This is my life

Student Loans

2011-06-21T19:04:00.002-05:00

I received a check in the mail yesterday from Sallie Mae loans. It appears I have finished paying off my student loans!!! I wasn't sure how close I was getting to paying it off because I don't get monthly statements. I just set up my checking account to send a check every month. Such a pleasant surprise! The extra cash will be used to pay for a night out of Sushi with my bestie Molly! Spicy tuna tower here we come!!

It's a boy!!!

2011-06-17T15:44:00.002-05:00

So, just over a year ago my sister had the first grandbaby in the family. Lucy, who turned one in May, is the highlight of my trips back home. I am amazed at how much I love the little one! Knowing how much I love her and care about her safety and well being and knowing that Trish and Matt love her even more and God's love for her is even MORE is very humbling. Having a teeny tiny glimpse at the love of Christ for me makes me want to pursue Him even more!! My sister is also pregnant again and we found out today that she will be having a boy!!! The perfect little family!! I'm sure he will be a little ball of energy just like his big sister. My cup runneth over!!!!

Food Network

2011-06-15T14:22:00.003-05:00

I have noticed that the last few days when I first turn on my TV it is on the Food Network. I go through phases where I watch all these cooking shows and I want to try all the different recipes. But then I remember that I am not the best cook. Also, I have a gas stove/oven at my apartment so doing things, like sautee on low heat, are pretty much impossible. With my stovetop the flame is either on or off, there is no hi or low. I guess I will have to continue to live vicariously through the sites of the television.

Whoa...has it really been almost three years?!?!

2011-06-14T18:25:00.004-05:00

I can't believe I let my blog go to the wayside...wait, yes I can, that's very typical of me actually! I thought I would at least throw in an update!

So, it has been nearly three years since I had the lapband procedure. It took quite a while to get it filled to a point where I felt I was getting appropriate restriction. Once I got there the weight started coming off a little faster. To date I have lost about 65 pounds. This would probably be a bigger number but I have a weakness for the "cheat foods", sweets, chips, ice cream, etc. Last year I decided to stop getting fills because the band is nearly full (it takes 10cc and I have 9.5cc) And the PA was telling me that, unfortunately, some people just don't have super crazy results. Plus, I decided it was time to start relying on myself to do some more of the work. So I decided to take up running. At first I was doing okay but I had little direction. Then, at the beginning of the year I downloaded the Couch 2 5k app and gave it a whirl. I have done two 5ks and just this last sunday I did a 10k. Granted, I do intervals of walking and running for these races but my time has been a fairy consistent 15 min mile pace. I was surprised to keep up this pace with the 10k but I did! My body has been aching in protest of the 10k but it's a good sore, my knees and hips feel fine. I had also worn my new Vibram Five Finger shoes for the 10k...may have been a bad idea as they have contributed to the soreness. Some of my co-workers are talking about signing up for the 5-man relay at the White Rock marathon in December. I plan on participating in that as well.

The picture is from a recent trip to Brazil. We floated down the amazon river on a big boat and stopped at numerous villages to provide medical, dental, vision, children's, women's and men's ministries. We also got to go alligator hunting a couple of different nights. He's small, but he's my friend!

Well, I think I have bored you all enough for one day! Have a great tuesday

First fill update

2008-11-14T14:54:00.002-06:00

So I got my fill on wednesday and while I have noticed an slight decrease in the amount of food I eat, I am not at the point that the band really does it's thing. This is not unusual though. I will go back for another fill in about 4 weeks. The process wasn't too bad, it would have been better if the Doc could have got the needle into the port on the first try. She used a local anesthetic so it wasn't too bad, I could feel it when she really got to digging but otherwise I couldn't feel a thing! Also I had gained some weight, which I wasn't surprised about and it's not an unusual occurrence either since I was able to eat like I was before the surgery (and believe me I was). But lately I have been obsessed with printing off recipes and trying them at home, which has been keeping me from eating out so much!

My first fill

2008-11-11T19:47:00.003-06:00

So tomorrow I go in for my first fill for my band. For those who don't know the band has a balloon on the inside of it and as the restriction goes down the doctor fills the balloon with a little saline to increase the restriction which in turn decreases the amount of food it takes to feel full and it makes you feel fuller longer. Since this is my first fill I am a little nervous, I have been trying to slow down when I eat to prepare for this but I haven't been very consistent with this so hopefully I won't make myself sick by eating to fast. But I am excited about getting this thing going. I guess sometimes it can take a couple of fills before you start to feel the restriction. I hope this doesn't happen and make me discouraged...I try to write another blog tomorrow or thursday to give you an update on the fill!

