Finally Some Pictures

Yes, we had the typical "lost our camera cord" scenario. Can't find it anywhere. We finally found some type of cord that resembled it for the video camera, gave it a shot, and it works!! So..I'll finally post some pictures of our happenings.
We've been adjusting to life but have been loving it. It's a tad hard for me since I can't drive but I'm adjusting and am so, so thankful to all those who have been helping out. I sure hope you receive lots of blessings for doing this for me! You all know who you are! Anyway, life has been a bit different for us since my seizure. I've had lots of doctor's appointments, lots of blood drawn and now we're just trying not to focus on it anymore (I'll go crazy if I do). Anyway, in a lot of ways it's given us, more especially me, a different outlook on life. Although my situation is nowhere near as bad as what others go through, I sure have realized how fragile life is but also how GOOD life is.

Memorial Day weekend started out at the Beagley’s—our wonderful beyond wonderful friends. We went over there at about ten Friday night, stayed up until 3:30 playing games and then fell asleep there. We woke up and enjoyed a delicious breakfast and then went to the driving range. They’re big-time golfers so they taught us a little bit. As you’ll see from the pictures, they didn’t tell me until the end that my arms needed to be straight. Yeah, I just can’t get it down.I’m actually excited to try golf! I’ll never say it’s not a sport and that it’s for wimps—I was so sore the next day! Anyway, after that we came back and spent a few hours at the pool then Steven and I headed on down to Benson.
Benson was so relaxing and beautiful. The weather was GREAT. Monday morning we woke up and Steven and I played Frisbee while my mom made fry bread/scones for breakfast. Then the boys played horseshoes for a few hours while the girls watched and played with Carson. We even got the little pool out for him to swim in. He’s just adorable. That’s all there is to it.

We’ve also celebrated Steven’s little brother’s high school graduation, my cousin’s graduation, and my mom’s birthday! Needless to say we’ve been gone just about every weekend and are VERY busy. We’re getting ready for my brother Jeremy’s wedding on Saturday so we’re leaving for Benson tomorrow and then on Sunday we’re leaving straight from Benson and are headed off to Newport Beach!! It’ll probably be cold but oh well, we’ll be at the beach and we’ll just have to plan another trip when it’s warmer ☺

Some pictures from our hospital stay:
Poor Steven had to sleep on the couch

Doesn't get much hotter than a hospital gown and no make-up, right? :)

I seriously have the best parents ever. They were there Thursday night through Sunday and kept us company AND cleaned my apartment. Thanks Mom and Dad!!

I was eating when this picture was taken, hence the funny smile

Steven had the camera on some funky color setting--we look dead

Just for kicks because he makes me smile :)

Derek and Steven at Derek's graduation

Memorial Day weekend
Driving range

The Gang

"Batter up"

One of our favorite pastimes: playing games!!

I have about 5 pictures that look like this one--he has such a big grin in all of them!

Jeremy and Steven playing horseshoes. My mom commented that they could almost pass for brothers because of their facial hair

My dad watering the trees.

Carson baby enjoying being outside

the beautiful Kayleen holding baby Carson--Kayleen will be officially joining the family tomorrow!! Yay!!

My cousin Brady at his graduation. It was so fun to go back--I hadn't been back to good ol' Benson High in 3 years...since my graduation!!

Need a pick-me-up? Watch this video of Carson laughing. All Travis was doing was hitting the diaper wipes bag and he was just busting up. I love it!

Where To Start? Where to Start?

