Employee of the Month

This guy right here was named Employee of the Month last night at his staff meeting. I'm proud of him. Seriously, I've said before that when I've seen him working in the ER, he does an AMAZING job of interacting with and taking care of the patients there. We regularly receive cards in the mail from his coworkers/supervisors telling him how much they appreciate him. He's going to be mad at me for bragging about him, but I don't care. :) He has SO much on his plate right now, & he still puts everything he has into his job. I love him! CONGRATS LINC!!!

What A Relief!

Daisy & Duke got sick...AGAIN. I don't know what it was, but it was GROSS. Let's just say when one of them scratched on the door to go out, we came RUNNING. We had to feed them CHICKEN & RICE (vet's orders) & now my year supply of canned chicken breast is GONE. They woke us up MULTIPLE times a night, so that we would take them out. I wished SO badly that I had a DOGGY DOOR & a BACKYARD! It lasted for at least a WEEK. They are fine now. UGH.

Happy Belated Bday Dad!

We celebrated my dad's birthday last night. I LOVE this picture! Apparently he & Aaron were pretty excited about the celebration!

My dad has mastered the karate chop! The boys decided to try to beat up on him...I think my dad won. :)

I love my dad so much! He is a great example and has a good attitude about life. The best thing he taught me was to always analyze myself & my life and find ways to improve every day. I love my dad's sense of humor too. Seriously, I think he is SO, SO funny. His bday was a couple weeks ago, but I want him to know that I love him and that I'm INCREDIBLY thankful that he was born!!!

Sidenote: My dad gives his mom a present every year on his birthday. How cute is that?!

H-Y-P-N-O-T-I-Z-E-D

Aaron had Prom on Saturday night, & his group decided to have a hypnotist come to my parents' house for their night activity. My family sat in on it, & ended up playing a big part in the show. :) Megan didn't want to be hypnotized (especially in front of a bunch of Aaron's high school friends) but once the hypnotist started, I looked over and saw Megan like this...
She was totally hypnotized in the audience! It was crazy and so funny. We pointed it out to the hypnotist & she ended up being one of the funniest people in the show. I had only seen a hypnotist once at the state fair for a few minutes, and I came into this being kind of skeptical, but now I am completely convinced...Megan would NEVER have done the things she did that night!

The picture above is her trying to bend her arm after the hypnotist told her she couldn't.

He pulled her up to the front...here Meg is thinking that her shoe is a phone. She was getting really frustrated because nobody was answering on the other end.

Aaron was completely out & kept falling on the ground.

I wish I had gotten better pictures and video of this, because it was HILARIOUS. Aaron thought he was in the Mr. America Pageant & took off his shirt and flexed about 30 times. He must practice this in the mirror in real life, because he came up with so many different poses. :) He was SO into it. It was definitely one of the funniest things EVER!

Here he is....flexing away! The pictures aren't great....the lighting was bad in there.

Shawn participating in the Mr. America Pageant. He was laying on the couch next to this group & was hypnotized from there. He did a bunch of push-ups. None of us knew he could do so many...he must have REALLY wanted to win!

I didn't get pictures of my favorites...Megan trying out for cheer was HILARIOUS. She was strutting around & jumping & cheering. Another time, the hypnotist had Megan & Shawn (my BROTHER & SISTER) fall in love with each other. She was flirting like CRAZY with him and kept moving closer to him & flipping her hair. He started laughing & said "This is so weird. You're my sister!" but he still was telling her that she smelled good & stuff. He told me later that he knew she was his sister, but she smelled EXTREMELY good and her eyes were "twinkling". I think it freaked both of them out pretty bad! Megan was so "under" that when she was awake, she started shaking like crazy and couldn't remember anything she had done. The hypnotist had to make her fall asleep again and "remove" the hypnosis. It was CRAZY!!!!!!!!

More Fun

On Saturday night, our family went to eat at Red Robin. This was the YUMMIEST & BIGGEST burger ever...guacamole bacon burger with an egg. I was having a hard time deciding between two different burgers...so with Brad's help I was able to combine the two. :) YUM!!!!!!! Unfortunately, I can probably never eat it again! I'm having bad stomach issues now. This was only the 2nd burger I've had in about 4 months. I was convinced that greasy foods don't play a part in my stomach problems like I originally thought, but I guess I'm wrong. I'm cranky about it...I LOVE burgers! Shawn & Ashley hanging out...I like this picture of Ashley. :)

Melissa & Brad decided to practice feeding each other cake at the reception, with leftover cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory.