If you're ready to rock with the New Kids on the Block....

2008-10-31T23:41:00.002-05:00

...Everybody say "OH YEA!!!!" Okay so almost two weeks ago I had the joy of seeing my childhood obsession in concert! New Kids on the Block...Oh yes...and might I say, Jordan is still the love of my life. I went with my good friend Jacque and it was soooooooo much fun! I saw some girls wearing old old NKOTB shirts that I remember wearing when I was just 12 years old and of course I had to buy myself a tour shirt! The opening acts were a white girl who said she was from Jamaica (but I doubt it, her accent came and went) and she was laughably bad...it was 30 minutes of my life that I will never get back. The other opener was Natasha Bedingfield (not sure on the spelling). She was good, it helps when you know some of the songs though. Then came the 5 men who stole my heart Donnie, Joey, Jordan, Jon and Danny ...they sang mostly old songs from their wonder years and mixed it with some of the songs from their new album. Let me say they still have moves and they have only gotten better with age ;) Lots of costume changes and pyrotechnics are what make their show just like the old days. Coupled with the choreography they put on a fabulous two hour squealfest...of course I lost my voice from singing and screaming the ENTIRE time! As much fun as I had though, I don't know that another tour is in their future...I mean really, let's be real here...

Long time, no blog

2008-10-17T22:56:00.002-05:00

Hey there so I know it has been over two weeks since my last blog and I am sorry. Between packing and moving and unpacking I have been a little busy, then you throw work on top of it and it's a mad house!!! So things are great, I am officially settled into my new apartment with my new roommate Lauren. And what a week it has been for us, the day after we moved in Lauren was setting up the washer and dryer and when she plugged the dryer in the power went out to our entire apartment! We tried flipping the breakers but it was no use. The maintenance guy came about 4 hours later and finally fixed it...it's hard to do dishes in the dark! Then our air conditioner wasn't working. We could hear it running but it was not getting any cooler (luckily it's october and not august huh?) So after the maintenance guy looked at it he put some freon in it and the next day when he checked it again he discovered that our unit was leaking freon somewhere...so a day later we get a new a/c unit! Now it's nice and cool in our pad. Now the issue is the disposal. It wasn't working the day we moved in and we wrote it down on our list of things to be fixed that was turned into the office saturday but they still haven't come to fix it. I'm gonna have to call tomorrow...it's getting really gross, the sink barely drains and there's gross stuff stuck in the sink now and I can't clean very good because the water won't drain away YUCK! So those are the fun times of the week. Two of my co-workers are going to be moving into the same complex over november so now we have some car pooling opportunities!

As for the lap-band...I am back on a regular diet and so my weight loss has stalled a bit. They haven't filled the balloon yet so there is really no restriction until that happens. I have a Doc appointment on monday afternoon. Maybe I'll get a fill then, maybe not. Folks usually have to wait 1-2 months before getting any fills so that the stomach can heal. But it won't be long now before I start slimming down!!!

Work Work Work

2008-10-03T15:53:00.000-05:00

So.....If my bathroom scale is accurate to the scale at the hospital, then I have lost about 15 pounds over the last two weeks...But I think it may be a bit off so I'm guessing it to be more like 10, which is still AWESOME! I am already noticing that my knees are hurting a bit less. I went to work wednesday and thursday night and things went really well. I had an assignment that was pretty physically easy going, not much turning and what turning I did have my co-workers were quick to jump in and help me out. My partner even took my patient to CT scan for me...we all hate going to CT because it's at the very end of the night when you're trying to get everything wrapped up so it meant a lot that she was insistent about going! I'll have a couple days off and then I'm back for four more days...the past two days exhausted me so much I don't know if I can make four days...three probably, we'll see about four...it doesn't help that I'll be moving right after I finish those four days (don't worry I have hired movers) And by the way...my soon to be roommate, Lauren, has been super fanTABulous!!! She has called to check on me frequently, she has offered to bring me things and has come to keep me company a number of times while I was bored at home! I am so excited to be getting a roommate!!!

Doing Great!

