Let's Get Caught Up

Saw this while walking through shops in the Fort Worth Stockyards and thought it went along with my blog address.

My life has been busy since I left Texas (the day after Easter) and I am not even working yet! Thanks to Mom we drove Monday afternoon through Wednesday early evening from Texas to Michigan and had a great shopping trip at an outlet mall in Indiana. Since getting back I am as unpacked as I'll ever be, hung out with Gramma Bea for three days (making sure she was doing okay after surgery), and went on a women's retreat with church. This coming week I will be working at Habitat a couple of times (I missed that while in TX) and then next week will begin training for US Census work. That should be an interesting job, going to people's homes who haven't filled out their census form and getting it filled out.

I am still eagerly awaiting my move to NJ but need to find a job and place to live there. It could be towards the end of May when I hear back from the two colleges I applied to for grad school. In the meantime I enjoy talking with Aylah and Macy on the phone and getting text updates from Andrea about cute things Aylah has said. The most recent was Andrea asking "Aylah, what are you going to be when you grow up?" and Aylah responding "Bigger." Now that is one smart girl!

Aspen (my dad's golden retriever) never disappoints me when I come home. She always comes running to greet me and whines because she is just so excited. This is good because I missed her tons when I was in Texas and am so happy to have her around again. The best is when she sleeps next to my bed the first night or too after I have been gone for several days :) The two of us really bonded when we first got her over seven years ago. Mom surprised Dad with her for Christmas and I was living with them at the time.

As I promised, here are some pictures:

The Fort Worth Herd is taken out twice a day to show tourists what an old Longhorn cattle drive looks like. Those crazy beasts didn't even care the road was packed three or four deep with adults and kids.

Here is where the bikers hangout on Sunday afternoons, a little place called Love Shack. Seriously, the whole road was lined with cruisers!

Next is an up close picture of a longhorn. He was tied to a fence for the sole purpose of allowing people to sit on him and get their picture taken.

As we, my friend Lynne and two of her sons Tyler and Alex, where walking along the sidewalk we came upon something very unusual: a dog, a cat, and a mouse just chilling. They have been trained to do this obviously by their owner but it made passersby laugh and take pictures.

We got to go on a nice horse drawn carriage ride around the Stockyards. On the left is one of the sites. This tower was used in my favorite t.v. series Prison Break.

Tyler and Alex loved meeting the horses after our ride, especially Alex, the younger one.

I decided that while in Texas I wanted to be a tourist once or twice. This was my second time, the first was at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, where of course no cameras are allowed. Lynne and all three of her boys accompanied me to the Mint as well :)

Moving to MI

So much has happened. I even have pictures to post. The problem is I have been very busy...packing, packing, and working. Right now I am hanging out at my friends' house with their sweet golden/lab mix, Abby. It is a nice break from it all. Today was my last day at work which made it a somewhat emotional day.

Hopefully this tiny update is good enough for now. I am headed to bed and it is only 9pm.

My mom and I will hopefully arrive back in MI Tuesday, April 6 after a very long drive. I will definitely have more time to post what all has been going on in my life and pictures from the Fort Worth Stockyard.

Happy Easter! He is Risen!

On Fire!

First of all, I changed my profile pic because I love seeing pictures of my smiling nieces all the time. So this one is of me and Macy. Isn't she just the cutest redhead?!

Okay, now for the on fire part. Within the past year I have been on fire twice. Nope, not kidding. It first occurred in June when I was diagnosed with Mono and an upper respiratory infection. The antibiotic I was prescribed gave me a rash the day after I finished taking it. By the next day my face was bright red and on fire. My nurse practitioner is awesome and takes very good care of me, I see her often as you may guess. By the next day my firey face was much better.

This past Wednesday I had finally had enough of my hands hurting so badly; they were dry, itchy, bleeding, and hurting from all the hand washing at work, that I called my doctor. I still had to work five and a half hours on Thursday before I could get in though. So by the time I went into the doctor my hands were bright red on fire and I had a temp because my hands were so hot. Yes, excessive hand washing IS hazardous to your health!

Really, I am so sick of being sick in so many different ways. I feel as if Satan is trying to attack me to the point where I will just give up. Well trust me some days it almost gets to that point. But I keeping seeking God's strength to get me through.

I was not able to go back to work on Thursday, for the remaining 2-2.5 hrs, and I missed yesterday too. My hands are starting to look better but definitely still look like I have a slight sunburn starting at my wrist. I know I will make it though because God has already healed me of my allergies, including wheat, and gotten me through the Mono.

Now if I could just kick the Anaemia...(which I was also diagnosed with in June)

This weekend I hope to finish my college apps and call the appropriate people about writing recommendations for me, something I have been putting off because I really do not like having to ask people to do things like that for me but will be so appreciative to them for doing. And I did get a ton of random stuff like laundry, filing, etc done yesterday.