I still like Brad's plan to body slam Melissa into the cake... :)

It's crazy...Brad already feels like part of our family. I would never guess that someone could be liked so easily and could immediately fit in like he has. It's interesting to see how he adds to the family dynamics. I'm even more excited now for Melissa & Brad to get married. She's getting a really good guy...and of course I think he's getting an AMAZING girl! It's neat to see how things just kind of fall into place when it is right.

Family Time

Well, my whole family is finally in town! We haven't all been together since December, so it has been great spending time with each other. Yesterday Linc & I hung out with Shawn (my brother) & Ashley (his girlfriend). We talked, ate treats & everyone (except me) went swimming. Daisy & Duke even swam. Lincoln just threw them in the pool over & over and they would paddle to the side and get out. I don't think that they loved it. :) That night Melissa (my sister) & Brad (her fiance) got into town, so we ate dinner and then headed over to my little sister Megan's softball game.
Here are Shawn & I hanging out at the game. I'm SO excited that he is living here for the summer!

Here are Melissa & Brad...the happy couple! We actually had never met Brad until last night! My parents hadn't even seen a picture of him. I'm sure he was so nervous to meet all of us at once...being engaged to my sister already! All of us love him & are so excited that he is going to be a part of our family. Melissa & Brad are getting married July 17th & are moving to AZ about a week before the wedding! (By the way....I'm trying to gather addresses for them, so any of Melissa's friends who want to get an announcement, please leave your address, unless she has it already!)

Here is my dad at the softball game, being weird as usual! Basically a SUPER creepy guy carved something creepy in this tree next to us. My dad started joking that the tree was hurt (he owns a tree business) & the picture above was his response to my brother calling him a "tree hugger". My dad is hilarious! He can seriously always make me laugh!

Today/tonight we all went to Aaron's track meet & he did SO well! He PR'd at 14.28 on the 110m high-hurdles. He bashed his leg on the first hurdle too, so his leg was all bloody when he was done...and he still got his fastest time even after hitting the hurdle! The weather was PERFECT tonight & it felt so good being out & about and spending time with everyone. I'm sure I'll have more pictures to post in a few days!

Update: Aaron's time last night moved him up to #1 in the SW region (which is made up of 6 states) & #22 in the nation! I'm SO proud of him!!!

Hooray for my Endodontist!!!

I just got back from my monthly endodontist appointment...and the x-rays looked SO good. My endodontist was so excited about the progress I made this past month! It was crazy...there was a pretty big difference between this month & last month's x-rays. The best news is, he is pretty confident that he won't have to do surgery at all now!!! He told me that if things keep going the way they are, I might only have to see him two more times! I've been going to see him since June of last year, so this was great news for me! He told me that a lot of endodontists would have immmediately gone to surgery, but that he tries not to do that, unless nothing else works. I went & got my teeth cleaned & had some x-rays done at my regular dentist's office a couple weeks ago & they were incredibly excited about my progress. The dentist was just looking at my x-rays with a huge smile on his face & couldn't believe what the endodontist had done for me. Hooray, hooray, hooray! I definitely won't miss all of the numbing & needles!

My Exciting Life

Here are a few random pictures from the past week. Yes, I know I am completely obsessed with my dogs. I'd rather be a somewhat sane animal lover than an insane lone hermit...trust me, it's a good thing I have them! Here are Duke & I just hanging out watching tv one night while Lincoln was doing homework. Duke cuddles with me more than Daisy does & I love it! He was extra cuddly when he didn't feel good. We still have to feed the dogs chicken & rice (there goes my year supply of bottled chicken!) but the dogs are doing good!

Duke will sit at our gate or sit on the couch and look out the window forever. He sat like this for at least a half hour just staring outside. It was so funny. (And yes, I know my couch needs some cute pillows! It's so BLAH right now.)