2008-09-29T11:00:00.000-05:00

I am doing so much better! The pain is at a minimum, I only take tylenol once or twice a day and I really don't need to take it but I do for the extra comfort. The pain is at a minimum and it's just at the incision sites, there are five total; two of them are about 1/2 inch, two are 1 inch and one is 2 inches, the two inch one is the one causing me the most problems but it's really not that bad at all. Still have to stick with the liquid diet...gotta stay on that until two weeks post-op, I am SO ready for some MEAT!!! That would be the biggest struggle for me so far! Trying to find new things to eat that I like, I almost broke down and ate some chips and Guac from chipotle last night...luckily my friend was with me and she wouldn't have let me :) I'm scheduled to go back to work wednesday night I was nervous about it at first but I have been feeling well enough that I don't think it'll be a big deal, now I just need to reset my sleeping schedule...

Slow and steady

2008-09-27T10:01:00.000-05:00

So the pain is getting better slowly but I don't completely dread moving around now. I'm not sure how much the lortab is working so I'm gonna try to hold off on it today and see how I feel. The dry mouth is starting to clear up too. Starting to get my appetite back and my goal today is to finish at least one protein shake and maybe a bowl of soup. I can't wait to have some chicken but that won't be for a couple more weeks still...oh well. Mom and I are gonna try going to church this evening so I'll have to let you know how that went. I have been really blessed though by numerous folks checking in on me and leaving me get well wishes. My future roomie has offered to bring some dinner over for my mom and me...she is so awesome!!!

ouchy

2008-09-26T09:26:00.000-05:00

So I had the surgery yesterday and the doctor said everything went very well. When I first woke up it felt like a weird dream. People hovering over me and pulling stickers off and putting new ones on. The only thing I could feel was the pain from the incision sites, they were stinging like CRAZY! The recovery nurse kept giving me pain meds but it didn't seem like they worked very well...not her fault though. I got to go home at about 7pm last night so we ended up spending 12 hours at the hospital total. I haven't had much more than water and juice since...not really hungry with the pain and all. I'm afraid that if I eat some pudding or something like that then I will get nauseated. So it's probably going to be clear liquids for a few days still. Now for the pain, It's mostly at the incision sites, my abdomen otherwise just feels sore, like after a hard ab workout. And my chest and should hurt from the air they used to pump up my belly so they could work more easily. I have been taking my pain med and it helps a little but the pain is still there. But the pain is temporary and I know it'll go away eventually. Well, I guess that's it for now. I'll make another post in a day or two.

I have decided to come out of retirement

2008-09-24T13:02:00.000-05:00

From the looks of my blog you would think I had suddenly passed away right after my first/last post. I am, in fact, alive and well and in reality just lazy as far as the blog goes. To tell the truth, I just don't really know what to write and I'm pretty sure most of my posts will be pretty short but we'll see how it goes. I think that many of my future posts will also revolve around the changes in my life that will be starting officially tomorrow morning. I am going to have the Lap-Band procedure in an attempt to lose weight. I have been overweight since I was about 8 years old and obesity wasn't far behind. I have done a number of diets, mostly weight watchers, and while the diets would work initially I would find myself stuck in the same ruts of eating the exact same thing for most meals and I would get bored and frustrated and ultimately just give up. One of my biggest problems with my eating habits is portion sizes and the Lap band is perfect for this problem. But there are also ways to "eat around" the band, mostly by eating sweets or having high calorie drinks. Since there is no dumping syndrome like with gastric bypass surgeries and every calorie consumed is absorbed there isn't the deterrent from eating the bad stuff. But luckily I like bulky foods too and this will be to my advantage. The one thing I will miss will be bread, apparently bread doesn't go down very easy. But it's a small sacrifice. So the topic of my future posts will probably revolve around my weight-loss journey, the struggles and the successes and hopefully I will figure out how to put up pictures so you can see the change as well. ...Update 10/3/08 as you can see I have added a before picture for you, this is my sister and I at the Dallas zoo hanging out with our friend Terrence the tortise :)

Blog Sweet Blog

2008-03-10T22:30:00.000-05:00

So I am going to try out this official blogging thing, writing down thoughts, events, whatever comes to mind I suppose. Hopefully I will be able to keep this up and maybe post something every week or two...we'll see, right now I'm just struggling to make this posting a little longer.

I suppose one of my goals for this blog is to help me sort out my own thoughts and ramblings and find some reasonings and direction for myself. Often I feel like there are a million things going on in my head but I can't pinpoint any one specific thing I am feeling or thinking or WHY I am thinking or feeling a certain way.

The other purpose is to keep people up on the going ons of my life here in Dallas. Whether we are talking physical, spiritual or emotional. I want to make sure that I am not closing myself off to everyone. So please, comments are welcome and encouraged on my future blogs!

God Bless!!!