After a long weekend with the fiance, I've realized a long weekend just isn't enough. Every time I have to leave him or vice versa, it gets harder and harder. I love him with every part of me and I now know that my home is wherever he is. It's hard to go to work here or do anything else because all I really want is to be with him.
However, as short as the weekend was it was also very successful. We completed our required pre-marital class, that was actually wonderful. It was very informational and I think it was a great class for anyone preparing for marriage. We also went apartment hunting. The first couple of apartments were a complete bust (let's just say a 700 sq ft apt that was a 2 bedroom, no thanks). But after a few stressful apartments and my hope of finding a place slowly starting to diminish, we saw a few good ones and a couple great ones that are definitely contenders. I am very excited for us to get our own place. The thought of decorating is very exciting to me. I keep finding things that I would want to use and I cannot wait!
The next major event is I will be traveling to New Mexico to see my cousin and her family. Also, to be there for the birth of her second daughter. I am so excited! I have not seen her in what is probably a little over 10 years and I have not met her husband or her oldest daughter. I really hope this next month goes by quickly!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
2012 = the year I'm getting married
Ok, so I am a few days late. It's been 2012 for almost 11 days and I am just now posting about it. It seems crazy how fast a year goes by. We have been engaged for a little over a year and yesterday was our 2 year anniversary of being together. Josh was here for New Years and it was great! We were able to spend New Years with some friends and before he left we went to The Melting Pot for our anniversary. It was sooooooo good, expensive, but good! I recommend going at least once!
It's crazy to think this time last year I was preparing for him to deploy and just getting started on the planning process. Now, we are about 4 months away and I get to fly down to VA on Thursday for the weekend. We are doing our pre-marriage counseling down there because it was easier for me to come down there (but he ended up having to take leave anyways). We are also going to look at apartments while I'm down there and I'm pretty excited about it. It's really hitting me big time now that in 4 months I am going to be married and living 9 hours away from my parents. It's crazy and definitely going to take some adjusting. I have to say that I am definitely scared, nervous and EXCITED!!
It's crazy to think this time last year I was preparing for him to deploy and just getting started on the planning process. Now, we are about 4 months away and I get to fly down to VA on Thursday for the weekend. We are doing our pre-marriage counseling down there because it was easier for me to come down there (but he ended up having to take leave anyways). We are also going to look at apartments while I'm down there and I'm pretty excited about it. It's really hitting me big time now that in 4 months I am going to be married and living 9 hours away from my parents. It's crazy and definitely going to take some adjusting. I have to say that I am definitely scared, nervous and EXCITED!!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
GiveForward Thursday.
Once again this week, I am cheating. My cousin Jen's writing is so much nicer then mine and describe it so much better that I thought it would make more sense for you to read what she's written. So please just take a few moments out of your day and read this. And maybe even pass it on :)
From Jen @ The Hansen 4:
"Did you know that brain stem tumors account for 10 percent of pediatric brain tumors? The peak incidence is between the ages of 5 and 10.
Today, I'm going to tell you about a type of brain stem tumor called a Pontine Glioma. Pontine brain stem tumors affect crainial nerves that supply the muscles of the eye and face, and the muscle involved in swallowing. The symptoms include: double vision, the inability to close eyelids completely, the dropping of one side of the face, and difficulty chewing and swallowing. The tumor also affects "long tracks" of the brain, which results in: weakness of the arms or legs, difficulty with speech, or difficulty walking.
The patients symptoms often improve dramatically during or after six weeks of irradiation. Unfortunently, problems recur after 6 to 9 months, and progress rapidly. Survival past 12-14 months is uncommon.
Radiation therapy is the main treatment approach since these types of tumors are inoperable. To improve the outcome of pontine gliomas, researchers are studying drugs that may enhance the effect of radiation therapy.
Now it's time to introduce you to a 4 year old little girl who was diagnosed with a pontine glioma, low grade, on Halloween of this year. Her name is Brynlin Sanders and she has a 4cm inoperable pontine glioma on her brain stem. Brynlin is receiving treatments from the Burzynski Clinic in Houston, TX but is from Wichita, KS. The money that is being donated to Brylin Sanders Medical fund is being used to offset the cost of medical expenses and, since she is being seen in TX, travel expenses.
Recently an update about Brynlin was posted on her fundraising page saying
Brynlin Sanders Medical Fund updates.Dec 17th 2011
As you can see, the goal is to raise $50,000 to help offset the many expenses coming this families way in the future, and only 5 percent of the goal has been met. Please visit Brylin's page and donate if you can... remember, even $5 helps. If you can't leave a donation, why not leave a hug?!?! Let the family know your pulling for them. You can also look for more updates of Brynlin by clicking HERE and clicking the updates tab"
From Jen @ The Hansen 4:
"Did you know that brain stem tumors account for 10 percent of pediatric brain tumors? The peak incidence is between the ages of 5 and 10.