Really, where do I start? These past few days have been a whirlwind and it's hard to remember things. I really don't care if you read all this or not. It's probably going to be long but it's just to answer questions for people and for my journal purposes...and to keep me awake here at work because my medication is making me very drowsy and I need something to do!
It all started Thursday. Steven and I drove out to Buckeye around 5:45 p.m. to go to his younger brother's dance recital. I was grumpy because I was hungry and the apartment was messy. We got to the auditorium out in Estrella (Buckeye), sat down and started watching the concert. After intermission (about 8:00), I noticed I was seeing the same thing every where I looked. I told Steven I felt kind of weird and...the next thing I remember was waking up, still in the auditorium surrounded by a bunch of paramedics. Then things went blank again and I remember being in the ambulance, seeing the doors close and wondering what was going on. I was really confused. :) The paramedic put the oxygen mask on and I remember telling him I couldn't breathe...he assured me I was getting plenty of oxygen and that I could indeed breathe :) Looking back I probably sounded pretty stupid. Not to mention I was totally hitting on the paramedic telling him he was sooo handsome. He just laughed at me and told me I was just really out of it. :)
The next thing I remember was being in the hospital, begging the paramedic for some water. He was my friend and gave me a sip of water only because I guess I promised I wouldn't throw up on him. Anyway, they got me all hooked up, took my vitals, made me change into a hospital gown and then I got to relax. I don't remember a whole lot from that night. I know I had a few visitors but other than that, my memory was pretty shot. Around 4 or 5 a.m. they finally got us into a hospital room. Come to think of it, I don't remember that either. Anyway, for the next 2 days they ran lots of tests on me, drew lots of blood, and made me eat cafeteria food. It actually wasn't too bad.
My mom and dad were there to keep me company (and clean my apartment! THANK YOU! :) and Steven was there too of course. I had the best nurses and good doctors as well. They took extra good care of me and got me whatever I needed. Okay, this is how OUT of it I am. Did I even MENTION that I had a seizure???? Here I am just writing away, completely forgetting to mention exactly why I was in the hospital. After running some tests they found some blood clotting in my throat. They're not sure yet if it's from my birth control or if my body just has a tendency to form clots. Anyway ,they're thinking my seizure was from the bleeding I had in my brain back in September which could be, like I said, from my birth control or just from my thick blood.
So...now I'm on anti-convulsive medication so I can't drive for 90 days (not because I'm on medication but because I had a seizure) and I'm on an anti-coagulant which means I get my blood drawn every week to make sure my medication is at the right level and for those of you who know me and needles, this is not going to be fun. When I was in the hospital, every twelve hours or so I'd hear a knock on the door and see a little evil person coming in to draw my blood. They weren't my friends...at all. The very last time they had to draw from my hand because they said there wasn't anything coming out of the other vein(or is it artery?)--well no duh! They'd already drained 10 gallons from me. Or at least that's what it felt like. I guess if anything good DID come out of it, my right arm got a free wax job. Some dufus in the hospital decided to tape my IV down and so when it came time to pull the tape off they couldn't just rip it off real fast because the tape was stuck to my IV so, they had to pull it off VERY slowly and pretty much torture me.
Anyway, it's been a LONG past few days. I'm very tired and a little anxious because of my medication. I have some major adjusting to do but it's life. My ward and family has been GREAT to me and have been helping to organize my rides to work and anywhere else I need. I feel very blessed. I'm sorry if I forget things you've said to me or done for me, I'm really having a hard time remember the littlest, stupidest things!!
I've been a bit of an emotional wreck because of everything going on. You can hear all about seizures and medication and what not but until it's happening to you, it's a whole different story. Like I said, I'm very tired and just want to be alone with my husband right now. I really wish I would have taken today off from work. I don't know what I was thinking.
Anyway, I just wanted to publicly thank all those who came to visit me and helped me out this weekend. Especially my parents and Steven's parents. I love you all so much! And a special thanks to my husband, Steven. I don't know how I would have made it through this weekend without him. He was always there by my side, willing to help me in whatever way or just keep me occupied. I loved having him snuggle with me in my hospital bed. Sunday morning we fell asleep in the bed together and the nurse came in and woke us up and said "You guys are so cute." I don't know who WOULDN'T want to always be cuddled up with their spouse! Mine is just the greatest and the most supportive. He's been incredibly patient and loving with me. Thanks babe.

Anyway, that's the update for now. Sorry if I'm missing anything. It's really hard to remember certain details right now. :) Hope it answers all the questions out there. Again, thank you to everyone for your prayers on our behalf. We just hope things continue to go well! We have some fun pictures from the hospital but I can't find our camera cord so...no pics.

Time is Flying!

I can’t believe it’s already May! Holy Cow! We’ve been as busy as ever with school and work. I’m almost done with my semester and Steven is never really done because he takes classes every 5 weeks (poor guy). Life is great—we have so much fun together and are just enjoying this time in our lives. Here are some pictures from the past few weeks:

I went to Benson this past Friday morning because all the boys were going to be gone for the Father and Sons outing. Here are some pictures from Saturday (after they got home)
Carson playing on the ground--cute as ever!

Braden playing with Rosy and Lucy. He just laughs and laughs at them. It's hilarious. Never thought we'd have more dogs than grandkids at my parents house...there's 2 more

Sunday Jeremy, Kayleen and I worked on stuffing their wedding announcements into envelopes--the big day is coming up soon! We're so excited for them.

Kayleen working on addresses

Friday night Trish, my mom, Mackenzie and I went to Sierra Vista to have dinner. Here's 'Kenzie baby. We love her :)

After the CES broadcast last night, Steven and I came home and played scrabble then went to our friend's, TC and Desiree and played Scum for a while. They're some of our favorite people to play games with. And Desiree made a super-delicious desert!

