put on a few extra 20 pounds with that!!! So if you are keeping track I would guess by this time I have added on about 80-90 pounds to my "fluffiness" in our first year of marriage. That's a whole lot of UNSEXYNESS!!! This is me at one of the heaviest points of our marriage.
So I decided that was just what I was going to look like and be like for the rest of my life! Like it or not I was going to be fat and I had to live with it!Until..........November 19, 2009! That was the day that changed my life, my husbands life, and our marriage FOREVER!!!! I will fill you in on that on later!
I have struggled with my weight my WHOLE life. I realized when I was young that I was never going to be a size zero even if I starved myself!! My bones aren't made that way and frankly my "chesticals" weigh more than some of those super models!!!
When I graduated high school I weighted 150 pounds but I was VERY active in all sports and busy doing everything from 4-H to FFA to working and babysitting! I was BUSY!!!
Then I went to college. It is called the freshman 15 for a reason and I put that to the limit and then some!!! I thought I could eat what I wanted and drink what I wanted and not be as active as I used to be and still look the same............WRONG ANSWER!!!!
When I met my husband I was 25 years old and a LONG ways away from 150 pounds!! But I wasn't as bad as I had been. We got engaged about a year later. Here is an engagement picture or ours.
When we got married on 4-26-2008 I was actually in pretty good shape and I had lost a lot of weight from college and kept it off. But who wouldn't when you are putting on a white dress to stand up in front of EVERYONE you know and have them ALL LOOK AT YOU!!!! Here is a picture of our wedding day.
So I decided that was just what I was going to look like and be like for the rest of my life! Like it or not I was going to be fat and I had to live with it!Until..........November 19, 2009! That was the day that changed my life, my husbands life, and our marriage FOREVER!!!! I will fill you in on that on later!
Friday, April 12, 2013
Goal & Pinterest
So I am sure you are all DYING to know if I met my goal this morning or not and I am HAPPY to report I did!!! With A LOT of help from the hubs I did my morning workout this morning. He helped by "nudging" me out of bed this morning and the bigger help was by dropping B off at "school". (Yes we call day care school for our 1 year old.........deal with it!) So I got up, a little later than planned but I wanted as much sleep as humanly possible, and got my things around. Things could have been so much simpler if I would have planned ahead and packed my bag the night before, but who wants to do that!?!?!?! So I was getting my things together and packing my bag to shower at work when my adorable little monkey (that is B for you that don't know all my little nick names for my son yet) peeks his head up over his crib and smiles!!!
Now.........I don't know about you but that just made it RIDICULOUSLY HARD for me to leave and go workout!!! But after getting a good hug and some kisses in I got on my shoes and headed out the door. But not without another good "nudge" from the hubs!!
But the good news is.......I made it in to workout!!! I started off with some abs and legs and then finished it off with a mile jog on the treadmill. I got it all in just under an hour. Then shower and dressed with plenty of time before my scheduled work time. (I am a very low maintenance kinda gal!) So since I only live three miles from my office I decided to run home really quick to see my boys. On the way home I noticed that our other vehicle was at school so I pulled in there to see B. He wasn't having a very good morning so I am glad I did. He was glad to see him mommy for just a little bit. Then he was playing with his friends and toys and was fine.
Here is my proof for you that I was working out this morning!! :) Not a very good picture but I am not a pretty person in the mornings!
I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL Friday night. I believe it is bath night for B so we will have some dinner, bath, and early bedtime!! :)
We are meeting up with some of my high school class mates on Sunday so I will let you know how that goes and all the craziness that happens with that! It is always a blast when we get together!
Later,
Mama Nellie
Now.........I don't know about you but that just made it RIDICULOUSLY HARD for me to leave and go workout!!! But after getting a good hug and some kisses in I got on my shoes and headed out the door. But not without another good "nudge" from the hubs!!
But the good news is.......I made it in to workout!!! I started off with some abs and legs and then finished it off with a mile jog on the treadmill. I got it all in just under an hour. Then shower and dressed with plenty of time before my scheduled work time. (I am a very low maintenance kinda gal!) So since I only live three miles from my office I decided to run home really quick to see my boys. On the way home I noticed that our other vehicle was at school so I pulled in there to see B. He wasn't having a very good morning so I am glad I did. He was glad to see him mommy for just a little bit. Then he was playing with his friends and toys and was fine.