Today, I'm going to tell you about a type of brain stem tumor called a Pontine Glioma. Pontine brain stem tumors affect crainial nerves that supply the muscles of the eye and face, and the muscle involved in swallowing. The symptoms include: double vision, the inability to close eyelids completely, the dropping of one side of the face, and difficulty chewing and swallowing. The tumor also affects "long tracks" of the brain, which results in: weakness of the arms or legs, difficulty with speech, or difficulty walking.
The patients symptoms often improve dramatically during or after six weeks of irradiation. Unfortunently, problems recur after 6 to 9 months, and progress rapidly. Survival past 12-14 months is uncommon.
Radiation therapy is the main treatment approach since these types of tumors are inoperable. To improve the outcome of pontine gliomas, researchers are studying drugs that may enhance the effect of radiation therapy.
Now it's time to introduce you to a 4 year old little girl who was diagnosed with a pontine glioma, low grade, on Halloween of this year. Her name is Brynlin Sanders and she has a 4cm inoperable pontine glioma on her brain stem. Brynlin is receiving treatments from the Burzynski Clinic in Houston, TX but is from Wichita, KS. The money that is being donated to Brylin Sanders Medical fund is being used to offset the cost of medical expenses and, since she is being seen in TX, travel expenses.
Recently an update about Brynlin was posted on her fundraising page saying
Brynlin Sanders Medical Fund updates.Dec 17th 2011
December 17th, 2011
It has been so nice to be home the last couple of days! Bryn was ready to be home and she said she didn't want to stay in a hotel, so we were able to drive all the way home without staying overnight somewhere in between. We made it home around midnight on Wednesday.
Bryn has also started her new diet that the nutritionist suggested we put her on. We were able to follow it somewhat while we were in Texas, but now that we are home and not eating out so much we will have to stick to it. This means we will be making a lot of our food from scratch and leaving out a lot of the good stuff! Grandma Sanders brought her some organic oatmeal today. I made it for her and she ate a little bit of it. Later she said she was hungry again, so after she said no to all of my other ideas I asked her if she wanted some more oatmeal. She said, "No I don't like that oatmeal Grandma brought, it doesn't taste." Well at least she's honest! We did however add some cinnamon to it and she decided it wasn't too bad.
As you can see, the goal is to raise $50,000 to help offset the many expenses coming this families way in the future, and only 5 percent of the goal has been met. Please visit Brylin's page and donate if you can... remember, even $5 helps. If you can't leave a donation, why not leave a hug?!?! Let the family know your pulling for them. You can also look for more updates of Brynlin by clicking HERE and clicking the updates tab"
Thursday, December 15, 2011
GiveForward Thursdays
GiveForward is a pretty amazing website. My family used it a lot when my cousins daughter Aylianna was diagnosed with Biliary Atresia and when she later had to have a liver transplant. It is a safe and easy to use fundraising website that helps people in any situations raise money.
That being said my cousin Jennifer has decided to start a new "blog tradition" so to speak with GiveForward Thursdays. Each Week she features a new fundraiser that is on GiveForward to help a family the way her family has been helped by so many people. All I ask is to simply take the time to read Jen's blog (linked above) and share this with other people. But just in case you don't click the link above I have simply posted her post below. Please read and realize that any little bit helps. Even if it's just to help get the word out!
Following post courtesy of Jennifer over at The Hansen 4.
"I've decided to start a new weekly posting called GiveForward Thursday. The reason being, I've been where a lot of these people are... needing money to help cover medical expenses and living costs while traveling to different hospitals and living out of a suitcase, and to cover costs that insurance doesn't cover. It's a great feeling to see all the support given by friends, family, and complete strangers when going through something like this. It's not always easy to ask for help, but GiveForward helps make that a little bit easier. GiveForward is a legitimate fundraising site and your donations are tax deductible. Remember when your reading about these different people and what their going through that even the smallest donation, $5, makes a difference.
So, to launch off GiveForward Thursday, I will be telling you a little about Niemann Pick Disease Type C (NPC) NPC is a rare and extremely variable pediatric neurological disorder causing progressive deterioration of the nervous systom. There are only about 500 people diagnosed with this disease worldwide. NPC interferes with a childs ability to metabolize cholesterol within the cell. When large amounts of cholesterol accumulate within the liver, spleen, and brain it leads to a series of neurological problems that are utimately fatal.
There are no treatments for NPC, but there are supportive therapies. Therapies include medication to control seizures, abnormal posturing of limbs and tremors. Physical, occupational, and speech therapy are also used.
A low cholesterol diet and cholesterol lowering medications do not seem to influence the course of the disease and the life expectancy of a child with NPC is less than 20 years of age.