Steven doing homework after our scrabble game--just a random picture because I love him :)
I did something I never thought I'd do: cook seafood in our home. I absolutely HATE seafood, especially the smell so it is not allowed here. I finally tried some shrimp in Mexico, liked it and decided to give it a try. We barbecued it and I actually liked it. Still not quite used to the texture but the flavor was delicious! Brooke and Carson came over too and stayed to play games with us after and eat a pazookie of course!

For the past two years, Steven and I have wanted to help at the Special Olympics but it's always been the same weekend as the Rocky Point triathlon. Fortunately this year, the tri was 2 weeks early so we got to help out! It was such an awesome experience and as the shirts say on the back: "you'll be addicted for life", I think we are! We were dead tired by the end of the night--we didnt' leave until 11:30 but it was well worth every bit of being tired. Clarice was there too! She wasn't in our area but we'd see her occasionally!
That's all for now! Like I said, busy, busy, busy and it's only going to get even busier. Coming up we have 2 graduations, 2 birthdays, a wedding, beach vacation, mother's day, and Memorial day...but I'm SO excited for all of it! It's all fun stuff!

Update: Picture Overload

Where has the time gone? I can’t believe it’s been a month since I last posted! We’ve been so busy around here that I really haven’t had a minute to spare—a lot has happened but I haven’t taken many pictures. A quick update (not all the pictures are in order but I tried):

March 29—Kyle and Alli blessed Macy out in Buckeye. We spent Saturday and Sunday out there with good company and of course, good food!

I babysat Carson for a few hours and he had a blow-out on me!

April 4-5—Kyle invited us up to Holbrook to go to the Jon Schmidt concert his choir was hosting as a fundraiser. Kyle and Alli happened to close on their house the same day (or at least they were close enough) so we helped them move in and get a little bit settled (no pictures)

Easter weekend—we went down to Benson and spend the weekend bundled up inside next to a fire! We definitely weren’t ready for the cold weather. Our trip to Tombstone had to be postponed

April 15—I got tickets from my boss for the Diamondback’s game so Brooke, Carson, and her friend Steph came with me! It was kind of cold and the D-backs weren’t playing so well so we left a bit early!


April 16-19—Rocky Point! I now look forward to this time every year! It’s seriously so much fun. Steven and his two uncles did the relay triathlon and I just did the 5k for fun, however, it was not so much fun! ☺ No, it was but it was really hard because of the hills and heat and sand. I got 2nd place in my age group though! The guys’ relay team got 8th out of 23. Not bad!! The weather was great down there. We spent quite a few hours out on the beach, eating tacos and hanging out down at the resort for the triathlon.

Uncle Gary finishing the race

Meghan getting ready to run--I almost missed the start because there was confusion as to where the starting line was and I had to book it down to the start--i was just in time!

Steven taking the timing chip up to Greg on the bike!

The dreaded finish line--the last about 1/4 mile was done on the beach and for us runners, it was tough!!!

Good morning Steven! He didn't want his picture taken

Nothing better than goldfish for breakfast!

The view from our camp site

Getting ready for the race
The "Carbonators"
The swimmers getting ready
Transition site--kind of hard to see

Here's a little clip of Steven's wave getting ready to take off in the water. The adrenaline at this point is unbelievable!



Anyone who wants to go with us next year, let us know! It's a fun race--you can do the Olympic or Sprint tri, 5k or a 10k! We'll be going down again!

Just Some Random Pictures

These are just a bunch of random pictures from the past week or so.

Now, I said I wasn't going to post a picture of what my first attempt at homemade bread looked like but since my second batch turned out so well, I just had to. Go ahead and laugh.

Here's my second attempt--I think our crappy oven is off because my tops got burnt and I even turned the oven lower than what I was supposed to! Dumb thing.

I finally got to put my pressure cooker to use and did some pork! I haven't tried it yet and although it looks disgusting, I'm sure it's delicious! This week I'm doing beans!

Steven at Mackenzie's 1st birthday partyDad and Carson

Mackenzie's cousin Cory--he was sucking on the cake! They were born the same day

Mackenzie--she didn't dig in with the cake...just picked at it.

Steven and I at Macaroni Grill after the temple. My mom and dad came up and we went along with Josh and Trish and Brooke. It was fun!

Mom and Carson

Some yummy homemade vegetable pizza--I even made the crust!!

We all know mate gets introduced at an early age in our family..

Anyway, things are going great for us! We're just going to school, working, and having fun! We love spending time with our families as you can see--we just can't get enough of our nieces and nephews! Anyway, hope all is well for everyone else.