Here is my proof for you that I was working out this morning!! :) Not a very good picture but I am not a pretty person in the mornings!
So now onto my Pinterest discussion? But first if you would like to check me out on Pinterest you can do so here.
Now am I the only person who ACTUALLY does some of the things I find on Pinterest? I pin A LOT of things on there. Now mind you I will NEVER do half the things on there but I have done some of them. In fact the workout that I did this morning, I got off there. I have made several recipes off there and I even baked my eggs for Easter this year and I learned to do it off Pinterest.
But lets be real. I have 31 boards and over 1200 posts!! That is a shit ton of stuff and I have a toddler for shit sakes!!! Who has time to do all that stuff...............Martha Freakin Steward!?!???!?! I don't even think she could do all the stuff that is on my Pinterest!!!
Ok so that is really all I have to say about that............I do love it for very cute ideas about stuff but honestly, I am to damn tired to try to do all that stuff. Now, I do LOVE food so I try to make the recipes on there as much as I can. In fact.........we might be having this sometime soon!!
I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL Friday night. I believe it is bath night for B so we will have some dinner, bath, and early bedtime!! :)
We are meeting up with some of my high school class mates on Sunday so I will let you know how that goes and all the craziness that happens with that! It is always a blast when we get together!
Later,
Mama Nellie
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Work-Out FAIL
So my goal this week was to get back to my two a day workouts........FAIL!!!!
I was doing Kosama so I was working out in the morning (yes I got my a$$ up at 4:45 A.M.) and then doing the elliptical machine on my lunch at work for 35 minutes and about 4 miles. Well then I got tired and lets face it there should really only be one 4:45 and it should end with a P.M.!!! Plus we are working on a budget at Mama Nellie's house and Kosama isn't on the budget right now. The 8 week challenge I was doing was over too so that helped with the not going part!
So the new plan was to get up at 5 A.M. (yes that extra 15 minutes means a lot to this Mama!) and go into work where there is a FREE exercise area. There are elliptical machines, treadmills, weight machines and places to put down a mat and do any kind of workout you want all for FREE. So that was the plan starting on Monday morning.
Monday morning rolled around, the alarm went off, and this Mama hit snooze and never got up!!! Oh, I made it to work, but not to workout! I was exhausted and I just couldn't do it! I did however, do my lunch workout so props for that! So then Tuesday came and I had the day off so who wants to go into the office when you have the day off?!?!!! I skipped my lunch workout for the same reason as well.
Wednesday came and I didn't get up that morning either!! I did make the lunch time and got in 4.5 miles and a good sweat! However, today I didn't get up any before I had to for work and I had meetings all morning so no lunch workout either!! I am so mad at myself for not getting back to my workouts!!!
I am doing the Glow Run 5k next Saturday and haven't ran outside since last year!!! It is the first one of the season so I guess that is the good part but I have been eating everything in site lately so that is the TERRIBLE part!
New Goal! You don't have to wait for a Monday to start a diet or workout plan. I will start my two a days tomorrow...................Stay tuned!!!
Here is a picture of the Hubs and I at the Race for the Cure last year. We were both in WAY better shape then!
I was doing Kosama so I was working out in the morning (yes I got my a$$ up at 4:45 A.M.) and then doing the elliptical machine on my lunch at work for 35 minutes and about 4 miles. Well then I got tired and lets face it there should really only be one 4:45 and it should end with a P.M.!!! Plus we are working on a budget at Mama Nellie's house and Kosama isn't on the budget right now. The 8 week challenge I was doing was over too so that helped with the not going part!
So the new plan was to get up at 5 A.M. (yes that extra 15 minutes means a lot to this Mama!) and go into work where there is a FREE exercise area. There are elliptical machines, treadmills, weight machines and places to put down a mat and do any kind of workout you want all for FREE. So that was the plan starting on Monday morning.
Monday morning rolled around, the alarm went off, and this Mama hit snooze and never got up!!! Oh, I made it to work, but not to workout! I was exhausted and I just couldn't do it! I did however, do my lunch workout so props for that! So then Tuesday came and I had the day off so who wants to go into the office when you have the day off?!?!!! I skipped my lunch workout for the same reason as well.
Wednesday came and I didn't get up that morning either!! I did make the lunch time and got in 4.5 miles and a good sweat! However, today I didn't get up any before I had to for work and I had meetings all morning so no lunch workout either!! I am so mad at myself for not getting back to my workouts!!!