Symptoms include:
Enlarged liver or spleen
liver failure without neurological symptoms
difficulties with speech
development of dementia
seizures
jaundice at birth
early development of neurological problems
low muscle tone
delayed motor development before age 2
sudden loss of muscle strength
and progessive liver failure beginning in infancy
Have I got your attention? Because now I'm going to introduce you to Kamryn.
Kamryn Jolie Brumbeloe was born on July 21, 2011. At Kamryn’s two month doctor visit, she was diagnosed with an enlarged spleen and liver. She was sent to the Children’s Hospital Emergency Room that day. On November 29th, she was given the horrific diagnosis of Niemann Pick Type C Disease.
Recently, Kamryn has been accepted as a patient for Dr. Mark Patterson at the Mayo Clinic. He is very experienced with NPC. Unfortunently, Kamryn's insurance is not accepted by the Mayo Clinic, which is going to make the out of pocket cost phenomenal.
The fundraisers goal is $20,000 and only a mere 6% of that goal has been met. This fundraiser goes on until February 14, 2012, but wouldn't it be a wonderful Christmas present to Kamryn if we could help make a dent in that goal? Even a $5 dollar donation can help this precious baby girl get the help she needs to keep living.
Want to know more about how Kamryn is doing? Her mom started a blog called The Brumbeloe Family where you can read more specifically about Kamryn's battle with NPC."
That being said my cousin Jennifer has decided to start a new "blog tradition" so to speak with GiveForward Thursdays. Each Week she features a new fundraiser that is on GiveForward to help a family the way her family has been helped by so many people. All I ask is to simply take the time to read Jen's blog (linked above) and share this with other people. But just in case you don't click the link above I have simply posted her post below. Please read and realize that any little bit helps. Even if it's just to help get the word out!
Following post courtesy of Jennifer over at The Hansen 4.
"I've decided to start a new weekly posting called GiveForward Thursday. The reason being, I've been where a lot of these people are... needing money to help cover medical expenses and living costs while traveling to different hospitals and living out of a suitcase, and to cover costs that insurance doesn't cover. It's a great feeling to see all the support given by friends, family, and complete strangers when going through something like this. It's not always easy to ask for help, but GiveForward helps make that a little bit easier. GiveForward is a legitimate fundraising site and your donations are tax deductible. Remember when your reading about these different people and what their going through that even the smallest donation, $5, makes a difference.
So, to launch off GiveForward Thursday, I will be telling you a little about Niemann Pick Disease Type C (NPC) NPC is a rare and extremely variable pediatric neurological disorder causing progressive deterioration of the nervous systom. There are only about 500 people diagnosed with this disease worldwide. NPC interferes with a childs ability to metabolize cholesterol within the cell. When large amounts of cholesterol accumulate within the liver, spleen, and brain it leads to a series of neurological problems that are utimately fatal.
There are no treatments for NPC, but there are supportive therapies. Therapies include medication to control seizures, abnormal posturing of limbs and tremors. Physical, occupational, and speech therapy are also used.
A low cholesterol diet and cholesterol lowering medications do not seem to influence the course of the disease and the life expectancy of a child with NPC is less than 20 years of age.
Symptoms include:
Enlarged liver or spleen
liver failure without neurological symptoms
difficulties with speech
development of dementia
seizures
jaundice at birth
early development of neurological problems
low muscle tone
delayed motor development before age 2
sudden loss of muscle strength
and progessive liver failure beginning in infancy
Have I got your attention? Because now I'm going to introduce you to Kamryn.
Kamryn Jolie Brumbeloe was born on July 21, 2011. At Kamryn’s two month doctor visit, she was diagnosed with an enlarged spleen and liver. She was sent to the Children’s Hospital Emergency Room that day. On November 29th, she was given the horrific diagnosis of Niemann Pick Type C Disease.
Recently, Kamryn has been accepted as a patient for Dr. Mark Patterson at the Mayo Clinic. He is very experienced with NPC. Unfortunently, Kamryn's insurance is not accepted by the Mayo Clinic, which is going to make the out of pocket cost phenomenal.
The fundraisers goal is $20,000 and only a mere 6% of that goal has been met. This fundraiser goes on until February 14, 2012, but wouldn't it be a wonderful Christmas present to Kamryn if we could help make a dent in that goal? Even a $5 dollar donation can help this precious baby girl get the help she needs to keep living.
Want to know more about how Kamryn is doing? Her mom started a blog called The Brumbeloe Family where you can read more specifically about Kamryn's battle with NPC."
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Long time, No blog.
It seems that things have been a little hectic lately. With the holidays and everything else I just haven't had the chance to blog.
But in all the time since my last blog not a lot has happened wedding wise. But one major thing has happened and that is Josh has finally found out where he will be stationed come July. We will be living in Virginia Beach, VA. I am excited and nervous. It is going to be a big change for me but from visiting Josh I know my way around down there. Also it's only about 9 hours from my family so that will be nice.