And now...to the most EXCITING news!!! My sister Melissa is getting MARRIED in July! She got engaged this past Friday. I am so, so excited to have another married couple in the family, since I've been the only married child in my family for 5 years. Melissa also told me that she & her husband will be living here! She & I have been living in two different places for WAY too long! By the way...her fiance's name is Brad, he is from Cali & they met through work (they both teach at the MTC). I really wanted to announce Melissa's engagement with a funny picture I have of her sticking her stomach out, acting like she is pregnant. The pic totally looks real...I knew she would kill me if I posted it though! :) Melissa & Brad are coming to visit tomorrow & my brother Shawn & his girlfriend Ashley are driving down here today. Shawn will be living here for the summer! I'm hoping to spend a lot of time with my family during this next week, so I'm sure I'll have some fun pics to post soon!

Improvements

Last Thursday through Sunday I felt pretty darn good! Usually I have a good day here or there, which is what keeps me going...but this time I had FOUR GOOD DAYS! I really needed it! Yesterday & today I've felt pretty nauseated and extra-sleepy, but I will definitely take that over excruciating pain, which was what I was dealing with just a few weeks ago! I think my endometriosis is starting to come back...I'm getting twinges and sharp pain when I move quickly...but it seems to be coming back very slowly, which I'm very grateful for. It's funny that I questioned myself so much & wondered every day if I was just a huge baby or if my pain was really that bad. Deep down I know that it REALLY IS THAT BAD...but when I don't get answers immediately it's easy for me to question myself.

When I woke up this morning I laid in bed for awhile, just thinking. I do this almost every day now...it takes a few minutes to get that medicated fuzzy feeling to leave my brain. Anyway, I realized that my headaches are getting A LOT better. I have had a headache almost every day since junior high or high school. I could never figure out why, so I just deal with it. I don't think Lincoln even knew that I got them. They aren't migraines or anything...they just hurt enough to be annoying and to make me feel extra crappy. I realized this morning that I only get one or two a week now & I am convinced that it is because my mouth is healing! I had never put that together before...but I've heard that if you have problems in your mouth your whole body can feel the effects. I'm really excited to think about the possibility of only getting a headache once in awhile! Yes, things are slowly looking up. Heavenly Father is definitely answering my prayers.

Biopsy Results

I got a phone call today from the GI's office about my biopsies...apparently I have some inflammation. I'm going to get blood work done in the next week or two. I also might have what they call a "capsule endoscopy". It looks pretty cool! I guess I'm kind of relieved that they found something, but now I'm wondering what it means. It may be absolutely nothing. I guess I'll just have to wait & see.
P.S.-It felt so good to receive a phone call from the office instead of having to call them multiple times to get my results! The lady I talked to is setting everything up for me. Sadly, I haven't had a doctor take charge in such a long time, but this one really did. I'm really happy about that!

Pam Beesly: Michael are you alright?
Michael Scott: It was a setup. Dwight told Charles. He told 'em.
Pam Beesly: Tell us what you're talking about.
Michael Scott: It's like a girl says she'll make out with you but then her boyfriend is waiting around the corner with a pee-filled balloon.
Pam Beesly: We can't help you if you don't just tell us what happened.
Michael Scott: I got hit in the face with a pee-filled balloon, Pam! Ok? I don't know how they did it. They filled the balloon with pee. A funnel? I donno! Is that clear enough for you!

I LAUGHED MY HEAD OFF WATCHING THE OFFICE LAST NIGHT!!!

Shoes

I went to Enrichment last night & the theme was "Sisterhood of the Traveling Shoes". We each brought a shoe with us that had significant meaning. (I didn't bring these red shoes...I just think they are cute. :)) I brought some worn out brown shoes that I wore on my first date with Lincoln...kind of lame, but they do hold a certain significance in my life. Anyway, we ate dinner & then one by one told the story of our shoes. I was amazed to hear women who I've known for years talk about something that happened in their life that I had no clue about. Many of the stories were about shoes that they had worn during a huge trial in their life. A few stories had to deal with major heartache. I realized last night that I tend to get so caught up in my own trials, that I forget that everyone around me has had or will have hard things happen to them. Sometimes I feel incredibly alone when I'm dealing with this chronic pain and waiting for answers that aren't coming. I discovered that listening to others talk about their trials and the healing that has come into their lives, gives me hope and courage to deal with my own trials. The saying "Don't judge someone until you've walked in their shoes" took on new meaning to me. It just goes to show that we are all in this together.