I am doing the Glow Run 5k next Saturday and haven't ran outside since last year!!! It is the first one of the season so I guess that is the good part but I have been eating everything in site lately so that is the TERRIBLE part!
New Goal! You don't have to wait for a Monday to start a diet or workout plan. I will start my two a days tomorrow...................Stay tuned!!!
Here is a picture of the Hubs and I at the Race for the Cure last year. We were both in WAY better shape then!
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Beginner
Well I am new to the whole Blogger world so please be easy on me. I am a pretty straight shooter. What you see is what you get. I don't bullshit you on anything. If you don't like what I have to say, don't read it. I hate people that are mean or make fun of anyone because of their size or a disability. This is my BIGGEST pet peeve!!! I am a TERRIBLE speller and I don't deny that!! So if you read something and I have spelled it wrong, I apologize ahead of time and get over it!
I have always wanted to write a blog but never had the courage to do it. I started reading Mama Laughlin's blogs (by the way if you haven't read her blogs you MUST check them out www.mamalaughlin.com) and I thought to myself, self........you can do this! So, I have been trying to get things going. It looks a little rough right now but I am saving my pennies to have Hubby Jack work on my design for me at some point. But for the time being, it is what it is. I hope you all will stop by and check out my blog from time to time.
Today, I would like to give my opinion on the LACK of work-out clothes for us, shall we say, fluffier, ladies. I have always been a little bigger in the "chestical" area and no I haven't had any surgery to make it that way. I know my hubs likes them that way but I for one would give ANYTHING to have the smaller sized boobs!!! But back to the topic at hand! So I have a TERRIBLE time finding a good sports bra for myself. And when I say I have a bigger "chestical" area, I mean I wear a 44 DDD or F bra. So as you might imagine this means you get one design. UGLY AND UGLIER!!!! And don't even get me started on the shirts and shorts!!! I don't want to see myself in spandex so I know no one else does either!!! The shorts are either WAY to short or WAY TO SMALL!!!!! I am not that big of a person but I am not a size zero. If you can make them in the smaller sizes why can't you make them in the bigger sizes too! It is the same pattern, just more material! I mean honestly!!! So, when I win the lottery, (which will be never I am guessing) I am going to start up my own clothing line for workout gear for the "NORMAL" sized people that like to run and workout!!
Ok, that is enough bitching for one day I guess. I can't wait to tell you more about me and my family along this great journey and oh yes I am trying to get healthy but I LOVE food so it is a never ending battle!!!
Here is a picture for you of our ADORABLE little boy B to end your day. Hope to "see ya" later!
I have always wanted to write a blog but never had the courage to do it. I started reading Mama Laughlin's blogs (by the way if you haven't read her blogs you MUST check them out www.mamalaughlin.com) and I thought to myself, self........you can do this! So, I have been trying to get things going. It looks a little rough right now but I am saving my pennies to have Hubby Jack work on my design for me at some point. But for the time being, it is what it is. I hope you all will stop by and check out my blog from time to time.
Today, I would like to give my opinion on the LACK of work-out clothes for us, shall we say, fluffier, ladies. I have always been a little bigger in the "chestical" area and no I haven't had any surgery to make it that way. I know my hubs likes them that way but I for one would give ANYTHING to have the smaller sized boobs!!! But back to the topic at hand! So I have a TERRIBLE time finding a good sports bra for myself. And when I say I have a bigger "chestical" area, I mean I wear a 44 DDD or F bra. So as you might imagine this means you get one design. UGLY AND UGLIER!!!! And don't even get me started on the shirts and shorts!!! I don't want to see myself in spandex so I know no one else does either!!! The shorts are either WAY to short or WAY TO SMALL!!!!! I am not that big of a person but I am not a size zero. If you can make them in the smaller sizes why can't you make them in the bigger sizes too! It is the same pattern, just more material! I mean honestly!!! So, when I win the lottery, (which will be never I am guessing) I am going to start up my own clothing line for workout gear for the "NORMAL" sized people that like to run and workout!!
Ok, that is enough bitching for one day I guess. I can't wait to tell you more about me and my family along this great journey and oh yes I am trying to get healthy but I LOVE food so it is a never ending battle!!!
Here is a picture for you of our ADORABLE little boy B to end your day. Hope to "see ya" later!
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