Thanks for listening, I know my sickness stuff is boring. It just never ends for me.

I've Got Texas in My Corner

That's right folks. I have now lived in Texas for over a year. I had to renew my auto registration and therefore "I've got Texas in my corner". The corner of my windshield that is. The phrases used in the lone star state crack me up sometimes so this time I decided to share. Too bad I will only have to use my renewed registration for less than a month (it expires in March, I like to be proactive otherwise I completely forget when the deadline approaches). Then hopefully it will be off to NJ!

p.s. I have had several days without headaches! Although my blood tests came back with the result of anemia again so I was instructed to take more iron each day. We will see how it goes...

Being Sick

So I am usually not one to complain or tell the world that I am sick but this has been a rough year. Being diagnosed with Mono and Chronic Daily Headaches was plenty. Then, this past weekend all I did was sleep, literally. I think I was awake for about ten hours the whole weekend.
When the nurse called me in this morning I blurted out "You got a new scale!" Um yes, I have been in the doctor's office so frequently this past year that I was sick of seeing broken scale and a sudo bathroom scale next to it. Now they have a nice new digital one (that told me I way so much more than I really do because I had my winter coat, tennis shoes, jeans, bulky sweatshirt on--I'm just saying).
Then when a nurse came in to give me a shot in my rump (for congestion because I was coughing until I gagged) I thanked her. I know, kind of funny but those shots in the bum work every time!
So with nothing else to go on my doctor knew it was time to draw more blood and do more tests. I hate getting my blood drawn and always tell whom ever is taking it but somehow have become a pro at it I think.
So for now I am low on energy despite taking an iron supplement (for anemia) since June 2009 and sleeping all weekend. It's back to work tomorrow because taking care of ten babies it not tiring at all ;)
In a nut shell: I am really sick of being sick. I think it's time for a nap.

Headaches

Not a fun subject but I thought I would share because this is something I have been struggling with for several years now. I truly believe with all my heart that God brought me to Texas for healing, both spiritual and physical. For several years I have had headaches that progressively got worse. When I met with an allergist here in Texas (and also found out I no longer have allergies, including wheat) he referred me to a neurologist. Both the allergist and neurologist are amazing at their jobs and have been a blessing. However, going to the process of getting rid of my Chronic Daily Headaches (CDH) is not fun at all. The headaches may get worse in order to get better and I even had a major migraine one day. The headaches not only hurt (um, duh :) but they also exhaust me, especially now that they have gotten worse. So I am just ready to have more energy and headache free days.

Christmas/New Year's Vacation in Michigan!

Macy and Auntie Marie. I met Macy for the first time in June so she had lots of new tricks to show me :)

Aylah wearing her new Texas shirt:) I wanted her to have something that would reminder of me because I miss her so much. If you ask her about the shirt she will tell you it says Texas and that is where An Re lives. Macy is such a happy baby, always smiling, but loves to stick her tongue out in concentration. I wonder if she was eyeing a plate of my Mom's famous Christmas goodies? The banket and buckeyes are my favorite!

Favorite moments from my vacation home:

• a mobile Macy: crawling across the floor, up the stairs and pulling up to the couch


• a sleepy Macy: cuddling with Macy while rocking her to sleep


• wake-up calls courtesy of Aylah: "get up An Re" "I turn light on, tay?" "let's go play!"


• Aspen realizing I was home after almost a year: I have NEVER in my life seen her SO excited (she gave me kisses on the face-she never does that:)


• welcome at GRR: Mom, Dad, and Gramma Bea waiting for me at the airport


• a party with friends: nough said!


• lunch with a friend at Logan's: good company, good food!


• seeing all of my relatives: including one who I had not seen in quite awhile


• having a really good excuse for not sledding: I always get cold quickly and now since living in Texas I am a pansy when it comes to Michigan winter weather


• getting to drive Mom and Dad's vehicles: it's the little things in life that make me happy--I enjoy driving different vehicles, maybe because I drove different vehicles in catering and at the child care center


• Euchre with Dad, Andrea, and Josh: yeah, Dad and I only won one out of three but we still had a great time

I do not miss the Michigan weather for a minute but it was really weird not have cold temps before Christmas. Then Christmas Eve Day and Christmas Day were nasty in Texas. God was my comfort as I drove on pure ice to the slippery highways Christmas morning.

Although I have been enjoying the warm temps in Texas this winter I think it will be my last one here (I moved here in the middle of last winter). God has been speaking to me about moving to New Jersey and earning a MSW. It is also a huge bonus that my nieces live there and it is so hard to be so far away from them while they are growing up so quickly. And I really miss Andrea and Josh too.

I hope you and your families had a blessed holiday season. It is funny how two Thanksgivings ago was when God began to speak to me about Texas and now this Christmas about New Jersey. His plan is amazing and awesome and although this year of healing in Texas has not been easy I really needed it.