The wedding is coming up quickly. We are just over 5 months away and I couldn't be more excited! There is still a lot to be done (mainly paying things off) but for the most part we're done. Also yesterday I was able to go pick up my wedding dress and I am soooo happy! I love it so much! Now I just need to find shoes so I can get the alterations done. I've decided I want fun shoes, nobody is going to really see my shoes so why not.
But in all the time since my last blog not a lot has happened wedding wise. But one major thing has happened and that is Josh has finally found out where he will be stationed come July. We will be living in Virginia Beach, VA. I am excited and nervous. It is going to be a big change for me but from visiting Josh I know my way around down there. Also it's only about 9 hours from my family so that will be nice.
The wedding is coming up quickly. We are just over 5 months away and I couldn't be more excited! There is still a lot to be done (mainly paying things off) but for the most part we're done. Also yesterday I was able to go pick up my wedding dress and I am soooo happy! I love it so much! Now I just need to find shoes so I can get the alterations done. I've decided I want fun shoes, nobody is going to really see my shoes so why not.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Adorable
I just had to share this video with everyone! This is my cousin's daughter, a little miracle. This video has nothing to do with organ donation, but she is alive thanks to an organ donation and I hope everybody at least considers it! But now onto the video, this is super cute. It is quiet in the beginning, but don't turn your speaker up too loud or you'll be blown out of your seat!
ENJOY!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Best. Fiance. EVER.
I am sure every girl thinks this about her fiance and I am definitely no exception! I have always felt amazingly lucky to have Josh in my life, but this weekend just proved how great he is.
Yesterday was my 21st birthday and I have been looking forward to it for a while (which I'm sure most people do). When Josh asked the question, "What do you want for your birthday?" back in September I could only think of one thing, to see him! I told him that the only thing I really wanted was for him to be able to take a few days and come see me. Unfortunately, he told me that he had duty on my birthday. There was still a little hope that maybe he could take a few leave days, that was until I had my little emotional breakdown earlier this month. After he took leave earlier this month to come and see me I definitely did not think he would come this weekend...little did I know.
I had come to terms with not being able to see Josh and had made plans with some friends and my parents. I was sad I couldn't see him but had come to terms with it and was going to make the best out of my birthday. However, my dad had been trying to convince me to wait until next weekend (instead of Saturday night) to go out saying, "You'll officially be 21 and won't have any problem getting in anywhere." But I stuck to my guns and made plans anyways.
Friday when I got home from work though, I got a huge birthday surprise...Josh was here!!!!!! I was so incredibly happy and definitely speechless. He parked his car down the street and hid under blankets on the couch. I was oblivious to him being there at first but once I saw him I screamed. I have to say my birthday weekend was definitely amazing and I had a great time!
Saturday we were able to hang out with some of my friends and then Sunday we went to the Rocky Horror show with my parents! It was a blast. I got pulled up on stage and the guy that played Frank N Furter sang "livin la vida birthday" to me while basically giving me lap dance. It was hilarious! Here are some pictures:
And just in case you're wondering...my dad took video of me getting surprised! Here it is:
Yesterday was my 21st birthday and I have been looking forward to it for a while (which I'm sure most people do). When Josh asked the question, "What do you want for your birthday?" back in September I could only think of one thing, to see him! I told him that the only thing I really wanted was for him to be able to take a few days and come see me. Unfortunately, he told me that he had duty on my birthday. There was still a little hope that maybe he could take a few leave days, that was until I had my little emotional breakdown earlier this month. After he took leave earlier this month to come and see me I definitely did not think he would come this weekend...little did I know.
I had come to terms with not being able to see Josh and had made plans with some friends and my parents. I was sad I couldn't see him but had come to terms with it and was going to make the best out of my birthday. However, my dad had been trying to convince me to wait until next weekend (instead of Saturday night) to go out saying, "You'll officially be 21 and won't have any problem getting in anywhere." But I stuck to my guns and made plans anyways.
Friday when I got home from work though, I got a huge birthday surprise...Josh was here!!!!!! I was so incredibly happy and definitely speechless. He parked his car down the street and hid under blankets on the couch. I was oblivious to him being there at first but once I saw him I screamed. I have to say my birthday weekend was definitely amazing and I had a great time!
Saturday we were able to hang out with some of my friends and then Sunday we went to the Rocky Horror show with my parents! It was a blast. I got pulled up on stage and the guy that played Frank N Furter sang "livin la vida birthday" to me while basically giving me lap dance. It was hilarious! Here are some pictures:
Josh and I <3
Frank N Furter singing to me!
And just in case you're wondering...my dad took video of me getting surprised! Here it is:
HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!
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